Gus Gus: Hello, my human, have you come to give me scritches? Clint: *shows an orange circle* Gus Gus: G I V E T O M E T H E S A C R I F I C I A L O R A N G E
I really like how this guy explains how these creatures work, illustrating their personalities without anthropomorphizing them in a way that's deleterious to their well-being. They do *think*, but not like us.
Yes, yes you can. My iguana was potty trained. Embarrassingly, I was on the local news because of it. They are smarter than people give them credit for.
I had an iguana for 21 years. He was super smart and nonaggressive. He frequently chose to poop in my sister's room. I did not encourage that, but I also did not discourage it.
@@Deepbluhuntr more like you would a cat. It was a lot of repetition and when I would see him do his potty wiggle, I would bring him to the same area. He just started going in that same spot after a while.
I always love seeing animals do that thing where they arch and lean into the pets. GusGus' immediate reaction to the petting is such a soothing sight. The eyes closing, the arching, the wiggles, it's just amazing
Target training has been such a big request its so cool that you got around for it! It proves how smart alot of big lizards are. Your gus gus is a clever boy
Finally! A person that knows and speaks the truth! Every time I mention getting a pet lizard/snake everyone's reaction is "They are dangerous! Don't!". Every time I see a shark video and comment on how the shark interracted with the diver calmly, everyone says "It was sizing him up, it was thinking about eating him!" and such. But then I point out how many people get attacked by dogs, especially stray packs, everyone acts as if it never happened. Indeed, every animal can be dangerous. Thanks for spreading the word.
Not just dogs, even chickens can make you have a bad day. Some have spurs large enough to take a finger and can be pretty aggressive. Some cats, even domesticated ones, can cause some pretty serious infections if they bite you. Yet a corn snake is what makes people jump.
My boy is target trained and he only gets fed on one side of the enclosure. I come in on that side and clap the tongs that means food. I come in on the other side he comes up for scratches. It’s amazing how smart they are. It only took about two weeks to get him trained.
Oh, this is a really good addition to the training to know about! I kind of naturally do this just based on where I place my tegu's food, but coupled with target training, maybe I can actually get him to associate the other side with handling/interactions! Thanks!
I also accidentally target trained my blue tongue a little bit just by having a feeding routine. I'd always refill his water bowl before feeding him, and we only have one set up of cups in my house, so he learned the cup meant food.
I accidentally did the same thing. Mine, while adjusting, wouldn't leave his hide when I was around. So I would tap on the bowl I was leaving it in. Now I tap on it and he comes running. Lol
My uncle’s turtles is similar. Its food is a small container and makes a distinct noise when picked up (think of cereal in a container). So if you shake it, the turtle tried running up its inclosure.
I think I might have target trained my bluey by accident as well. I have one of those glow-in-the-dark food bowls that I only put in when feeding her (usually) and lately I noticed that she likes to bite it when I'm moving it. Lol, kinda scared the wife a bit once when she was messing with it.
I've done it with chickens half-intentionally - they get corn as a snack and it naturally rattles a bit in the cup + I tend to give it a shake to get their attention/because I fidget. Very useful for getting them back in if you let them out (although we've now got a larger enclosure so it's no longer an issue.)
It’s really interesting to see how many people have accidentally target trained their reptiles. Just comes to show how smart they really are even without us trying to specifically teach them that.
I love this so much! Too often we refuse to recognise the intelligence of non human creatures. Even more so when they show signs we view as aggression. This is a great lesson for everyone to respect their lizards for the critters they are, while being able to interact safely. This made my day!
Aside from this target training is a good stepping stone into other more specific and complicated trained behaviors. A lot of tricks start at target training, things like crawling, spins, plantform work, ect. At least with mammals it is, i'm not familiar with reptile training methods.
@@OddOzzy and actually i think is the easiest way to teach a HUMAN how to teach. Usually the problem is that humans rely to much on words and can't explain things in other ways, not even other humans. We did experiments where we tried to communicate just with touch as we do with horses and it was a disaster. Not just animal, people need to rationalize, be consistent and precise. Target training is a good first step
@@aryak.9623 Its not quite the same (clicker instead of target training) but I've seen a video of a dog trainer that addresses this tendency humans have. It shows some people "training" each other using ONLY clickers to mark the correct behavior. It really shows that just because YOU know what you want an animal to do, doesn't mean that animal has any idea what you want them to do, especially with more complex (meaning more than one "step") behaviors.
My partner convinced me that instead of a puppy we needed an Argentine Tegu with Clint videos. Now every time Clint states, "they are just like dogs." I look over at her and she is always trying to tail climbing something in her terrarium as the dog cheers her on from the outside -.-
Funnily enough, I accidentally trained my Ball Python as well with a feeding routine. He associates a green bowl with food, because I didn't want him to ingest substrate. Now whenever the green bowl is placed, he'll wait in front of it, patiently. hahahaha
My local reptile store often has a black/white tegu roaming the store. Its a small building with no isles so he can see him from the register. One summer he had the store door open. And while I was looking around I watched this tegu just.... roam out side. (Owner was witch a customer) I am not remotely scared of lizards, but like dogs I don't just walk up and start petting dogs I don't know with out the owner's consent. The owner by then had went into the back for something so I walked out side, picked up or tried to and dragged him back into the store. Closed the door and let the owner know. He thanked me but that was it. His tegu's had always been so sweet, his son brought in a Red tegu and I got to hold him and I wanted to cry. Such an awesome animal. More so when you train them.
