Need Some Advice

[Aquai]

Ok, i own two (what i believe to be) reasonably young B/W Argentine Tegus each at about 3', seen below;

Ash (believed to be female);

and Taio (believed to be male) the Black Nose Argentine;

I only obtained Taio about a month ago and within the first 3 days of him being in there i saw what i presumed was dominance behaviour between the two of them, with gentle biting of the neck and the like. I have since realised this could have been breeding?

Now the reason it has come up, is because Ash has recently started looking very fat, and i was wondering on the possibility of her being pregnant?

Now to me, they both seem rather young and not "filled out" yet to breed and i can't believe it's a possibility, but she does seem really fat (but could it be her "filling out"?)

I am unaware if either of them has been hibernated in the past as they have both come from previous owners. And to be perfectly honest i'm not 100% sure on the sexes yet as they seem to young to sex to me.

I've done my reading and have looked into it all but i still can't see it as a possibility. However, i would like to know any possibility of testing and whether i should possibly be considering seperating them or preparing for anything (hibernation/eggs)

The only other things that maybe note worthy is i have noticed that they have moved all of the substrate in their viv to one end and are more defensive when you first open the viv (although fine once they're out exploring). Eating patterns have been regular with both eating the same amounts of food, which is why it seems odd the female is getting fatter.

At present they are in a 4x2.5x2 and i am in the process of building a double later 6x3x3 for them. (Yes i know they're in a small viv as stands and i don't want to start a flame war, they get runabout of the house on the ground floor at least once a day - if they'll come out that is - and in summer i'm hoping to use the conservatory purely for them)

 

[omgtaylorg]

Well, first off very pretty tegus, Taio looks awesome. But I really dont see how she could be gravid honestly...they dont seem to be at the size or age to be sexually mature, then again i dont know their hibernation history or diet. Also, if the male is infact sexually mature and ready to breed he should be shooting sperm plugs off and would have the different looking stools, you would probably notice the difference if you havent seen it before. But they would need to have had all of their hibernations up until now (most say anyways) and its a bit early to be up from a hibernation and a bit early to breed i would think. Most would do this around end of march and april. Then again Im no expert might have to wait for bobby to see this one. Again beautiful tegus and Welcome to tegutalk!

 

[Aquai]

Well yeh that's my thoughts. They just seem to young and small imo but she's definetly gotten fatter over the last month.

As i say i have no history on their hibernation, i'm going to presume they haven't as they've both just been kept as standard pets if you know what i mean as far as i'm aware.

As for diet, per week they get (per tegu);
2-3 Large Mice
3-4 Large Anchovies
1 Melon (or so)
Grapes
Plums
Greens (if they eat them)
2+ Packs of crickets/locustst (whatever's available)

Oh and thanks for the greeting and quick response

 

[omgtaylorg]

Yup np. And bobby actually stopped feeding his tegus fruits all together and just sticks with meats and whole prey. Id throw in some raw ground turkey, eggs (scrambled, raw, or hard boiled), and some beef liver. Chicks and quail too if its available. They are mainly carnivores especially while they are growing and bobby says his tegu are just as healthy as tegus that eat fruit so i dont know I dont try to feed mine fruits anymore, unless its a red to possibly help with color. But bobby or davedragon with deff have an answer as far as the gravidness when they read this, im still very sure that its not possible yet.

 

[Aquai]

Fair enough, they've never been massive fans of the fruit and veg anyway tbh, it often just goes to waste.

I'll try getting my hands on some more varied meats if that's the case, the only liver i've been able to find so far has been sliced and looks very very messy to feed.

We'll await a response from the mythical Bobby or Davedragon then. I'll try get some more photos showing how fat she seems, but it's quite tricky.

James

 

[VARNYARD]

We'll await a response from the mythical Bobby or Davedragon then. I'll try get some more photos showing how fat she seems, but it's quite tricky.

James

Mythical Bobby, Ok, lol. :chin

Well I will tell you, the two tegus above do not look gravid, infact it looks like you have two real nice males. :shock:

 

[Aquai]

Yuh i've thought that at times as well, i'll try get some more photos tomorrow when they're up (it's 5am here) as Ash was brought from a reptile store as a female and the previous owner works in reptiles and believed her to be female.

What would explaining the fattening up of Ash and not Taio though? Could it be a dominance thing?

 

[VARNYARD]

Yuh i've thought that at times as well, i'll try get some more photos tomorrow when they're up (it's 5am here) as Ash was brought from a reptile store as a female and the previous owner works in reptiles and believed her to be female.

What would explaining the fattening up of Ash and not Taio though? Could it be a dominance thing?

Tegus grow in spurts, I think the one male is prob in a growth spurt. Both animals are showing the male jowls.

Look next to the vent on both animals, I bet they both have the raised scales we call buttons, this is only found in the males.

 

[Aquai]

Ok i shall have a look in the morning and get back to you. As far as i'm aware they've only ever been sexed by their throats, probably not the best idea in hindsight.

I'm gonna catch 40 winks but will post in about 4 hours.

 

[VARNYARD]

BTW, here is the "Mythical Bobby" in all his wonder, LMAO!!

 

[Aquai]

Hehe, nice picture.

Right well i tried to have a look for the buttons.

Taio definetly has them, 100%

Ash however refused to come out her viv, and is being very sluggish and stiff. I picked her up and she instantly starting wriggling and trying to get back in the viv. I held her for a little bit longer to try calm her down but she hissed at me so i decided to let her go back in. She's moving very slowly today though and is normally first out...

 

[omgtaylorg]

i was actually going to say that too about the jowls, i noticed they both seemed to have them, but I thought you already had them sexed and didnt want to sound stupid.

 

[Aquai]

Turns out she was just constipated and left me the world's largest poo to clean up after her bath that week...

Thanks for the help everyone =D