# Need help.. . Ordered male tegu, its female?? possibly??



## colepinter (Sep 30, 2011)

Hey guys, i ordered a tegu from bobby hill last year i dont remember when, it was alittle before halloween, so im assuming ive had him for around a year now.. I ordered a male extreme giant, but it wasnt a hatchling, no more green on its head, so i dont know how old, but still young. im assuming my tegu is around a year and a half old at most. Take good care of him, keep the temps good, humidity good, large cage, hides, etc. But im starting to wonder if its not a him ??? (bobby hill, if your reading this, its the tegu that had the knick in its tail that you sent me, you said that was the only male you had left.. remember??) anyway if you are reading this, i was wondering if you could remember if you probed this one ?? i dont see any bumbs on its tail, and it doesnt seem to have jowls yet. It seems to have a extra nice roll of skin on its neck, but its not filled in with fat or anything. He also seems to have slowed down eating lately for no reason at all, a bite of food every few days, and stuff, its that time of the year some people told me even though hes indoors, they still know ?? but hes shedding now, so im sure thats another reason. Either way, hes healthy, not worried for him yet. Can some people possibly tell me just how long it took their male to develop jowls ??? what is the longest time it takes for some males to develop jowls???? I only bought this one, with the knick in its tail, because it was a male and i wanted a male... a bigger lizard.. and it was the only one he had left that year.. wound up getting dried gangrene in the tail because of the knick in it, vein closed and had to bring him to the vet and spend 590 bucks   i would have just bought one of the other females if i knew this would happen, and then it still turns out to not be a male !!! he/she is still my best buddy though.. i just wanna find out if its male or female.. cause if its female, i still wanna get a male..im used to larger monitor lizards, last one i had was a asian water monitor.. female tegus seem sorta dinky. help me out if your reading this bobby ! i wanna know if you probed.. and people if your reading this, help me out, let me know how long jowls took to fill in. and also.. how many years before tegus stop growing usually ? i know most reptiles never really stop growing, but slow down, so really im asking, how many years before your tegus slowed down their growth ??? ? thanks people.


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## james.w (Sep 30, 2011)

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think it can take up to 2 years before the jowls really start to fill out. Do you have any pics of your Tegu you can post? I would guess he was probably born around July-August of last year which would make him just over 1 year, so I wouldn't worry too much yet.


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## babyyitslove (Oct 1, 2011)

Yessir, photos would be helpful =0)


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## reptastic (Oct 1, 2011)

Photos would help, I got a giant from last years clutch he dosnt have much in the way of jowls but his buttons are prominent and he drops sperm plugs when he poops, how big is he?


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## colepinter (Oct 1, 2011)

since he lost his tail because of that whole thing that happened, his tail isnt too long, but id say hes about the size of the tegu in the back on your picture of storm and rayne 
i dont see any buttons, cant feel them. id say the head shape is like the tegu in the back on your photo maybe. Ill try to take some new pictures and post them up on here later today. and ill try to get underside photos, etc.


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## Rhetoric (Oct 1, 2011)

Rango is 2 and he didn't start to get jowl-y until a couple months ago. I think tegus get the majority of their size by the time they are 3, however I've stumbled upon some posts where people have said they're full grown around 5. Mine have got most of their length in the first year but they did not hibernate/brumate during the winter. They've all filled out quite a bit over the summer.


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## colepinter (Oct 1, 2011)

okay guys took pictures tonight all i have is my girlfreinds camera phone, and my tegu wasnt sitting still too well for a bottom shot, had to lift his beg legs up well his front were on my lap, wasnt working out good but these are the pics i came up with !! 

here - sorry for making it a second message. didnt know how to add pictures


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## Rhetoric (Oct 1, 2011)

I would guess female based on the head and how narrow it is. If you can get a better pic of the vent area that'd help a lot. The lighting makes it a little more difficult to look for spurs. Some may take longer than others to develop, they're tied into their sex organs. For a while I was unsure of Rangos sex, he looked like he had one spur but another member pointed out his other spur. Now (a few months later) there is no questioning his spurs or his manhood.

The spur highlighted in red was the more noticeable one, the blue one was pointed out by anther member.