I can confirm that the going outside thing is true, my Olly was also aggressive the first time he went out side. He's a healthy weight, he's a red but nowhere as chunky as a certain famous red tegu (as well as not as chunky as his dad) When he's spayed out he looks a bit chunkier then gus gus but then he's standing he doesn't show it.
I was actually surprised to see that Clint wore a tie that had an orange hue... So maybe Gus Gus has made the association that food comes from THAT orange hue and shape. Clint??
It's also notable that Gus didn't react to the round target straight away despite being close in colour to the temperature gun. He had to be trained to associate them the same. So it's the object specifically, not just the colour. So if Clint wore orange shorts or pants and stuck his bottom into Gus Gus's enclosure, he may be just fine. I dare ya.... 😂
Omg Clint you just solved a huge mystery for me!! My bearded dragon pumpkin never showed any aggression, even when force fed antibiotics, in his first 8 months with me. Then in may I opened my window for the first time. When I tried to interact with him he went full on black beard and inflated body. I never guessed it was how different I looked to him. Wow!!
It's incredible how intelligent monitors are too, I don't remember who it was, but somebody in yt trained his raptors to approach the glass and give their arm to be let out of the cage, purely by association and the reward of being let out of the cage. It's astounding that animals so incredibly different to us mammals in mind and evolution can still be "communicated" with like this. Blows my mind. I do wonder, if reptile breeding was less focused on cosmetic patterns and instead trainability and intelligence based, in many many decades, where we would be.
I recently started tap training my cranky male blood python (I got him at about 1.5 years old), and it's working excellently! Reptiles are a lot smarter than many give them credit for.
This whole story makes me feel bad because I recently figured out I probably won't be able to get a tegu unless Florida's laws change, because the specific field of herpetology I'm studying will probably mean moving to Florida eventually. Ironically when I move to Florida, I'd probably be studying invasive Tegus.
Maybe you can help show the government that by banning tegus there will just be more illegal ownership and thus more invasive tegus being released into the wild, and you can help show them that changing the laws to a permit system or something would be much more effective.
What do Floridians do with invasive, but injured animals? (Where I live you aren't allowed to keep wild animals like squirrels as pets, unless they are rescues unable to survive on their own, so maybe a three legged Tegu would be a possibility.)
@@avaleloc1513 unfortunately, governments aren’t banning animals for any real reasons and also aren’t great at changing things they’ve done incorrectly. wickens wicked reptiles has a good video explaining this.
@@Trekki200 im pretty sure any invasive species is euthanized then. But im from germany so idk your local laws. It just makes sense since to get rid of invasive species they kill them , so they also kill the injured.
I never realized they ran on two legs before. I'd LOVE to see that! Also good to be reminded that even sweet Gus Gus can have his moments. Always respect these animals and the power they possess. Love Gus Gus.
My tokay gecko trained me to feed her by coming over me when I was sitting near her tank, moving back and forth to get my attention, and licking her lips. If she wasn't hungry, she would often just hang out next to me because she liked me or something.
I have my Argentinean Tegus trained acoustically. I can reach in grab food bowl, pat them, etc they won't go for their food until I've taped their bowl or plate 4 times on the edge. They'll also immediately stop eating if my hand touches their bowl or plate. Neither of them are obese, I used small amounts of fruit treats (fresh blueberries typically)for training and rewarding good behavior. This also helped them learn when dinner was served as both of them are free roaming in my house with a couple of rooms blocked off they can hear me tap the food dish and will return to their enclosure.
5:50 You are absolutely right, Dogs were bred for temperament as much as looks... And sadly some of the most selectively bred for specific temperament, were bred for bloodsports 'gameness'. A willingness to fight anything at any time for zero reason, and that has been so honed it often includes a long loving owner these days. You can improve things with training, but not undo the sins of those whom run dog fighting rings.
Since you breed pythons and keep boas, do you think you'll ever do a video about IBD and the importance of testing for viruses generally? I recently had an IBD scare with my children's python which thankfully turned out to not be the case, but I think it does deserve more attention.
This was a very valuable video for me. I've seen target training used before, but explained not as extensive as this, and in this case, you can see the difference in Gus Gus's reaction really clearly. Plus it's always a treat to see him, haha. I would like to get a larger lizard someday, and as far as larger lizards go... Well, at the moment a Tegu sure seems the most interesting to me. Knowing how to interact with one safely will be important.
The channel has grown and evolved so much over the years and I'm very happy for the Clint's reptiles team, but I would really enjoy some new Gus Gus content!
What a good handsome boy!! I love tegus so much. I doubt I’ll ever own one, but gosh, they’re such amazing creatures. Gus Gus and Ally (Snake Discovery’s tegu) are two of my favorite animals to see on RUclips.
any video with that much Gus Gus is a win in my book. You can tell he wants attention when you put your hand up,but knows immediately what the target is. That he does it that seamlessly is pretty amazing. While i have no animals right now,when i can,i really want a tegu. And yes,he is part of the reason.
