Colombian Tegu

[Michael Soto]

I have a new colombian Tegu, I was wondering how long it normally takes a colombian to get comfortable in a new enclosure to be were I can get him or her into a feeding scheduale right now its hard to get him to eat the food I leave in his encloser unless it mix egg yoke into it and even then he just licks the egg yoke and leave the other stuff I have mixed with in the bowl.

 

[KritterKeeper]

It can take a couple weeks to get into a 'normal' feeding schedule. What are you feeding him? I would stop giving him egg. Mine did the same thing and ignored everything but the egg. It was a habit i didnt want to encourage so i stopped giving egg.
Mine was very skittish and took a few weeks for him to settle in. I did not try to mess with him at all and just did regular cage cleaning, changing water etc...eventually he became comfortable with me being around and would eat in front of me when i put food in.
Just feed him on the schedule you want, take out uneaten food in the evening and try again the next day.

 

[Michael Soto]

Because he is small I put mainly roaches in the cage. With tons of mealworms in the mix. I wanted to put in some mice fuzzies but dont want them to start decaying from being in the cage to long. What did you feed urs at first? and how long do you think I could leave fuzzys in his cage with out them becoming nasty?

 

[Brettm]

Fuzzies are mines favorite, if I put one in and it's not gone by the next morning I pitch it. I have been trying different foods tilapia,beef liver,chicken hearts,crickets,ground turkey.

 

[vbtegu91]

I would offer him food after he has been out basking for awhile, and just place a variety of different food on a plate leaving it there for a few hours. Than come back a few hours later to see if he ate anything, and if not just leave it there until you turn the lights out at night. I made the mistake of leaving food over night, and had a fly problem.

 

[Michael Soto]

Update: I did the raw egg and he/she started to eat, I have feed a couple rat fuzzies, whole little fish, dubia roaches, meal worms, superworms. he or she LOVES the roaches and worms but I havent been able to get him/her to eat a fuzzy in almost a week. He/she will smell it and then walk away. I have read that they can be very picky and eat what they want to eat when they want is this just a little faize he might be going through or should i just keep trying until he takes it?

 

[vbtegu91]

Though I'm sure some might disagree with this. I started with live feeders first, and then I switched to frozen. I wasn't sure if she still would eat them, but she did with no problem. The problems I have now are that she used to like strawberries and cherries, but now she seems to only want blueberries. So I have been looking into other fruits for her. So yours might just been a phase like that. I'm no where near an expert this is just what I have found works for me.

 

[Michael Soto]

Thanks im trying ground turkey with egg shells mixed in. and some mealworm larva he really likes those, guess ill see if its gone when i get back home.

 

[SnakeCharmr728]

Whats your basking temps? Sometimes that can greatly change the appetite of a tegu. Keep trying with the fuzzy mice as thats going to be much healthier than any ground turkey or organ meats. You can even try cutting open the abdomen of the fuzzy so it smells yummier to him.

 

[Michael Soto]

Basking temp is 110-115. Since the post he has finally taken two fuzzies. about 2-3 days apart. He deffiantly does his own thing.

 

[SnakeCharmr728]

ah okay, well your temps arent horrible but raising it to 120 or a bit higher would be beneficial.

 

[Michael Soto]

Ok thank you.

 

[Jackie & Hellboy]

I would personally raise the basking spot to around 135. Colombian tegus are not as cold tolerant as argentines and my argentines regularly use 135 degree basking spots for more than 15 minutes at a time. I've never kept Colombians but wouldn't doubt that a high degree basking spot will be beneficial to him/her. give it a shot if you want, 120 is probably ok but I like to make sure I give them ideal conditions if possible, and every reptile keeper should know that too low of temperatures cause slow, uncomfortable reptiles to become prone to illnesses and other issues (loss of appetite, inability to properly digest food, etc)

 

[mistymarv]

Mine basks at 110 max and they all eat fine. I think 135 is way to high

 

[mistymarv]

Also mine eats everything tilapia, turkey, veg, fruit, everything. And I free him on my lap with tongs. He is only a couple months old. Just have to play with them a lot. And I never feed him in the cage

 

[Jackie & Hellboy]

Sorry but I only feed whole prey for meat, that ground turkey diet is not what I'd call ideal, like feeding them dog and cat food, and contrary to popular belief rodents do not impact a properly heated tegu, I stick with insects, and frozen thawed rats, guinea pigs, chicks, and quail (plus all the fruits). The basking temps aren't too high if they utilize them and haven't ever had any visible burns. Just a suggestion, if you keep your temps at that they will just bask longer than if the temps were a bit higher, look up some of the temps most of the Good monitor breeders use, I've heard of 160 degree surface temps and the monitors still used them, thrived even.

 

[Jackie & Hellboy]

I do understand that tegus are not directly related to monitors but they are very similar in many characteristics so I try to mimic monitor husbandry slightly while maintaining their fruit in the diet, it works well for me so I simply suggest it. Again as I said originally I've never kept Colombian tegus, I have an argentine B&w and a red so I used my judgment to think that a higher temp for Colombians would be beneficial for them