# New yearling



## Realitynh (Nov 28, 2011)

[attachment=3634][attachment=3635]what's up guys, I'm Mike & I'm new to the forum/tegus. I have been doing research for about 6 months after I went to a friend's reptile store & was introduced to the Argentine b&w & fell in love! I have built a 6x3x3 for one & drove 4 hours away to an expo in NY this past Sunday (yesterday) in hopes to grab a baby. I know that babies are out of season right now so I settled with a 3 foot yearling. I'm pretty sure it's too early to be able to tell if it's a male or female right now, but we've named HIM Damien lol. Aside from being skiddish due to the long ride home & having him escape to behind the dashboard of my car for 3 hours, he's doing well. I am going to be running a 50 watt spot lamp, 3' 10 watt ReptiSun uvb & a Power Sun 100 watt. I will be dusting with Reptical minus d3 on all his food. I know I don't need to dust his turkey/egg, right? That will be his main meal(s) aside from an occasional live treat. I was contemplating on a weekly multivitamin also. Any help/advice would be great. I tried putting him in the tub with a feeder earlier but I had woken him up & he was pretty pissed & uninterested. I know that he would normally be hibernating, but I'm wondering if I should still wake him up right now & see if he's interested in some turkey. I also want to be handling him a lot right now, but I don't wanna disturb him. What should I do?


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## Bubblz Calhoun (Nov 28, 2011)

_That yearling is looking Extremeish to me got any better pics ? Since it's a yearling it should be or getting ready to show signs of being male or female by now. Check for one button just below the cloaca on each side if it's going to be a male. I don't really see any jowls developing from those pics. You can also watch when it poops to see if it's inverting it's hemipenes yet or leaving sperm plugs. 

If it's female you won't see any of that. Also how long is it? Besides age they sometimes start to show signs around the 3ft mark as well._


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## Realitynh (Nov 28, 2011)

he's about 3 feet now, slender. I'm leaning towards female. He just wants to sleep...


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## TeguBuzz (Nov 28, 2011)

Looks like a girl from the pics. Nice, it's got a lot of white!


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## Realitynh (Nov 28, 2011)

That's why I grabbed it! Thanx man. Hey, do u think I should wake him up? Try to feed him?


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## Bubblz Calhoun (Nov 28, 2011)

_If it burrowed,.. give it time to settle in. It'll come out when it's ready then offer food._


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## Realitynh (Nov 28, 2011)

will do then, thanx.


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## TeguBuzz (Nov 28, 2011)

Only offer food when she(?) comes out on her own. Make sure water is supplied, if you don't see her for a couple weeks, then she's probably down for the count. It sucks, I know! Especially when it's your first gu and you get them during this time, the time will pass though, on the bright side, if she's down for the count you can always take a vacation! But if she's burrowed, as previously stated, let her be until she comes out on her own, or at least leave her for a few days/weeks. 

If you got any other questions, feel free to ask btw, we all ask questions at some point!


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## JohnMatthew (Nov 28, 2011)

Bubblz Calhoun said:


> _That yearling is looking Extremeish to me_



Me too, especially when the 2nd picture.


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## TeguBuzz (Nov 28, 2011)

This talk of it looking like an extreme might be solved, take a picture of the the jaw line, or just a picture of what the general area under the head, chin looks like. If it's a solid V, then it could be an extreme, but then again, some b/w's have been seen with it. I think they're pretty much the same thing as stated in previous threads, extremes just get a decent amount larger, but some b/w's can grow to that size. 

Check the pictures on this thread over and then let us know what you think it is: http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=5840#axzz1ey5CWPHd

I can't find the thread that show's pics of the V I mentioned.


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## Realitynh (Nov 28, 2011)

TeguBuzz said:


> Only offer food when she(?) comes out on her own. Make sure water is supplied, if you don't see her for a couple weeks, then she's probably down for the count. It sucks, I know! Especially when it's your first gu and you get them during this time, the time will pass though, on the bright side, if she's down for the count you can always take a vacation! But if she's burrowed, as previously stated, let her be until she comes out on her own, or at least leave her for a few days/weeks.
> 
> If you got any other questions, feel free to ask btw, we all ask questions at some point!



Much appreciated!


