# Constant Burrowing



## Blevine1292 (Oct 10, 2011)

Hey guys, im new here, just got a gold tegu. My problem: he is burrowing for 2 days straight already...whats up with that? he is 5 months old, 15-16", in a 40 gallon breeder. I havent seen him come out to bask or anything, Its 95 degrees on the hot end and and 85 on the cold end. He's on 3-4 inches of cedar bark. I've heard that they could burrow for days then come out and eat bask for a little than go back to sleeping..is this normal behavior? also on a side note, how often should i feed him? im doing every day right now


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## Strange_Evil (Oct 10, 2011)

As far as i know pine and cedar are both toxic to herps. So you should really get him off that and get him on some cypress or top soil/sand mix. And when you do put the new substrate in,make it around 6 inches at least and i'd bump up the basking to 100 if you could. Tegus will dig to regulate body temps and for security, he's a new tegu,odds are he's stress. Leave him be for now,allow him to explore and digg, they love to digg, its what they do. What do you use to measure temps?

I read its good to feed everyday up until a year old.


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## james.w (Oct 10, 2011)

Yeah get him off the cedar. Colombian tegus don't hibernate, but I believe they brumateHe could be brumating or just getting acclimated to his new home. I would also feed everyday.


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## Blevine1292 (Oct 10, 2011)

my mistake, he is on repti bark..i thought that it was cedar...reptibark is fir. But ill go grab another bag tomorrow and put it in. What exactly is brumating?


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## Strange_Evil (Oct 10, 2011)

Okay, i had some bad experience with the repti bark, it splinters too much,gets dusty and hard to keep moist. And really doesn't hold a burrow. 

http://lllreptile.com/info/library/care-and-husbandry-articles/-/reptilian-brumation/


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## spidersandmonsters (Oct 10, 2011)

Strange_Evil said:


> Okay, i had some bad experience with the repti bark, it splinters too much,gets dusty and hard to keep moist. And really doesn't hold a burrow.
> 
> http://lllreptile.com/info/library/care-and-husbandry-articles/-/reptilian-brumation/


 Yup. Repti bark on its own isn't great, but you can mix it with a bag of cheap topsoil and its great. I would do that before dishing out the money for another bag of Repti bark.


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## Blevine1292 (Oct 10, 2011)

I have a brick of eco earth laying around so should I mix that into the reptibark? I dont want to dig him out of his burrow, I heard thats bad.


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## Strange_Evil (Oct 10, 2011)

Should work, just make sure you watch his eyes with the eco earth, when i used it for my sav and tegu it would constantly get stuck in there eyes. Never disturb the burrow, you will stress the animal and destroy any trust you've established. But In honesty, you may end up having to force handle him to get him out and change the substrate. We'll then again you could just as easily just place the substrate in the cage without moving the lizard out, this may be a good exercise with trust building. 

I remember when i first got my tegu, he would only come out when i wasn't around and he would dash for cover when he saw me. Now he'll crawl up out the cage and on my shoulder. Takes patience, work around in the cage as much as possible,changing water,spot cleaning and what else. Just do not force handle, let him make the first move and approach you. You can go and buy some tongs and feed him from those, start to bribe him with food too approach you and lead him on to your hand and out of the cage. I started off doing that.


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## Blevine1292 (Oct 10, 2011)

i just bought a pack of pinkies, when i see him out I'm going to lure him to my hand with it and see what happens. I feel bad because he hasnt eaten in 2 days. But yea ive literally got 16 sets of tongs, I have one for each herp I have. I look at it like I dont want to use some strangers fork after they use it, so I cleaned out petco and bought each one their own set haha.


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## Blevine1292 (Oct 11, 2011)

How long do you think he will stay burrowed? We are going on the 3rd day and no sign of him. He hasn't eaten since the last time I saw him, I feel bad that he hasn't eaten anything.


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## Logie_Bear (Oct 11, 2011)

Have you tried placing a little plate of food in the enclosure to see if he will eat when no one is around?


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## Strange_Evil (Oct 11, 2011)

He's probably coming up when your not around. I agree with above try placing a dish of food in the cage and walking away. I had to start of this way with my tegu, leaving a food dish in to lure him out and walking away. Just clean up good afterwards. But you just got him give it time.


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## james.w (Oct 11, 2011)

I agree with leaving food in the enclosure. This is how I started with my monitors, just put the food on a plate/bowl and leave it on the cool end.


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## Blevine1292 (Oct 11, 2011)

he eventually came out today, around 2, it took me a little under an hour for him to allow me to pick him up and put him in the food bin, he ate a pinkie and some canned tegu food. took me about 15 minutes to get him to go on my hand back to his cage. He stayed out until 6 then clocked out. Im hoping he isn't going to stay under like that again, but only time will tell.


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## ClockworkCarrion (Oct 13, 2011)

mine only comes out when he wants food or water, he is usually hidden. i like using the coconut chunk bedding a lot more than bark.


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## numarix (Oct 30, 2011)

My guy is new but he came out today to eat poop and hunt and when we came in the room he ran to the other side of the tank. Is this normal?


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## TeguBuzz (Oct 31, 2011)

numarix said:


> My guy is new but he came out today to eat poop and hunt and when we came in the room he ran to the other side of the tank. Is this normal?



Yea, he's not use to you yet.


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