# Skinny Tegu



## MyHandsome (Dec 2, 2012)

Hello all, 

I'm new here and have some tegu issues :s

I got my black and white tegu in september, she is about 2 years old and was doing pretty well. All her temps and humidity are good, in a good size tank for now (going to build a bigger one) but my problem is her eating.

Since I have had her she will not eat if she is not in her enclosure. I have tried feeding her outside but she will not even touch it, to the point where I gave up because I feel bad if she goes too long with out eating. Another issue is, she will only eat every 3 days. and if I try and feed her on the second or next day she wont eat and then wont eat for another three days, sometimes 4. The last feeding issue is she is PICKY! I have gotten her to eat turkey, a bit of ground pork, chicken gizzards and hearts, and her favorite are the goliath worms(?the blue ones). I am going to try hard boiled eggs tomorrow. (Which is day 4 because I tried feeding her pinky mince yesterday and refused) 

When hurricane Sandy hit, I lost power for a week and when it got cold I had to take all my reptiles to my friends house who had a generator. I had to switch her into a MUCH smaller tank for the time being, but I figured that would be better then freezing. Of course two days later she goes missing and turned up a full week later. Since then it took her a while to get back onto a normal feeding schedule (when I first got her and when we went to my friends house she would not eat at all) 

Now I feel like she is getting skinny. My boy friend thinks that she looks fine, but I am starting to get concerned. With her picky eating and weight that I feel she lost, I am worried that it will be hard for her to gain it back.

Any thoughts, ideas or tips would be greatly appreciated.


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## Roadkill (Dec 2, 2012)

A weigh scale would do yourself wonders.


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## james.w (Dec 2, 2012)

Can you post pictures? How big is she, what size is the enclosure, what are the temps and humidity, what are you using for UVB? That should get us started in trying to help.


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## TheTeguGurl (Dec 2, 2012)

Will she eat whole prey? baby chicks and quail and rats are pretty fatty things. But I dont recommend feeding her nothing but whole prey....Pics would be great to see specially tail base pics there where they hold alot of there fat reserves.


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## TegusRawsome80 (Dec 2, 2012)

She's two years old and you're feeding her pinkies? How big is she? I would recommend all whole prey over the diet you're currently feeding her although variety is good.


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## mattlagrone19 (Dec 2, 2012)

TegusRawsome80 said:


> She's two years old and you're feeding her pinkies? How big is she? I would recommend all whole prey over the diet you're currently feeding her although variety is good.



Same thought here. Shouldnt pinkies be to small by now


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## johnyb (Dec 3, 2012)

Hello all, This is my tegu as well. Eva is very picky in her own sense.. She is skinnier then most of the pictures i see this is true. how ever when she is hungry she has a way of letting you know.. if you try to feed her when she doesnt tell you shes hungry.. sorry your food is getting stomped on and forgotten about lol. However when she is hungry, we feed her on a plate.. She waits for you to take the plate out put food on it place it and close to lid. She then walks right over and eats her fill. this morning i fed a hard boiled egg.. She eat the whole thing.. let me cut up another inside her cage and place each peice down before snatching up another piece. She's not cage aggressive at all anymore.. She likes to be handled more now and the humidity has been great ever since we purchased a mist king. To me she seems fine just needed to settle in a bit.. but i really want to see what you guys think of the pictures i will post in a moment once she wakes up.

Answers to some questions i read - we dont try pinkies, we tryied once a snack.. she refused larger sized mice.. but that was during that whole hurrcane thing and she was prob stressed.
temp we keep at 85-100 humidity- 60-90


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## johnyb (Dec 3, 2012)

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Also can anyone tell me why she slightly yellowish or brownish in the spot i am pointing too in the last picture


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## Bubblz Calhoun (Dec 3, 2012)

_A little clarification as to whether or not Johnyb and Myhandsome are two people with the same tegu or not would help. If not hopefully one of the mods will separate them into two threads for less confusion. Johnyb saying "This is my tegu as well" can be taken as two people with the same tegu or another person with a different tegu but the same or similar issues._


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## MyHandsome (Dec 3, 2012)

Same tegu.


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## Bubblz Calhoun (Dec 3, 2012)

_In that case she doesn't look much if any bigger than when you got her back in sept. more clarification on husbandry is needed for us to better help you. 

If the temps are 85*-100* is that ambient or basking?
What about the cool side?
85 is high for cool side temps.
What kind of lights are you using?

During this time of year loss of or a change in appetite and activity should be expected but their shouldn't be rapid weight loss, they still maintain a decent weight. She doesn't look bad, I've seen worse but she could and probably should be bigger if not just heavier by now. But her appetite, metabolism and what she's eating or not eating, does affect that.

Like previously mentioned she doesn't look much bigger if she is at all from the pics posted back in sept. I don't know if she has ever been weighed but a scale would help keep an eye one her weight to determine if she's lost any (or still loosing it) exactly how much and how fast. Which could point to other issues.

What have you been feeding her (if anything) other than what was previously mentioned? 
Once again temps can effect their appetite, also what they eat. Heavier meals like whole prey take a little longer to break down and digest so they may not be hungry as often and eat less if at all for a few days. Without proper temps it can take even longer. But going a few days without eating in between heavy meals is normal, with smaller meals they should eat more often. _


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## johnyb (Dec 3, 2012)

well until about 5 mins ago, she didnt have a uvb bulb. I now have a 10.0, 23 watt reptiglow uvb bulb.. i didnt know that her baskin bulb didn't give uv 
Cool side is about 70-75 basking is about 85 right now.


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## Bubblz Calhoun (Dec 3, 2012)

_What are you using to measure temps?
What's the distance between her basking spot and the light?
If 85 is the hottest spot then you need a higher wattage bulb and the lack of UVB up until now could have also affected everything else. _


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## chelvis (Dec 3, 2012)

UV really helps with apatite stimulation so that will help. Basking spot should be higher around 110F. Warm temps, UV and humidity normally can jump start a tegu eating but this time of year you might be fighting nature. A lot of tegus are slowing down for winter, mine has gone into hibernation mode at the moment and is only coming out occationally to bask and drink but is refusing food, its a normal thing for tegus.


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## johnyb (Dec 3, 2012)

it is rising past 85.. but theres probably a foot and a half to the cool side.
We are using regular stick on thermometers, but we have digital if you think thats better. 
i hope the uvb will make a difference.. i feel terrible about having the wrong bulb this whole time... they told me snakes didn't need them. when we got the tegu i didnt even think about it i just new how to make her temperature right.


the hot side is just past 90 already.. I doubt it will get much hotter unless we get a 150 watt cerammic light.
Bosco your tegu is very cool looking on a side note.


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## Bubblz Calhoun (Dec 3, 2012)

_With a smaller enclosure adding a higher wattage bulb will change the temps and make it difficult to maintain a cool side. Providing a basking platform with different levels and or just raising her basking spot so that it's closer to the light or bringing the light down (what ever works) will help raise basking temps. 
The recommended distance for the light should be on the box, stay within those parameters since each one is a little different.

If that doesn't work it's time for a larger enclosure much sooner than later._


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## johnyb (Dec 3, 2012)

would 6x3x3 be sufficient enough for her whole life?


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## frost (Dec 3, 2012)

not when they reach 5 feet +


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