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## colepinter (Oct 1, 2011)

i know, theyre supposed to be like little zits almost right ??? i just dont feel or see them.. but hes only alittle over a year old. does that mean they may have just not developed yet if hes only a little over a year old ????? or what ???? just looked again.. didnt find any. but then again the one on the one side, you didnt even notice on yours. maybe mine is both like the one that you cant notice. although you say my tegus head is shorter and narrow, it sure seems to be alot longer then alot of female tegus its age... i thought my tegu had more of a male head to it... ill try to post a few more older pics, in a minute if i can find them, so you can have a better idea.


okay heres some more, the oudoor picture, and the picture of him on the back of the couch are about 5 months older than the ones i posted today... he didnt seem to grow a whole whole lot the past 6 months. but he still shed about 3 or 4 times so maybe it wasnt as apparent to me since i spent so much time with him!! or her.. whatever he/she is ! ... but thast what we are trying to figure out.


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## babyyitslove (Oct 1, 2011)

That is a beautiful tegu! 

My male is 6... so I can't help here =(


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## Wil (Oct 1, 2011)

rhetoricx said:


> I would guess female based on the head and how narrow it is. If you can get a better pic of the vent area that'd help a lot. The lighting makes it a little more difficult to look for spurs. Some may take longer than others to develop, they're tied into their sex organs. For a while I was unsure of Rangos sex, he looked like he had one spur but another member pointed out his other spur. Now (a few months later) there is no questioning his spurs or his manhood.
> 
> The spur highlighted in red was the more noticeable one, the blue one was pointed out by anther member.



That picture looks familiar.


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## colepinter (Oct 1, 2011)

anyone else have any thoughts on the pictures i posted?


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## Rhetoric (Oct 1, 2011)

wil said:


> rhetoricx said:
> 
> 
> > I would guess female based on the head and how narrow it is. If you can get a better pic of the vent area that'd help a lot. The lighting makes it a little more difficult to look for spurs. Some may take longer than others to develop, they're tied into their sex organs. For a while I was unsure of Rangos sex, he looked like he had one spur but another member pointed out his other spur. Now (a few months later) there is no questioning his spurs or his manhood.
> ...



It was you who pointed out the other one  and you were right!


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## reptastic (Oct 1, 2011)

Ai would say based on the shape of the head and the body you have a female, males are usually a bit bulkier in the midsection and have a larger head/neck

Nm that I meant it looks to be a male


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## Wil (Oct 1, 2011)

colepinter said:


> anyone else have any thoughts on the pictures i posted?



A good bright and focused closeup picture of the cloaca area may help if possible. 

Basically, the "spurs" that you look for in males are actually a small cluster of enlarged scales which are the anchoring points for tendons going to the hemipenes. They will be located near the corners of the cloaca. 

As of now, I would say you have a 50% chance of having a male. Lol


rhetoricx said:


> wil said:
> 
> 
> > rhetoricx said:
> ...



Lucky guess on my part. Lol.


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## colepinter (Oct 2, 2011)

reptastic - couldnt really follow what you were saying... you said first thought it was female, then corrected yourself - im confused... you think its male ?????? it is alittle bulkier i thought than alot of females that age... and it seems to have a bit of a longer head that males seem to have in pictures i thought.. females usually have a smaller triangular shaped head it seems in photos... what do you guys think of that whole thing ? idk.. i know head cant tell you if its male or female but.. just from what ive seen. i need more peoples opinions please xD


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## babyyitslove (Oct 2, 2011)

My male is older and SMALLER than my female. My female almost dwarfs him and is half his age. 
He has a very pointed snout, and hers is more rounded.
Like a croc vs. A gator.


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## Rhetoric (Oct 2, 2011)

I'm not sure anymore lol, the head doesn't look as narrow in the second group of pictures... I don't think the head is always something to go off of but here is a picture of guru's head from today. He's from 2010 and a regular black and white. 





It is possible you have a male thats a late bloomer. The spurs do feel like zits or bb's. Have your seen your tegu poop? Usually by this age you would have seen a hemipenis when it poops, again not always. Start looking for sperm plugs too.


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## Bubblz Calhoun (Oct 2, 2011)

_I think its a male just judging from the two recent pics you posted,.. give it more time they all mature at different rates. But in those pics (outside and back of couch) he looks to be about the same as Blizzard when he was a year old.

But cloaca pics sometimes help_


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## colepinter (Oct 2, 2011)

ive seen him poop, BUT i never can catch his underside when he poops. i have tried. its always in spots i cant really catch the hemipenis coming out  soo.. i dont know if he has one or not !... rhetoric, yes my tegus head is shaped just like the one in the photo you showed me. longer/narrow like the pic you showed me... but - the tegu in the picture you showed me does seem to have more full jowls. i havent noticed sperm plugs laying around ---- when do they usually come out - with the poop or what ??? sometimes, ive noticed once or twice, clear jello in texture like stuff with his poop from what i can remember (yes, i fucking bare pickup the poop with my hands, yes i know im gross) - but its been in the bathtub with his poop. ive just grabbed with with my hands and picked it up, and noticed it along with the poop. tegu jizz ? hahahah... not sperm plugs ??? help me out here.. what could that be ?


