# Tegu freaking out??? What's wrong with him Bobby?



## S&amp;S_Dragons (Jun 24, 2010)

I NEED HELP!!!!!

Ok so I have an important question and in need of some advice and answers, now I know you guys are not Vets but I do know that more than likely Bobby can help me here.

We have had our Male tegu for about 11 months. He has always been very calm and mellow, really sweet tegu, never been a rowdy handful ect... and he has never bit at us.

He has NOT missed a meal in 11 months, not one day has even went without food, this guy is a big eater.

Well I decided to take him out a few times this summer and let him run around in the yard to get sun and exercise! I'm worried maybe he got something out there???

Ok, so about 2 weeks ago he starts going nuts, he ripped the screen windows out of this tank, totally destroyed $145 worth of Plexiglas, ripped down is UVB lights, dug everything up in this tank, and slams around his hide.
He has also stopped eating, in 2 weeks he might have eaten 4 times. 

Now he does this all day long every single day, he starts at daylight and he stops at about 10pm at night when he falls asleep.
I have offered him eggs, turkey, chickens, rats, mice, fruits, roaches, worms, ect.. he won't touch anything but raw hamburger and that is only about 3 bites and that's it..

He is really starting to drop weight, he will drink but I have also started soaking him every few days!

I don't see anything wrong with him, he has been shedding just fine, I have checked his mouth for a bad or broken tooth, all his toes and nails are fine, ect..

I know we need to get him to the Vet but the closest Vet is almost 3 hours from us so we are trying to get the time off work for an all day trip and have to get money ect.. So I'm here wondering if anyone has had an issue like this before and if anyone knows what might be wrong with him..

He is my baby but he is making me crazy with his none stop daily rampages in his tank..

So anyway, he has a great setup that he has always loved and nothing has changed. The tanks is 7 feet tall w/ 3 levels and 6 feet long, it cost us $400 to build so I know it's good for him. 
He gets calcium on every meal and has 2 10.0 UVB bulbs in the tank!

I am thinking that he might have got worms or parasites from a walkabout in the yard maybe?? 
So I have started him on parazap which works great on my other reptiles, it always gives them a great appetite after the treatment so I'm hoping it will help him.. 

Ok I think that is most of the info, so what do you guys think might be wrong with my guy?

Someone actually said, that's the the way they are at that age but NO I don't think so, he should at least eat, right?


Amanda


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## VARNYARD (Jun 24, 2010)

Amanda, I hate to hear you are having such a hard time with this guy. My thought is he liked being outside, his little taste of freedom. It could also be due to too high temperatures in his enclosure. If so he could also be trying to escape the heat. 

Tegus do go through stages, the stage he is at now might be the teen stage, I have seen tegus change and become even mean for a short time. I would not look for it to last more than a month, he should calm back down before long.

As for eating, tegus gorge as babies, but slow down on food intake as adults. My adults do not eat everyday, sometimes they might be willing to take food three times a week, but I offer them food every other day. The need to gorge with food slows as does the growth as they mature. However, if you seeing him dropping weight, then he might need to see a vet. Let me ask you, how thick is the base of his tail? This is where the fat is stored in tegus. Even if his sides look thin, if the base of his tail is round and thick he is not loosing weight like one might think. 

You could also start him on Activia yogurt, Activia yogurt contain the probiotic bacterium Bifidobacterium. It is good for the maintenance of a healthy intestinal flora, as well as aids digestion and also said to boost the immune system as well. Activia has been proven to have beneficial effects on digestive system. It is a source of Ã?Â¢Ã¢â??Â¬Ã?â??BifidusÃ?Â¢Ã¢â??Â¬Ã?Â the intestinal bacterium Bifidobacterium animalis, a kind of bacteria found in the large intestines of most animals. This should help increase his appetite and help with his food drive.


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## VARNYARD (Jun 24, 2010)

One other thing Amanda, if you decide to start him on the Activia, he needs to have it every day or every other day for 5-6 days at least. I use it with fresh hatchlings and young tegus if I have any that are slow to start gorging.


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## DMBizeau (Jun 24, 2010)

Has he still been defecating regularly? My male giant likes to try to eat small rocks if I put him in the yard, could he have possibly got impacted somehow?


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## S&amp;S_Dragons (Jun 24, 2010)

Thanks Bobby, I was thinking the same thing you are about him being spoiled and wanting back outside but then thought it would not keep him from eating!

As for too much heat, I wish it was as easy as that lol, but no it's not the heat!


"defecating regularly?" No he is not because well, he's not been eating so not much in there to come back out!


I also thought it might be a "teenage phase" because I know our dragons go through that teen thing but this is just different, he is over there flipping out right now. My heart is kinda hurting for him, I know he wants out, if you open the door he comes running and climbs right up my shirt you can't beat him off you with a stick lol.

As for eating something while out in the yard, we have thick fluffy grass and a very clean yard so I think for sure he didn't eat anything.

It's just very odd to me that all the sudden out of no where he just all in one day decides to be this way and not stop for nothing. And as I said he ate every single day up till his odd spell..



Bobby, is there a way that maybe he has eaten too much hair for too many rats and chickens? I was told to switch over to hairless rats to keep him from eating so much hair??

He won't touch greens and will eat little fruits. I mean he would take like one banana a month and maybe 2 small strawberry! 

Humm, oh and his tail base id still pretty huge! But his poor belly does not look so good!

I'm going to take him out in the sun today, just in-case there is something wrong with his UVB light, I have more on order.


I will def. get the Activia yogurt and give it a try.


I wish we had the time and money to get him to the Vet, the one we have here said he can't help that he does not know much about lizards of any kind and told us to go to Charleston which is 3 hours away or more! :hifit 


Thanks for the help and if you can thinking of anything else, please let me know!

Amanda


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## S&amp;S_Dragons (Jun 24, 2010)

And thank you too DMBizeau!


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## VARNYARD (Jun 24, 2010)

You are more than welcome Amanda, keep us posted.


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## DMBizeau (Jun 24, 2010)

I didnt realize there were any small rocks in our yard either until he started digging them up. After talking with Bobby we figured it was something they probly do in the wild to help them digest but I wasnt taking any chances.

Let us know how he turns out.


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## S&amp;S_Dragons (Jun 25, 2010)

I don't get it, he is still going nuts! I soaked him yesterday and gave him his dose of parazap. He is slamming stuff around right now, I just offered him a rat and then some burger with calcium and vits. and he won't eat either one. I'm getting ready to try turkey but this is an everyday thing and I know he won't eat it either!

I could rip him a new one for destroying that new $100 glass, you can;t even see him in there it's so bad. :bang 

Amanda


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## mastroj (Jun 25, 2010)

Whata about putting him in a large rubberbaid container with a towel over it or something like that. So he cant hurt himself and the lack and activity might calm him down.

I have no idea if this will help or not but just an idea.


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