Need help troubleshooting problem

[Simbaandsheldon]

My Columbian tegu, Sheldon, is a little over a year old. Isn't super big like most are that I see. I've had and loved him for a long time. Problem is recently he's been acting strange. He isn't eating as far as I can tell and isn't really pooping either. He has always been a picky eater. I fed him mostly a variety of foods and so far he really only likes eggs, sometimes wet cat food, and rarely raw turkey/beef/chicken. I haven't tried fish yet. I haven't tried fruits in a long time. I had to put him in a smaller cage recently because my girlfriends parents were complaining it was taking up too much room/stinking (the usual complaining). So I switched from a huge enclosure to a 20 gallon tank. The dog knocked over the uva/uvb lights so I had to improvise with a house light that I think is 75-100 watt. I'm working on getting another job to get him better foods and a vet trip. So with all that being explained I need someone to help me figure out whats wrong with Sheldon. Thank you in advance.

 

[DougK]

I had my tegu in a 20 gallon tank when he was a baby, but even then he was kind of too big for it and he spent all his time hiding. I'd guess that the small tank is stressing him out, and the lack of uva/b might be a problem as well. You also mentioned a complaint from parents about it stinking -- if the tank isn't clean it might be contributing to his reluctance to eat.

As for feeding, when my guy was picky, I'd have to try dipping things in raw egg to get him to eat. I'd have to basically spend a decent bit of time just hanging out with him and making sure he actually ate something. Have you tried frozen mice also? Sometimes you just have to try a bunch of things and rotate them in until he settles on something. It's hard to really say anything specific because they can have just as much picky variance as people.