# Why is he not growing?



## nessanicolle (Aug 23, 2012)

Im honestly concerned now..
I'm seeing more and more posts talking about thier tegu being like 15 inches to a foot at like 2 months (no one in particular) and my baby is only 13 inches at 7 months. 

Do columbians grow slower than arg's? Because it seems REALLY small. Too small.. 

Thanks, Vanessa.

[attachment=4888]


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## Steven. (Aug 23, 2012)

I'm no expert, so anyone please correct me, but i think columbian tegus are one of the smallest tegus. So my guess is they will not grow as fast as say a b/w or a red and don't even compare him to an extreme.. But then again i could be wrong..


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## james.w (Aug 23, 2012)

Colombians are generally smaller than Argentines. Can you describe how you have him setup, exactly, and maybe we can tell you if something is off. What size enclosure, type, what temps, cool side and basking and how are you measuring them, what are you feeding and how often, what supplements if any are you using, what substrate, what is the humidity, what type/size bulbs are you using for basking and UVB, and anything else you think we might need to know? Pics of the entire enclosure will help as well.


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## nessanicolle (Aug 23, 2012)

55 gallon at the moment, 98 at the basking spot 80 ish on the cool side, at night about 75 with thermometers next the the basking spot and at the cool end, I feed him whenever he'll eat, ususally fuzzies/hoppers with the zoo med calcium at least once a week ( I stuff them with a bit of it), if not mice then the ground up turkey (with bones) with the tetrafauna repti-vitamin, cypress mulch,60-80% humidity depending on when i mist the cage, I have a 100W basking bulb on top but it's pretty close to the substrate since I have the mulch higher up on the hot side with the flat basking rock, 10.0 18 inch tube uvb light, a big water/ cat bowl for water, a wooden hide box, and a giant branch that stretches across the tank. and a towel on the top to maintain heat and humididty. I take him out for at least a half an hour each day. It's pretty tame so far and he's my pride and joy.


I mean I just wanted to know if that small of growth so far is normal for columbians.


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## james.w (Aug 23, 2012)

Up the basking temp to about 110.


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## nessanicolle (Aug 23, 2012)

Will do.


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## james.w (Aug 23, 2012)

Temps and diet have a lot to do with how your tegu will grow. Get him some insects, dubia roaches would be best if you can get them where you live.


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## Dirtydmc (Aug 23, 2012)

Yeah, columbians are way smaller. Tegus growth rate depends on not only a good diet, but the gu itself. I had one. He grew pretty good but nowhere near as fast as my chacoan. Don't be concerned. Food, vitamins, good light and a bigger home.


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## DavidRosi (Aug 25, 2012)

That does seem small... Just make sure Basking is what it should be, my Columbian is growing super well and shedding weekly at the moment !


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## nessanicolle (Aug 29, 2012)

well, i actually just measured him last night and he's about 15 inches. he's been getting huge.


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