# New tegu needs help



## Emily L Valin (Nov 19, 2016)

Hi. I'm new to this site, and new to owning tegus. I got my first tegu a few days ago, I'm fairly certain it's a male. I'm a bit worried about him though. He is very friendly and loves to sleep on me, but all he does is sleep. He hasnt eaten for me yet except for a few licks of a soft boiled egg yoke. I can feel his spine and tail bone. He is about 4 months old. Sometimes he has energy, but he mostly just wants cuddles and sleep. I live in Canada, and he was shipped to me from Ty's Lizards in Florida . To me, he is too skinny to try and hibernate. I raised his temps to try and bring him out of it, of he is trying to hibernate. Is there anything else I should be doing for him?


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## Emily L Valin (Nov 19, 2016)

Here is another photo


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## Walter1 (Nov 19, 2016)

Emily L Valin said:


> Here is another photo


Hi Emily- he looks OK to me. He will be shy for a week or so having been moved. He may also want to sleep for part of the winter. Make sure is temps are proper so he can bask if he wants to and not roast in his hide.


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## Emily L Valin (Nov 20, 2016)

Thanks. I may just be paranoid, i tend to over worry with new animals.


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## Megu (Dec 5, 2016)

I agree with Walter. When I first got my tegu, he didn't want to eat for the first couple of weeks and it scared me so much. Once he got settled in, he started eating and growing like crazy.


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## Emily L Valin (Dec 11, 2016)

We have had him for around a month now. He still doesn't eat much. He only eats if I kind of shove the food in his face, he will never touch it if I leave it in his enclosure. Even when I do that, he takes a couple bites but mostly licks it then looses interest. He will lick up whole raw eggs no problem, but I want him to eat more than that. I mix raw ground turkey with vitamin powder, raw egg and chopped up grapes, or just raw eggs by themselves. I tried bananas and grapes by themselves but he has no interest in it.


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## Walter1 (Dec 11, 2016)

Emily L Valin said:


> We have had him for around a month now. He still doesn't eat much. He only eats if I kind of shove the food in his face, he will never touch it if I leave it in his enclosure. Even when I do that, he takes a couple bites but mostly licks it then looses interest. He will lick up whole raw eggs no problem, but I want him to eat more than that. I mix raw ground turkey with vitamin powder, raw egg and chopped up grapes, or just raw eggs by themselves. I tried bananas and grapes by themselves but he has no interest in it.


Does he otherwise look healthy?


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## Emily L Valin (Dec 11, 2016)

I'm honestly not sure. He shed recently with no issues. I can't feel his ribs, but I can feel and see the bone where his tail connects to his hips. He's missing a scale on top of his head (we received him like this) and it's black and rough where the scale should be. The tip of his nose looks kind of raw, I'm wondering if he rubs his nose on the plexy glass of his enclosure. Other than that, his urtrates look healthy and he's a very friendly lizard. This is my first tegu, I could just be over worrying.


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## Walter1 (Dec 11, 2016)

Emily L Valin said:


> I'm honestly not sure. He shed recently with no issues. I can't feel his ribs, but I can feel and see the bone where his tail connects to his hips. He's missing a scale on top of his head (we received him like this) and it's black and rough where the scale should be. The tip of his nose looks kind of raw, I'm wondering if he rubs his nose on the plexy glass of his enclosure. Other than that, his urtrates look healthy and he's a very friendly lizard. This is my first tegu, I could just be over worrying.


It's OK to see the hip bones as long as fat around them= doesn't look emaciated.


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## HayRou16 (Dec 22, 2016)

Emily L Valin said:


> We have had him for around a month now. He still doesn't eat much. He only eats if I kind of shove the food in his face, he will never touch it if I leave it in his enclosure. Even when I do that, he takes a couple bites but mostly licks it then looses interest. He will lick up whole raw eggs no problem, but I want him to eat more than that. I mix raw ground turkey with vitamin powder, raw egg and chopped up grapes, or just raw eggs by themselves. I tried bananas and grapes by themselves but he has no interest in it.




NEVER feed bananas. They have potassium which stops the absorption of calcium and can limit growth, energy, and overall activity of your tegu. Bananas are really only supposed to be a once in a while treat, so feeding them to an already lethargic tegu isn't the best idea.

Do you use high enough power uvb lights? My red x blue hybrid became way more active (especially in feeding) after I purchased a powersun 160 watt uvb bulb.

Hopefully this helps, good luck with your gu!


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## Walter1 (Dec 22, 2016)

Hayrue- Overall you're right, but to clarify a bit the problem withh nanners isn't really the potassium itself as much as it's the ratio of it to calcium. As long as the food has a high calcium to potassium ratio, such as dandelions, collards, etc. and not the other way around like nanners and sweet potato, etc.


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## kaa (Dec 27, 2016)

Have you tried crickets or roaches? The movement might trigger a feeding response. You could also contact ty to find out what he was feeding.


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