# Is everything ok with this tegu????



## droopster (Sep 10, 2013)

So about a year and a half i had a argentine B/W tegu. he was 4years old. i had him from the start. never had any problems with him. he was tame liked al kinds of good food, beautifull color, shedded wel,...

And then my house burned out totaly. everything was gone. also coockie (his name).
i realy miss him to much. 

a while ago i had build an enclosure 200x80x80 and the plan was that i would wait until i found a hatchling. because here in belgium the most people start with hibernation now it was hard to find one.

But my girlfriend bought for suprise (whitout my knowing) a red tegu that is 2years they told her. 

i now have him for 3 weeks. But i have no real experience with red ones. And i never had problems with my B/W. 

now i would like some advice. the folowing things i think is strange:
-he/she never had hibernation: is this a problem?/and should i start doing it or not?
-he won't eat so much. in the 3 weeks i have him. he only ate a tiny bit turkey out of my hand and he ate 2 chickenheart and 1/8 of a boiled egg. all the rest he just leave on his plate. (i try to give him all the stuff i read in all the forums from insects/fruit/meat/fish/....) and leave him alone with it. but wont eat good.
-he has a strange color (i think?) for red tegu and he has some shed problems i think (photos). the skin is cracks and loose ends that wont come off. the temps and humidity now are perfect i think. 70-80% in day and now i take 100% at night for the shedding. but he is als afraid for water. he hate's water. never goes in his swimming pool, and only pufs and show some agression when i want to soak him in water gently. he can burrow in his substrate and holds humidity high. so i dont see where is the problem.
my B/W went pooping every day and took a swim every day.
-the good thing is, that he is pretty tame. i can take him, he walks around in living room and in the garden,... he is curious, sits on my lap,...
-now the last few days i leave him alone like i did the first week. and he comes out of his hiding spot every day to sun a little bit. but she never goes near her watertank and won't eat a thing.

the problem is that i dont know nothing about the history of this tegu. and i have some experience with a black and white tegu but she never had any problem at all. contacting the previous owners is not an option, i tried....
if there's anyone who wants give me some advice?


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## droopster (Sep 10, 2013)

this was coockie. RIP.


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## Aardbark (Sep 10, 2013)

That is definitely retained shed on him. It looks like it could even be multiple layers of shed. My best advice would be to take him to a vet, and even if he doesn't like it, give him lots of baths.

Also RIP Coockie


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## droopster (Sep 10, 2013)

the fasted i can com to the vet is on saterday. for now i used some vaseline. and of tommorow i wil soak him 2 times a day for about 30min or longer/more?
should i keep the humidity 100% during the day also until his shedding problem is solved or normal at 70%?
what should i do with the hibernation this year? doing nothing at all and take care for his shed first?
or take care of the shed and then start simulating winter and he can go to hibernate later?
because if he is going in hibernation i dont think its good i disturb him and take him for a soak and take care of his shed?


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## KritterKeeper (Sep 14, 2013)

Were you able to get him to the vet? If so what did they say? Im no expert on these guys but i would think making sure hes healthy should be taken care of before letting him hibernate.


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## laurarfl (Sep 14, 2013)

I second that opinion.


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## droopster (Sep 16, 2013)

I've been to the vet.
he was very dehydrated. they have given him a shot of antibiotics and i must do it for 2 more weeks.
I have to put him 2 times a day in bath for an hour. (he starting to appriciate water and is no more agressive in the water. i think he's starting to like soaks)
blood and poop results were fine. so no parasites or something. they gave me advice just trying to wait for hibernation a little longer until he is no longer dehydrated and he took all of his two weeks medicine.
So it is definitely comming okay. it will only take long before he is back in order. And the color wil not be normal again (maybe after a lot of sheds) Thanks for the advice.


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## SnakeCharmr728 (Nov 20, 2013)

Were you able to get the retained shed off???


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## Matthew Krzemienski (Nov 21, 2013)

They also sell mineral oil wipes at any store (like target) which can help with retained shed or just as a weekly maintenance to help with moisture. My beardie also had bad retained shed on her tail and wiping her down with olive oil plus daily soaks solved the problem in a couple days. Just some things to try

Matt


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