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## Rhetoric (Nov 28, 2011)

Welcome to the forum. Congrats On your tegu. I supplement everything except whole prey. Eggs are a decent occasional food, I would not make them part of a staple though. Live isn't really recommended, If you chose to do it anyway I would not do live rats. I've been known to do live mice here and there but for the most part I stick to f/t whole prey. Do you have any other pets?


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## Realitynh (Nov 28, 2011)

rhetoricx said:


> Welcome to the forum. Congrats On your tegu. I supplement everything except whole prey. Eggs are a decent occasional food, I would not make them part of a staple though. Live isn't really recommended, If you chose to do it anyway I would not do live rats. I've been known to do live mice here and there but for the most part I stick to f/t whole prey. Do you have any other pets?



Noted, thanx. We have a dog
[attachment=3636]


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## glk832 (Nov 28, 2011)

Nice...Good luck with you gu look like an Extreme


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## reptastic (Nov 28, 2011)

Looks a lot like an extreme or a really nice high white and my guess is female

A normal that could pass for chacoan
[attachment=3637]


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## omgtaylorg (Nov 29, 2011)

Welcome to the forum! and grats on the first gu! I say first cause like alot of other members you might get more..lol. Feel free to ask any and all questions even if it sounds stupid, theres also more than enough info on this site if you do some digging as well. As far as the live treat and turkey/egg you talked about earlier, that stuff is fine and dandy but you should also try other things as well. My tegus get a different type of food for every single day of the week including whole prey once a week and they love it all, you have to start them on a variety early or they tend to get hooked on a certain type of food and you dont want that because the variety of different things is what they need. I suggest things like ground turkey(with a tbsp of cod liver oil once a week) of course, chicken gizzard, beef liver, telapia, whole prey once a week RATS>MICE(more nutritional value), boneless/skinless chicken, I also do lean beef chunks that people use for things like stew(they love it), etc etc. Ask about any food you arent sure of. I also dust all of this with the zoomed repti calcium except the whole prey. Having the well rounded diet provides them with all of the essential vitamins and protein they need to promote good sheds and growth. Also like others have said above, that looks very much like an extreme to me


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## Realitynh (Nov 30, 2011)

Thanx a lot man. How would I go about preparing the turkey for him or her? And should I leave 1 of his lamps on all night? If I don't, it will surely drop down to around 60...


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## TeguBuzz (Nov 30, 2011)

Realitynh said:


> Thanx a lot man. How would I go about preparing the turkey for him or her? And should I leave 1 of his lamps on all night? If I don't, it will surely drop down to around 60...



60 is nothing for gu's. Sobek's lights go out at night and in this weather his temps are around 62 degrees at night, he's fine with it. When I had my reds and one b/w, I use to house them outside and temps would get easily in the 48-53 range with no problems. 

As for ground turkey, a tbspn of Cod liver oil/pound of turkey, raw turkey of course. I put vitamins in his foods once a week, calcium w/out D3 twice a week, and that's about it. Taylors points on a varied diet are absolutely right, provide your gu with a wiiiiiiiide variety of food to prevent pickiness. And yea, your gu looks mor like an extreme.


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## omgtaylorg (Nov 30, 2011)

Ya like buzz said I like my house cool at night when I sleep so the inside of my guus tank is anywhere from 62-66 at night with no problems. Temps drop pretty low in the wild while the tegus are hibernating so as far as them being able to handle extreme temps they are perfectly fine, 60-65 is nothing


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## Realitynh (Dec 1, 2011)

You.guys are awesome, thanx. Now let's talk about the d3 with or wo debate!


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## reptastic (Dec 1, 2011)

Im torn when it comes to d3 i used it and saw nothing but great results, however i used uvb lamps and got my herps out in the sun regularly, i think to many people rely on the d3 alone to prevent complications like mbd and stunted growth, if you search through varnyards videos youtube he has a vid of a 2 y/o tegu whose owner used d3 and no uvb beware its a very sad video


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## james.w (Dec 1, 2011)

I use calcium W/O D3 for my tegu.


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## Realitynh (Dec 1, 2011)

Going minus d3, all advice points against it & all lights combined, he will get what he needs  little bastard borrowed immediately after putting him into his newly completed 6x3x3 & I haven't seen him since! Think he's out for the count  

Custom!


