Please shoot me some advice

[Sevendust6]

Hello, my argentine arived in the mail this past Tuesday and he looks greAt but a few things are worrying me...1. He is making a wincing sound when he hisses 2. He barely comes out of hide. I have seen him once since Tuesday 3. He won't eat , I tried worms and frozen mice... Licks them but won't eat them. Should I be concerned or am I jumping the gun and just need t give him time? If I should be worried.. What can I do? Thank you

 

[Toby_H]

I have no idea about the whincing sound... mine has never "hissed". She very lightly "sneezes" sometimes. I believe this is just clearing the dust from her nose.


Where did you get yours? How big/old is it?

It is was born in the Northern Hemisphere, it was born in the summer time and is likely trying to hibernate. This would explain why it's trying to sleep all the time as well as why it's not interested in eating.

 

[Sevendust6]

Toby, thanks for the reply. I bought him from varnyard as well. Does yours hibernate? How do u stop them from doing so? I heard u can stop hibernation without hurting the lizard . Age wise... I would say less than a year old for sure

 

[Toby_H]

If you got him from Bobby/Varnyard and he is less than 2 feet long then it was born this past summer.

Regarding hibernation, different peopleh ave had different experiences. For her first winter, mine went to sleep in November and stayed in full hibernation until April... this year she spent about 6 weeks in 'burmation' where she got up for a coupel hours a couple days a week but slept most of the time. Before and after that she has just been a lot less active than in the summertime.

I do not suggest 'forcing' your Tegu to stay awake. If nature is telling it to sleep and you are forcing it to stay awake, he may not like you much.

 

[isdrake]

I would also recommend letting your Tegu hibernate. But I don't think it will hurt to wake him either. Keep in mind that it is you who are in control of the season now. You could make it spring if you wanted to, but following the season where you live will be easiest.

Then we got our first Tegu she had started to hibernate. But she was really small, thin and not in a good shape at all. So we decided it would be too risky for her.

To wake her up we simply kept it warm in the enclosure and had long days by letting the lamps on for 12 hours/day). And she's been up even since (got her just before Christmas). Next year we will let her hibernate.

 

[Sevendust6]

Thanks to all.. So I basically need to keep the heat on longer during the day and hve longer hours of light if I want him to stay awake. My question is now what do I do at night? Heat? No heat? And also will he ever hibernate if I keep the heat high year round. I guess I should say normal heat... I'm not lookin to cook him. Thanks again.. Looking forward to replies
Alex r

 

[Vilayyy]

LOL hey i got mines on Tuesday to from bobby hill the same thing to my tegu to i call bobby and told him all the stuff u asking and he told me there on hibernation they dont come out till March xD