Gus Gus is so magnificent! love how he turns around like a cat or dog with that "Oooooooh that felt good don't stop!" look in his eyes after scratches.
I’ve used target training for years. It’s especially beneficial when training birds, like large parrots. Consistency is key. It is THE most important part of target training. Target training allows for safe feeding, handling and moving your animal to the place you would like it to go. It’s also excellent for “hand shy” (which is actually a fear of hands) animals. Great video!!🐍❤️🐍
So cool! I can't wait to train my own lizards when I get the chance. Eventually I want to see if they can be audio trained, so that I could play a specific note and they would connect that with feeding time and another with just regular interaction. My plan is to use the "feeding note" before showing the target every time, and then eventually see if they respond to just the note.
It would be interesting to see. Animals can learn different amount of words/sounds and with some is more effective than with others. I saw dogs are slow learner but works very well with sound cue, horses learn more quickly but prefer gestures and touch to sound. Anywsy they can learn a huge amount of different cue. It would be interesting to see how reptiles and different species reacts to it.
Brilliant! I plan to do this with my snake. I've managed it with my dog- She knows a lot of English words as her cues or targets for various activities and one vital one is "DINNER"! That and "Snuggle" are her favorites.
My pet Commom Snapping Turtle is also Target Trained like this. When I want him to come to me so I can remove him from his tank for interaction, I will hold a bright blue square of fabric up against the glass & he will frantically ‘run’ to me to get out!! & He also understands it is not a feeding time, so he will not approach aggressively (aka, a Bitey Boi like he would normally be!) I put a round yellow plastic disk against the glass, he zooms over with the feeding response like Gus-Gus here! another awesome video, Clint!
I've been needing Gus Gus in my very (currently) sad life. So glad to have another reptile tuber I trust talking about target training so I can prepare for my future dream. Thanks so much for all your hard work Clint! 🖤
You are absolutely brilliant. You’ve probably extended the lives of many of these lizards with this incredibly observant method. I can’t even begin to express how impressed I am. So glad I stumbled onto this. I probably won’t ever need the info, but damn, BRILLIANT.
Wow! Thanks, Clint, I'm really glad this video exists! I wanted a tegu, biut didn't know theyu needed target training! Always important people have access to pros and cons to give a pety a healthy, happy life -- I don't want bitten or an unhealthy pet. I'll have to adore Tegus from afar. I hope this helps more tegu live happy, HEALTHY lives!
0:19 I'm not sure how strict this definition is, but I have some Madrean Alligator Lizards and from what I understand they have the ability to warm themselves when necessary. Maybe I didn't get good information.
Bro thank you so much! I’m finally allowed to get a ball python and it’s mostly because of your videos. I decided on a 9 month old hypo/pastel and I’m getting it in 2 weeks!
My tegus are puppy pad trained and tap trained. If I tap the cage or the ground , they know they get to come out. Luckily for me, I’ve never had much of an issue with the feeding reaction. Other than my girl, whos so good motivated when it comes to chicks and mice but it’s not me I’m worried about. I’m more nervous with her trying to take my boys food. I also brought mine outside early cause I wanted to raise stuff in the natural sunlight and I’ve never had an issue vs my water dragon lost her mind as you said. She’s almost 13 years old and I’ve been bitten twice with both times due to bringing her outside. Now I have my tegus outside full time for a few months now and I haven’t lost a beat of tame ness. Sometimes, I think they’ve even gotten better. Since they don’t see me as much, they immediately come and greet me and have to sit on me lol Great video Clint!
@Clint’s Reptiles so your previous videos on Tegu’s pretty much saved my wife’s hand a few months ago. We were taking my 4y/o to a small aquarium/zoo and they had an animal petting area. Completely unsupervised. In it, in addition to the tortoises and other things… was a tegu, very young. Maybe 2/3rd the size of Gus. My daughter, predictably, noped right out and refused to pet it (this was a good thing) my wife decided to “show it was safe” right about the time I said “honey, that’s not a good idea, get your hand out” see I had remembered you saying that they were smart and food motivated and some of the behavioral videos you have done on big lizards and had recognized his body language.. no sooner had my wife started to pull her hand out, that Tegu did the full on T-Rex , mouth wide open and everything, straight for my wife’s fingers, nearly missing, as she jerked then away, and slammed into the wall of the enclosure… So, yes. There are fingers still unmangled due to your content.
Love your video! My gf's red tegu is a mommy's big boy! He recognizes her and when you call him he comes to you. We also trained him to associate the colour green (of his food plate) with food itself. Sometimes he goes ballistic for whatever reason. For example when we suddenly open our windows during summer, he doesn't recognize us because of the UV light, until he licks us and recognizes our smell. So yes, they are definitely trainable but sometimes they like to behave as the big, intelligent, predator lizards they are.
I've seen Emily and Ed's Ally and assumed they are all so docile and harmless. You've just changed everything I thought I knew about tegus... not that I was going to get one, but still. They are so cool, one of my favorite lizards for sure!
I have my mexican black kingsnake target trained. He's very food motivated, so he only ever gets fed when the target is out. He has to calmly follow it, no striking, and then wait a second or two before he gets his food. Target training is great enrichment and helps keep fingers safe 😄 Awesome video!
