# My Tegu Puked Up a Rock! UPDATE: Tegu is okay and eating



## ashesc212 (Dec 1, 2008)

Goodness, the tegu puked up a rock today while he was out. I don't know where he got it from because we took the rocks out over a week ago unless it was lodged in him the whole time. He's so small though. I hope he's okay and that there's no internal damage. I saw him try to eat one a week or two ago and that's why I took them out to begin with.

:jadr


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## PinkPunisher (Dec 1, 2008)

Whoa...close call. Lets hope that was the only one! I would suggest only using rocks much bigger then your tegus head. I find one of my tegus Alice is often trying to eat rocks, maybe there just curious because Alice is still rather young. 

Spencer


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## ashesc212 (Dec 1, 2008)

PinkPunisher said:


> Whoa...close call. Lets hope that was the only one! I would suggest only using rocks much bigger then your tegus head. I find one of my tegus Alice is often trying to eat rocks, maybe there just curious because Alice is still rather young.
> 
> Spencer



Yeah, I was thinking that there is a possibility that he swallowed more. The thing is that I'm not using any rocks right now.


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## ashesc212 (Dec 1, 2008)

Okay - this is weird...the tegu was running around like crazy but when he sits still his toes start twitching...do you think this is related to the rock? What should I do?[/quote]


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## DaveDragon (Dec 1, 2008)

Where was he hiding that rock??!! Has he been eating good since you took out the rocks?? If he's been eating good (and they eat alot!) he must have eaten it in the past day or 2. They have fairly high metabolism and the food goes through them quickly.

What are you using for UVB and how close is it from the substrate? I've been using a MVB for heat & UVB, I figure they need the extra UVB while they're rapidly growing. But I'd think a ReptiSun 10 in a 20G would be fine.


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## ashesc212 (Dec 2, 2008)

DaveDragon said:


> Where was he hiding that rock??!! Has he been eating good since you took out the rocks?? If he's been eating good (and they eat alot!) he must have eaten it in the past day or 2. They have fairly high metabolism and the food goes through them quickly.
> 
> What are you using for UVB and how close is it from the substrate? I've been using a MVB for heat & UVB, I figure they need the extra UVB while they're rapidly growing. But I'd think a ReptiSun 10 in a 20G would be fine.



He has been eating good for the past two weeks so I never would have suspected that he had a rock in him. 

Last night, when I noticed the twitching I took him out for a while and he fell asleep near me. It seemed the twitching stopped but I'm not positive. I don't know if he had been upset by something or not.

I'm still using the Reptiglo 10 in the 20L. He has a little basking rock with steps that lets him get within 7 inches of the UVB. I'm using a 75w basking light which gets to about 105 degrees.


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## DaveDragon (Dec 2, 2008)

ashesc212 said:


> I'm still using the Reptiglo 10 in the 20L. He has a little basking rock with steps that lets him get within 7 inches of the UVB. I'm using a 75w basking light which gets to about 105 degrees.


It sounds like you're doing a great job!!


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## ashesc212 (Dec 2, 2008)

DaveDragon said:


> ashesc212 said:
> 
> 
> > I'm still using the Reptiglo 10 in the 20L. He has a little basking rock with steps that lets him get within 7 inches of the UVB. I'm using a 75w basking light which gets to about 105 degrees.
> ...



Thanks, he certainly gave me a scare though. He still looks like he's not twitching.


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## ashesc212 (Dec 4, 2008)

DaveDragon said:


> Where was he hiding that rock??!! Has he been eating good since you took out the rocks?? If he's been eating good (and they eat alot!) he must have eaten it in the past day or 2. They have fairly high metabolism and the food goes through them quickly.
> 
> What are you using for UVB and how close is it from the substrate? I've been using a MVB for heat & UVB, I figure they need the extra UVB while they're rapidly growing. But I'd think a ReptiSun 10 in a 20G would be fine.



Okay, so he was eating really well when the rock was in him but he hasn't eaten any meal since. I'm starting to get worried. I saw him eat a tiny bit of raspberry and that's it.


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## ashesc212 (Dec 4, 2008)

He's still active and drinking water. Everything else is normal.


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## DaveDragon (Dec 4, 2008)

He hasn't eaten any crickets?


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## ashesc212 (Dec 4, 2008)

DaveDragon said:


> He hasn't eaten any crickets?



Ever since he started eating turkey he doesn't seem to like crickets anyway. He usually ignores them and eats the turkey. However, he hasn't eaten the turkey either.


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## DaveDragon (Dec 4, 2008)

What is your basking temp?


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## ashesc212 (Dec 4, 2008)

DaveDragon said:


> What is your basking temp?



105


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## DaveDragon (Dec 4, 2008)

Turkey is a supplement, not a staple. He should be eating crickets too. The crickets running around should stimulate his appetite to chase them.

Have you tried a pinkie mouse yet? Just curious. I still haven't (keep forgetting).