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## Rhetoric (Oct 2, 2011)

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110283
^Sperm plugs.

It depends, I almost always see their hemipenis when they poop. Two of my tegus leave sperm plugs with every poop the other one leaves them here and there.


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## reptastic (Oct 2, 2011)

I'm going with male, my extreme storm only recently within the past 2 weeks began "flashing" his male parts and leaving behind noticable sperm plugs, he is also from the 2010 clutch


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## chelvis (Oct 2, 2011)

My male tegu didnt really get his jowls until he was three and I never flashes or has spurm plugs. Some males just take longer than others.


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## colepinter (Oct 2, 2011)

just realized his night time heat source was burnt out, we had problems with our electricity (fuse kept sparking and loose in the socket had to get socket replaced) it burnt out a bulb in the house, reallised his damn dumb expensive heat emitter bulb for night time was burnt out. that could explain him not eating as much the past two weeks, seeing as how his night time temperatures were probably too low since it wasnt working (i like to leave it on in the day time too, since im a air conditioning addict when im awake) ... that explains why he wouldnt eat past two weeks or less, but also hes in shed right now. and its fall, last fall i felt like he sensed it was fall and acted like he wanted to hibernate... anyone ever notice them act like they want to hibernate just because of the seasons change, even if theyre indoors ??? does that make sense ??? 

btw chelvis.. love your caimen lizard !!!!! very cool.. what kind of collar are you using for bosco in that picture ? doesnt look like a harness??? i see everyone with neat harnesses on their tegus, i was wondering if you guys could tell me what brands you use ? i have a crappy XXL ""leash"" leather harness thing, that is difficult to get over my tegu plus he doesnt seem to like it much... it seems some of these material harnesses i see some people have on their tegus on this site seem alot more comfortable for them. i dont want my tegu to be uncomfortable i wanna get one like you guys have !


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## james.w (Oct 2, 2011)

They can and some will hibernate even if kept indoors. What are the night time temps in the enclosure??

I use a XS dog harness for my Tegu, I was using a ferret harness, but it is now too small.


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## reptastic (Oct 2, 2011)

chelvis said:


> My male tegu didnt really get his jowls until he was three and I never flashes or has spurm plugs. Some males just take longer than others.




Lol I certainly hope you don't flash and leave sperm plugs around hehehe


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## Rhetoric (Oct 3, 2011)

I have a mesh-type rabbit harness and a smaller cat harness. They don't seem to like the cat one much.


reptastic said:


> chelvis said:
> 
> 
> > My male tegu didnt really get his jowls until he was three and I never flashes or has spurm plugs. Some males just take longer than others.
> ...



lmao


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## slideaboot (Oct 3, 2011)

colepinter said:


> just realized his night time heat source was burnt out, we had problems with our electricity (fuse kept sparking and loose in the socket had to get socket replaced) it burnt out a bulb in the house, reallised his damn dumb expensive heat emitter bulb for night time was burnt out. that could explain him not eating as much the past two weeks, seeing as how his night time temperatures were probably too low since it wasnt working (i like to leave it on in the day time too, since im a air conditioning addict when im awake) ... that explains why he wouldnt eat past two weeks or less, but also hes in shed right now. and its fall, last fall i felt like he sensed it was fall and acted like he wanted to hibernate... anyone ever notice them act like they want to hibernate just because of the seasons change, even if theyre indoors ??? does that make sense ???
> 
> btw chelvis.. love your caimen lizard !!!!! very cool.. what kind of collar are you using for bosco in that picture ? doesnt look like a harness??? i see everyone with neat harnesses on their tegus, i was wondering if you guys could tell me what brands you use ? i have a crappy XXL ""leash"" leather harness thing, that is difficult to get over my tegu plus he doesnt seem to like it much... it seems some of these material harnesses i see some people have on their tegus on this site seem alot more comfortable for them. i dont want my tegu to be uncomfortable i wanna get one like you guys have !





You could have that cage temperature at 100 degrees all day and night, all year long, and your tegu could STILL HIBERNATE if it wanted to. Tegus are one of the few reptiles that can't often be manipulated in or out of hibernation--they do what they want, when they want to do it.


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