Yes! This was great. On a smaller scale, I target trained my betta with the handle of a white plastic spoon because he sucks at finding his food. And swimming
It's impressive how for a long time people tought lizards or reptiles in general are stupid, but the more i see about training lizards, the more they look to me even smarter than dogs. Dogs are active and responsive, but compared to horses which are more silent... they are pretty slow in learning new things or exercises. The main difference between dogs and horses is usually how quickly they associate reinforcement to the cue, and how subtle a cue can be. If a tegu really needs just 2 tries to learn an association with the new target it makes it really smart, more than a dog. It impress me how can we still have to learn about their intelligence.
Gus Gus is wonderful! Target training had been very helpful with my tegu. I have a video out next week on how I've trained/socialized her - target training was a big part of my success wth Jub-Jub!
This is such great information!! Thank you Clint for this video! After a year of research and learning, I’m going soon be an owner of a black & white Argentine Tegu. I’m beyond ecstatic to teach my tegu target training. That is all I keep telling my husband haha. As an avid canine, equine behavior and training enthusiast, I’m wicked excited to start this training journey with a tegu. Thank you again for the educational content!
Perfect timing on this video!!! I noticed my blue tongue seemed to be food motivated rather than aggressive when he snapped at my hand. Maybe I’ll try target training him!!!
I tried target training, but my tegu thought my hand was the target lol. So, I got my tegu and sav colored kid plates, and the only time they eat is off of their plates. Same concept, but I just get charged less lol
I had my iguana trained not through visual but audio as I taught him me saying breakfast meant getting fed, also had him potty trained as me and the family let him free roam around the house.
“Um ... But, I ... I’d still really like to play with shoes.” “I’m gonna play with those shoes” 🤣
"We're playing with shoes today."
One does not simply say no to miniature carnivorous Dinosaur who demands shoes to be played with…
I knew a woman who looks just like My pretty lol Smeigal or smeegal?
Wth is your profile pic
@@sumithatake1234 it’s Gollum
Gus Gus: Hello, my human, have you come to give me scritches?
Clint: *shows an orange circle*
Gus Gus: G I V E T O M E T H E S A C R I F I C I A L O R A N G E
02:20 Lucky thats not your baby!
Heh. It was just like a switch had been turned on in his head. Which I guess it kind of was.
Note: don’t make the target the same color as your hand.
Or your favorite shirt
Hah
😂
Or your tie! : S
@@resurrectedhelicoprion 😂
I really like how this guy explains how these creatures work, illustrating their personalities without anthropomorphizing them in a way that's deleterious to their well-being. They do *think*, but not like us.
Yes, yes you can. My iguana was potty trained. Embarrassingly, I was on the local news because of it. They are smarter than people give them credit for.
Did you potty train it like you would a dog , with positive reinforcement ? How did you get it to understand where not to go ?
I had an iguana for 21 years. He was super smart and nonaggressive. He frequently chose to poop in my sister's room. I did not encourage that, but I also did not discourage it.
@@Deepbluhuntr more like you would a cat. It was a lot of repetition and when I would see him do his potty wiggle, I would bring him to the same area. He just started going in that same spot after a while.
@@HastyChester mine too, never was aggressive, pretty chill and free roaming. He was a little over 22 when he passed.
@@chibicricket , Thank you !
I always love seeing animals do that thing where they arch and lean into the pets. GusGus' immediate reaction to the petting is such a soothing sight. The eyes closing, the arching, the wiggles, it's just amazing
I have a female ackie that does that and it makes her 5x more enjoyable to interact with
Like Clint said... he's basically a reptilian dog.
Some of my leopard geckos do the same. It makes them extra cute
GusGus be like... OMG right there yiiiss keep scratching! You feel good just seeing that.
My leos do that. Hopefully my tegu will be like that.
ruclips.net/video/JavWt_xzAsU/видео.html
Target training has been such a big request its so cool that you got around for it! It proves how smart alot of big lizards are. Your gus gus is a clever boy
"The tall fleshy one approaches without the yellow food circle. He must wish to give me attention."
"brother, may I have some oats?" vibes
Finally! A person that knows and speaks the truth! Every time I mention getting a pet lizard/snake everyone's reaction is "They are dangerous! Don't!". Every time I see a shark video and comment on how the shark interracted with the diver calmly, everyone says "It was sizing him up, it was thinking about eating him!" and such. But then I point out how many people get attacked by dogs, especially stray packs, everyone acts as if it never happened. Indeed, every animal can be dangerous. Thanks for spreading the word.
Not just dogs, even chickens can make you have a bad day. Some have spurs large enough to take a finger and can be pretty aggressive. Some cats, even domesticated ones, can cause some pretty serious infections if they bite you. Yet a corn snake is what makes people jump.
My boy is target trained and he only gets fed on one side of the enclosure. I come in on that side and clap the tongs that means food. I come in on the other side he comes up for scratches. It’s amazing how smart they are. It only took about two weeks to get him trained.
Oh, this is a really good addition to the training to know about! I kind of naturally do this just based on where I place my tegu's food, but coupled with target training, maybe I can actually get him to associate the other side with handling/interactions! Thanks!