When was the last time he got a nice warm (95Ã?Æ?Ã?â??Ã?Â¢Ã¢â??Â¬Ã?Â¡Ã?Æ?Ã¢â?¬Å¡Ã?â??Ã?Â°) bath?


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## DaveDragon (Dec 4, 2008)

ashesc212 said:


> DaveDragon said:
> 
> 
> > What is your basking temp?
> ...


Does he bask much? Or is he hiding?


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## ashesc212 (Dec 4, 2008)

DaveDragon said:


> Turkey is a supplement, not a staple. He should be eating crickets too. The crickets running around should stimulate his appetite to chase them.
> 
> Have you tried a pinkie mouse yet? Just curious. I still haven't (keep forgetting).
> 
> When was the last time he got a nice warm (95Ã?Æ?Ã?â??Ã?Â¢Ã¢â??Â¬Ã?Â¡Ã?Æ?Ã¢â?¬Å¡Ã?â??Ã?Â°) bath?



I give him baths every other day. He won't eat the crickets I put in the cage. I did take him out a few minutes ago and (I know this is a bad habit but I'm desperate to get him to eat) I got him to eat crickets out of my hand *sigh*...


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## ashesc212 (Dec 4, 2008)

I haven't tried the pinkies either because we only have large pinkies in the house. He's probably still too small for those, no?


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## ashesc212 (Dec 4, 2008)

DaveDragon said:


> ashesc212 said:
> 
> 
> > DaveDragon said:
> ...



He basks a lot...rarely uses his hide at all.


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## ashesc212 (Dec 4, 2008)

Idk, maybe he's just being finicky...


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## DaveDragon (Dec 4, 2008)

ashesc212 said:


> DaveDragon said:
> 
> 
> > Turkey is a supplement, not a staple. He should be eating crickets too. The crickets running around should stimulate his appetite to chase them.
> ...


You're doing better than us!! They get a bath once or twice a week. But they do run through the water alot.


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## DaveDragon (Dec 4, 2008)

ashesc212 said:


> I haven't tried the pinkies either because we only have large pinkies in the house. He's probably still too small for those, no?


I don't know. We have small and normal pinkies. With all I have to do, I just haven't had time to sit and feed them individually. I've got to do it this weekend.


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## DaveDragon (Dec 4, 2008)

ashesc212 said:


> He basks a lot...rarely uses his hide at all.


That's good.

Can you pick him up and feel his belly?? If he's got a rock in him, it should be very noticeable.


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## DaveDragon (Dec 4, 2008)

ashesc212 said:


> Idk, maybe he's just being finicky...


That's possible. I've noticed some of ours always look like they're going to explode, and others look normal. I don't know which ones are eating the most. I may separate them again and watch.


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## ashesc212 (Dec 4, 2008)

His belly feels soft right now. I was thinking when the rock came up it could have hurt his digestive tract but maybe not. 

I'd like him to start eating out of the cage, but not with me hand feeding him. He'll only eat turkey in his cage and crickets, it seems, outside of his cage but with me, not by himself lol. He's still very active so I don't think he is sick or anything.


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## DaveDragon (Dec 4, 2008)

I've hand fed our adults (with a fork, don't tell anyone!) but not the little ones. That would take a while to fed 11 of them.

Have you tried him with Superworms?


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## ashesc212 (Dec 4, 2008)

DaveDragon said:


> I've hand fed our adults (with a fork, don't tell anyone!) but not the little ones. That would take a while to fed 11 of them.
> 
> Have you tried him with Superworms?



Yep, he won't eat them. Beardie doesn't mind though - more for her! She eats them like potato chips. *chomp* *chomp* *chomp*

On a side note, can you send me your tegu cage plans? I need to move Kwayze and Weaver up and I have a lot of time on my hands now lol so I was thinking of building some terrariums. (gmail address...no longer at the other place)


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## DaveDragon (Dec 4, 2008)

ashesc212 said:


> On a side note, can you send me your tegu cage plans? I need to move Kwayze and Weaver up and I have a lot of time on my hands now lol so I was thinking of building some terrariums. (gmail address...no longer at the other place)


Email sent.


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## laurarfl (Dec 4, 2008)

What were you feeding him in the past...mostly turkey and insects? What supplements were you using as well, and how often. Diet is just as important as UV for these little growing guys.


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## ashesc212 (Dec 5, 2008)

laurarfl said:


> What were you feeding him in the past...mostly turkey and insects? What supplements were you using as well, and how often. Diet is just as important as UV for these little growing guys.



Originally he was on crickets and would not eat the turkey. Then he went through a turkey eating phase and would avoid the crickets. Now he seems to be eating crickets again but avoiding his turkey. The feeders get calcium dustings 5x a week and multivite 2x. Oh, I'm trying to get him to eat raspberries now too. He ate a little.

I've only had him for three weeks so before that he was with Dave.


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