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## omgtaylorg (Dec 2, 2011)

Thats a great looking cage good job im sure hes lovin it...I will say though when I first built my first cage, 8x4x3, I used the same exact mesh screen on the doors and had trouble keeping the humidity where I wanted it and ended up switching to some plexi glass, so you might consider doing that if you cant keep it up in there. Its like $9 at home depot for a 4x2 sheet, and I just get two of them and cut them down to size. As far as the calcium goes, I use zoomeds repti calcium without D3 simply because 1. you dont need it with proper lighting 2. nobody knows how much d3 is the right amount and 3. too much is actually bad for the reptile, so in the end its pointless. Just dust regular calcium 2-3 times a week, or like me I dust all the meats I use besides the whole prey


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## kellen.watkins (Dec 2, 2011)

I have always used D3 calcuim with no issues. I don't dare rely on it but use it frequently without problems.


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## Realitynh (Dec 8, 2011)

Well, guess what our dog heard this morning!? Yup, someone is awake, but we're expecting him to go right back down. I threw some crix in, fresh water & turned his lamps on just in case. He's being pissy lol, but it's great to see him. Now I can put his basking rock in while he's up. It's so big & heavy, didn't wanna pin him under it if he was burrowed where I put it lol.


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## kellen.watkins (Dec 8, 2011)

I saw my red Monday morning she got up for some water it was a pleasant surprise considering she went down after 2 weeks and is only maybe 10" long. She's gonna be the smallest 6 month old ever when she wakes up lol


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## TeguBuzz (Dec 8, 2011)

Good to know, but your gu is way past crickets!


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## Realitynh (Dec 10, 2011)

I'd like some full meal examples that everyone uses, portions & prep included if you're willing. I'm definitely looking to do a variety. Any help would be great, thanx.


omgtaylorg said:


> Thats a great looking cage good job im sure hes lovin it...I will say though when I first built my first cage, 8x4x3, I used the same exact mesh screen on the doors and had trouble keeping the humidity where I wanted it and ended up switching to some plexi glass, so you might consider doing that if you cant keep it up in there. Its like $9 at home depot for a 4x2 sheet, and I just get two of them and cut them down to size. As far as the calcium goes, I use zoomeds repti calcium without D3 simply because 1. you dont need it with proper lighting 2. nobody knows how much d3 is the right amount and 3. too much is actually bad for the reptile, so in the end its pointless. Just dust regular calcium 2-3 times a week, or like me I dust all the meats I use besides the whole prey



Humidity has stayed around 70%.


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## AP27 (Dec 10, 2011)

We give Odin ground turkey as a staple, with cod liver oil (tbsp/pound), multivitamins(tsp/pound), and calcium(tsp/pound) mixed right in. We make a big batch and then portion it out into little balls so we can just freeze it all and thaw out a ball daily. He also gets various fruits and other items daily with his turkey. There's an extensive food list in the best of tegutalk thread. Hope that helps a little 

Also the turkey is lean w/ no preservatives or additives.


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## james.w (Dec 10, 2011)

TeguBuzz said:


> Good to know, but your gu is way past crickets!



Not true, my 44" tegu will still Chase crickets. It isn't much of a meal, but can still be used as long as they will eat them.


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## TeguBuzz (Dec 10, 2011)

james.w said:


> TeguBuzz said:
> 
> 
> > Good to know, but your gu is way past crickets!
> ...



Ah alright, I was basing it off of personal experience, but I understand your point.


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## Realitynh (Dec 17, 2011)

So she's been up for a couple days, offered a mouse b4 a nice warm bath, but wasn't interested. She's been wandering around all day today (in & out of the cage). I've offered some orange slices/pineapple but she isn't interested. I know that she won't starve but I'd love to see her eat something. I know her system is slow this time of year so I'm not worried but I wanna know if it would be alright to leave the bowl of fruit in her cage for a while. I'm against cage feeding but I want her to eat & can't leave her out for too long. She tries hiding under the couch lol...


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## Realitynh (Dec 28, 2011)

She's been lively for the past week so I've kept her temps up & she's stayed very active. I've been trying to offer food but she still shows no interest. Thoughts/concerns?


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