I just realized that Gus Gus would be an absolute terror if he ever made it into the Simpson's universe.
PFFT i got this immediately, kudos'
"eat my shorts"
The next day
"here lies Bart Simpson
Or even Gumball. Remember the pet turtle?
I also accidentally target trained my blue tongue a little bit just by having a feeding routine. I'd always refill his water bowl before feeding him, and we only have one set up of cups in my house, so he learned the cup meant food.
I accidentally did the same thing. Mine, while adjusting, wouldn't leave his hide when I was around. So I would tap on the bowl I was leaving it in. Now I tap on it and he comes running. Lol
My uncle’s turtles is similar. Its food is a small container and makes a distinct noise when picked up (think of cereal in a container). So if you shake it, the turtle tried running up its inclosure.
I think I might have target trained my bluey by accident as well. I have one of those glow-in-the-dark food bowls that I only put in when feeding her (usually) and lately I noticed that she likes to bite it when I'm moving it. Lol, kinda scared the wife a bit once when she was messing with it.
I've done it with chickens half-intentionally - they get corn as a snack and it naturally rattles a bit in the cup + I tend to give it a shake to get their attention/because I fidget. Very useful for getting them back in if you let them out (although we've now got a larger enclosure so it's no longer an issue.)
It’s really interesting to see how many people have accidentally target trained their reptiles. Just comes to show how smart they really are even without us trying to specifically teach them that.
I love this so much! Too often we refuse to recognise the intelligence of non human creatures. Even more so when they show signs we view as aggression. This is a great lesson for everyone to respect their lizards for the critters they are, while being able to interact safely. This made my day!
I like how the big, strong lizard happily gobbles up those leaves. And how he responds to scritches. Gus knows that Clint is his friend.
Nobody:
Shoe: *exists*
Gus Gus: “Yeah, um, we’re gonna play with shoes today.”
Excellent video! I never understood exactly why people did target training, THIS MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!!!!!
Aside from this target training is a good stepping stone into other more specific and complicated trained behaviors. A lot of tricks start at target training, things like crawling, spins, plantform work, ect. At least with mammals it is, i'm not familiar with reptile training methods.
@@OddOzzy Target training is an excellent step to training other behaviors (spin, get in the vet crate, etc) for birds, too!
@@OddOzzy and actually i think is the easiest way to teach a HUMAN how to teach. Usually the problem is that humans rely to much on words and can't explain things in other ways, not even other humans. We did experiments where we tried to communicate just with touch as we do with horses and it was a disaster. Not just animal, people need to rationalize, be consistent and precise. Target training is a good first step
@@aryak.9623 Its not quite the same (clicker instead of target training) but I've seen a video of a dog trainer that addresses this tendency humans have. It shows some people "training" each other using ONLY clickers to mark the correct behavior. It really shows that just because YOU know what you want an animal to do, doesn't mean that animal has any idea what you want them to do, especially with more complex (meaning more than one "step") behaviors.
Gusserton! The most satisfying lizard to pet. Those beaded scales and incredibly cool. Good job, Clintyy! This was fun!
"See, funny story, this one time my giant lizard got hold of a shoe at the police station..."
My partner convinced me that instead of a puppy we needed an Argentine Tegu with Clint videos. Now every time Clint states, "they are just like dogs." I look over at her and she is always trying to tail climbing something in her terrarium as the dog cheers her on from the outside -.-
Funnily enough, I accidentally trained my Ball Python as well with a feeding routine. He associates a green bowl with food, because I didn't want him to ingest substrate. Now whenever the green bowl is placed, he'll wait in front of it, patiently. hahahaha
Hah haven’t gotten my girl nementh to be patient at feeding time but I do use a shallow orange bowl
"They are dangerous" Emily: I'mma hug it
Emily's Ally seem more behaved. Gus seem like the type who'd run around in the playground.
My local reptile store often has a black/white tegu roaming the store. Its a small building with no isles so he can see him from the register. One summer he had the store door open. And while I was looking around I watched this tegu just.... roam out side. (Owner was witch a customer) I am not remotely scared of lizards, but like dogs I don't just walk up and start petting dogs I don't know with out the owner's consent. The owner by then had went into the back for something so I walked out side, picked up or tried to and dragged him back into the store. Closed the door and let the owner know. He thanked me but that was it. His tegu's had always been so sweet, his son brought in a Red tegu and I got to hold him and I wanted to cry. Such an awesome animal. More so when you train them.
I can confirm that the going outside thing is true, my Olly was also aggressive the first time he went out side. He's a healthy weight, he's a red but nowhere as chunky as a certain famous red tegu (as well as not as chunky as his dad) When he's spayed out he looks a bit chunkier then gus gus but then he's standing he doesn't show it.
no words can describe the joy of hearing you open with "well hi there! this is gus gus!"
Don’t you guys just love how he make his learning so much love and puts so much hard work into his videos so we enjoy them! Your Rad Clint!!
Like Bill Nye for animals
I just like the passion it's really clear he loves what he does and can hardly contain it.
GusGus!!!!! He has such Epic Radness ! Thanks for the fan fav feature Clint. Now we all know what color tie NOT to send you 😳😋
It would be fun to test his discernment. 👔
I was actually surprised to see that Clint wore a tie that had an orange hue... So maybe Gus Gus has made the association that food comes from THAT orange hue and shape. Clint??
@@aureaphilos I think it's probably because the tie has a pattern (isn't a flat orange) and isn't as vibrant, that would be my guess.
It's also notable that Gus didn't react to the round target straight away despite being close in colour to the temperature gun. He had to be trained to associate them the same. So it's the object specifically, not just the colour. So if Clint wore orange shorts or pants and stuck his bottom into Gus Gus's enclosure, he may be just fine. I dare ya.... 😂
Omg Clint you just solved a huge mystery for me!! My bearded dragon pumpkin never showed any aggression, even when force fed antibiotics, in his first 8 months with me. Then in may I opened my window for the first time. When I tried to interact with him he went full on black beard and inflated body. I never guessed it was how different I looked to him. Wow!!
This is just like how Joseph Carter The Mink Man trained Raptor to target the purple tongs! Fascinating stuff!
It's incredible how intelligent monitors are too, I don't remember who it was, but somebody in yt trained his raptors to approach the glass and give their arm to be let out of the cage, purely by association and the reward of being let out of the cage.
It's astounding that animals so incredibly different to us mammals in mind and evolution can still be "communicated" with like this.
Blows my mind. I do wonder, if reptile breeding was less focused on cosmetic patterns and instead trainability and intelligence based, in many many decades, where we would be.
Target training is great, used it with both pigs and a Shetland who was particularly food aggressive.
It's so interesting how he interacts with you and loves scratches. Very intelligent animal.
I am so honored that i get to see Tegus in their Natural Habitat, it's simpilly amazing.
(Im from south Brazil BTW)
I recently started tap training my cranky male blood python (I got him at about 1.5 years old), and it's working excellently! Reptiles are a lot smarter than many give them credit for.
Gus gus is sooo rad. I really like how tame and tolerant he is. It must be a lot of work to make him this freindly.
This whole story makes me feel bad because I recently figured out I probably won't be able to get a tegu unless Florida's laws change, because the specific field of herpetology I'm studying will probably mean moving to Florida eventually.
Ironically when I move to Florida, I'd probably be studying invasive Tegus.
Maybe you can help show the government that by banning tegus there will just be more illegal ownership and thus more invasive tegus being released into the wild, and you can help show them that changing the laws to a permit system or something would be much more effective.
What do Floridians do with invasive, but injured animals? (Where I live you aren't allowed to keep wild animals like squirrels as pets, unless they are rescues unable to survive on their own, so maybe a three legged Tegu would be a possibility.)
@@avaleloc1513 unfortunately, governments aren’t banning animals for any real reasons and also aren’t great at changing things they’ve done incorrectly. wickens wicked reptiles has a good video explaining this.
@@Trekki200 im pretty sure any invasive species is euthanized then. But im from germany so idk your local laws. It just makes sense since to get rid of invasive species they kill them , so they also kill the injured.
Maybe you'd be able to get an exemption for research purposes. You can't really study them if you don't have access to them.
I never realized they ran on two legs before. I'd LOVE to see that!
Also good to be reminded that even sweet Gus Gus can have his moments. Always respect these animals and the power they possess.
Love Gus Gus.
My tokay gecko trained me to feed her by coming over me when I was sitting near her tank, moving back and forth to get my attention, and licking her lips. If she wasn't hungry, she would often just hang out next to me because she liked me or something.
I have my Argentinean Tegus trained acoustically. I can reach in grab food bowl, pat them, etc they won't go for their food until I've taped their bowl or plate 4 times on the edge. They'll also immediately stop eating if my hand touches their bowl or plate. Neither of them are obese, I used small amounts of fruit treats (fresh blueberries typically)for training and rewarding good behavior. This also helped them learn when dinner was served as both of them are free roaming in my house with a couple of rooms blocked off they can hear me tap the food dish and will return to their enclosure.
5:50 You are absolutely right, Dogs were bred for temperament as much as looks... And sadly some of the most selectively bred for specific temperament, were bred for bloodsports 'gameness'. A willingness to fight anything at any time for zero reason, and that has been so honed it often includes a long loving owner these days. You can improve things with training, but not undo the sins of those whom run dog fighting rings.
Since you breed pythons and keep boas, do you think you'll ever do a video about IBD and the importance of testing for viruses generally? I recently had an IBD scare with my children's python which thankfully turned out to not be the case, but I think it does deserve more attention.
WOW - I knew the reactions would be different but they were INSANELY different. Absolutely brilliant. Amazing. Thank you Clint!
This was a very valuable video for me. I've seen target training used before, but explained not as extensive as this, and in this case, you can see the difference in Gus Gus's reaction really clearly. Plus it's always a treat to see him, haha.
I would like to get a larger lizard someday, and as far as larger lizards go... Well, at the moment a Tegu sure seems the most interesting to me. Knowing how to interact with one safely will be important.
Gus is such a good, sweet boy. 💖
I love how he arches up when you give him pets. I have a leopard gecko and he does the same thing!
Well, I think I may need to target train my skink now.
But weirdly not because they are food aggressive.
I have a WATER aggressive skink.
Videos should be made of this.
I guess the lizard likes what it likes. My Bearded dragon was lettuce aggressive.
Your skink: *I request hydration mother*
@@kitsune0rei I'll try lol
The channel has grown and evolved so much over the years and I'm very happy for the Clint's reptiles team, but I would really enjoy some new Gus Gus content!
ruclips.net/video/04_o3Pn7ULU/видео.html
What an incredible difference in his behavior when you put the target up. That's awesome to watch
Gus is so precious! I love tegus so much. He deserves ALL the scritches.
It's amazing how he just leans into the scratches just like a dog or cat.
What a good handsome boy!! I love tegus so much. I doubt I’ll ever own one, but gosh, they’re such amazing creatures. Gus Gus and Ally (Snake Discovery’s tegu) are two of my favorite animals to see on RUclips.
any video with that much Gus Gus is a win in my book. You can tell he wants attention when you put your hand up,but knows immediately what the target is. That he does it that seamlessly is pretty amazing. While i have no animals right now,when i can,i really want a tegu. And yes,he is part of the reason.
Gus Gus is so magnificent!
love how he turns around like a cat or dog with that "Oooooooh that felt good don't stop!" look in his eyes after scratches.
“And it was one of those days where I was wearing shoes”
So how do you go about giving him a whole bowl of food with the Target training?
I just put it in while the target is still up. He stays on the target until it goes down. I also usually put it on the far side of the pillar.
Legendary advice. Thank you.
Tego’s are amazing. They’re so smart. They’re so intelligent. I love your videos. They’re so helpful. Thank you.
I’ve used target training for years. It’s especially beneficial when training birds, like large parrots. Consistency is key. It is THE most important part of target training. Target training allows for safe feeding, handling and moving your animal to the place you would like it to go. It’s also excellent for “hand shy” (which is actually a fear of hands) animals. Great video!!🐍❤️🐍
I really like stories about gus gus. It kind of makes me imagine an adorable tegu playing with toys
Always a treat to see Gus Gus, the biggest bestest boy!
Gus is so handsome, even training your smaller lizards is a good idea for things like escapes , easier to get them back
Googling, reptiles are typically tetrachromats. So two colors that appear identical to our trichromat vision could appear distinct to them.
So cool! I can't wait to train my own lizards when I get the chance. Eventually I want to see if they can be audio trained, so that I could play a specific note and they would connect that with feeding time and another with just regular interaction. My plan is to use the "feeding note" before showing the target every time, and then eventually see if they respond to just the note.
It would be interesting to see. Animals can learn different amount of words/sounds and with some is more effective than with others. I saw dogs are slow learner but works very well with sound cue, horses learn more quickly but prefer gestures and touch to sound. Anywsy they can learn a huge amount of different cue. It would be interesting to see how reptiles and different species reacts to it.
Brilliant! I plan to do this with my snake. I've managed it with my dog- She knows a lot of English words as her cues or targets for various activities and one vital one is "DINNER"! That and "Snuggle" are her favorites.
I have a month old Tegu, and I cannot wait to target train her like this!
That's some enthusiastic biting for a leaf. You don't often see things so determined to eat a leaf.
My pet Commom Snapping Turtle is also Target Trained like this. When I want him to come to me so I can remove him from his tank for interaction, I will hold a bright blue square of fabric up against the glass & he will frantically ‘run’ to me to get out!! & He also understands it is not a feeding time, so he will not approach aggressively (aka, a Bitey Boi like he would normally be!)
I put a round yellow plastic disk against the glass, he zooms over with the feeding response like Gus-Gus here!
another awesome video, Clint!
I have a 16 acre homestead. I have plenty for what ever I need for it to flourish. Gus Gus is the reason why I am getting a tegu.
I've been needing Gus Gus in my very (currently) sad life.
So glad to have another reptile tuber I trust talking about target training so I can prepare for my future dream. Thanks so much for all your hard work Clint! 🖤
I had to pause this video to go and find footage of a tegu running on hind legs. What. The. Heck?! Phenomenal!
You are absolutely brilliant. You’ve probably extended the lives of many of these lizards with this incredibly observant method.
I can’t even begin to express how impressed I am.
So glad I stumbled onto this. I probably won’t ever need the info, but damn, BRILLIANT.
So smart. Gus Gus is one of my favorites of yours.
Wow! Thanks, Clint, I'm really glad this video exists! I wanted a tegu, biut didn't know theyu needed target training! Always important people have access to pros and cons to give a pety a healthy, happy life -- I don't want bitten or an unhealthy pet. I'll have to adore Tegus from afar. I hope this helps more tegu live happy, HEALTHY lives!
We love Gus gus
0:19 I'm not sure how strict this definition is, but I have some Madrean Alligator Lizards and from what I understand they have the ability to warm themselves when necessary. Maybe I didn't get good information.
Bro thank you so much! I’m finally allowed to get a ball python and it’s mostly because of your videos. I decided on a 9 month old hypo/pastel and I’m getting it in 2 weeks!
That is true for many animal species. It makes them easier to train if they are strongly food orientated.
1:33 - Oh good I thought you were about to say he went up and shredded the kid.
This is why I love this channel!! Super rad content as always. I need a Gus Gus!
I just so happen to have the camera paused on a closeup of gus gus sort of archly staring at the camera and I must say, he is such a handsome boy.
Great presentation! Something I never thought about for a tegu. Definitely an amazing animal that's top of my bucket list.
My tegus are puppy pad trained and tap trained. If I tap the cage or the ground , they know they get to come out. Luckily for me, I’ve never had much of an issue with the feeding reaction. Other than my girl, whos so good motivated when it comes to chicks and mice but it’s not me I’m worried about. I’m more nervous with her trying to take my boys food.
I also brought mine outside early cause I wanted to raise stuff in the natural sunlight and I’ve never had an issue vs my water dragon lost her mind as you said. She’s almost 13 years old and I’ve been bitten twice with both times due to bringing her outside.
Now I have my tegus outside full time for a few months now and I haven’t lost a beat of tame ness. Sometimes, I think they’ve even gotten better. Since they don’t see me as much, they immediately come and greet me and have to sit on me lol
Great video Clint!
@Clint’s Reptiles so your previous videos on Tegu’s pretty much saved my wife’s hand a few months ago. We were taking my 4y/o to a small aquarium/zoo and they had an animal petting area. Completely unsupervised. In it, in addition to the tortoises and other things… was a tegu, very young. Maybe 2/3rd the size of Gus. My daughter, predictably, noped right out and refused to pet it (this was a good thing) my wife decided to “show it was safe” right about the time I said “honey, that’s not a good idea, get your hand out” see I had remembered you saying that they were smart and food motivated and some of the behavioral videos you have done on big lizards and had recognized his body language.. no sooner had my wife started to pull her hand out, that Tegu did the full on T-Rex , mouth wide open and everything, straight for my wife’s fingers, nearly missing, as she jerked then away, and slammed into the wall of the enclosure… So, yes. There are fingers still unmangled due to your content.
Love your video!
My gf's red tegu is a mommy's big boy! He recognizes her and when you call him he comes to you. We also trained him to associate the colour green (of his food plate) with food itself. Sometimes he goes ballistic for whatever reason. For example when we suddenly open our windows during summer, he doesn't recognize us because of the UV light, until he licks us and recognizes our smell.
So yes, they are definitely trainable but sometimes they like to behave as the big, intelligent, predator lizards they are.
I've seen Emily and Ed's Ally and assumed they are all so docile and harmless. You've just changed everything I thought I knew about tegus... not that I was going to get one, but still. They are so cool, one of my favorite lizards for sure!
Yes! I use positive reinforcement training for my birds. It's so interesting to learn how to apply it to lizards since we plan on getting a beardie
I have my mexican black kingsnake target trained. He's very food motivated, so he only ever gets fed when the target is out. He has to calmly follow it, no striking, and then wait a second or two before he gets his food. Target training is great enrichment and helps keep fingers safe 😄 Awesome video!
Yes! This was great. On a smaller scale, I target trained my betta with the handle of a white plastic spoon because he sucks at finding his food. And swimming
Gus Gus makes me so happy 😭😭😭
Love this video!!
I'd love to see a video on reptiles and play, btw. ☺️
It's impressive how for a long time people tought lizards or reptiles in general are stupid, but the more i see about training lizards, the more they look to me even smarter than dogs. Dogs are active and responsive, but compared to horses which are more silent... they are pretty slow in learning new things or exercises. The main difference between dogs and horses is usually how quickly they associate reinforcement to the cue, and how subtle a cue can be. If a tegu really needs just 2 tries to learn an association with the new target it makes it really smart, more than a dog. It impress me how can we still have to learn about their intelligence.
This is so true and works!!! My dragons react with an orange feeding bowl or feeder tongs tapping the front trim of their enclosures!
This was way better than the usual style vids! More please! Love the more informal chat style 😊
Gus Gus is wonderful! Target training had been very helpful with my tegu. I have a video out next week on how I've trained/socialized her - target training was a big part of my success wth Jub-Jub!
This is such great information!! Thank you Clint for this video! After a year of research and learning, I’m going soon be an owner of a black & white Argentine Tegu. I’m beyond ecstatic to teach my tegu target training. That is all I keep telling my husband haha. As an avid canine, equine behavior and training enthusiast, I’m wicked excited to start this training journey with a tegu. Thank you again for the educational content!
I never noticed your injury, but I'm glad you shared that story.
I think it's important to show that any animal can be dangerous, especially to kids.
i've been a big fan for a while, this video is particularly excellent
Perfect timing on this video!!! I noticed my blue tongue seemed to be food motivated rather than aggressive when he snapped at my hand. Maybe I’ll try target training him!!!
Definitely going to remember this when I get my future tegu
I had been using a lot of bird training techniques with my tegu. I'm excited to add this into the training toolbox. Thank you so much for the video!
I tried target training, but my tegu thought my hand was the target lol. So, I got my tegu and sav colored kid plates, and the only time they eat is off of their plates. Same concept, but I just get charged less lol
I had my iguana trained not through visual but audio as I taught him me saying breakfast meant getting fed, also had him potty trained as me and the family let him free roam around the house.