Baby tegu not really eating

[Artemis]

Hi everyone, this is my first post on here so if you need more info just let me know! So as the title says, my baby black and white tegu isnt really eating alot. I mainly give him large locusts, which at first (the first two weeks) he would scoff them down like they were going out of style! Then all of a sudden he didnt seem interested in them. I've had him for about 1.5 months now. When I bought him the breeder told me he was about 2-3 months old. I have tried giving him a pinkie, hard boiled chicken egg (mashed up without shell), Turkey mince, mango, banana, grapes and blackberries. He didnt even seem interested in anything except the locusts but he only eats two or three at a time. I tried switching to crickets for a change for him, and at first he loved them! He ate about 6 in one sitting, but after that he just left them be. I dont really know what to do anymore and was hoping you guys might be able to help!

His setup:
He is in a 4ft vivarium, basking spot of about 40-42 deg Celsius, down to about 25-28 deg Celsius on the cool side. He is on coco husk substrate to aid the humidity, which is kept at around 60% daily but when misting, it goes up to about 90% for around 3hrs after (I cant mist 2x a day due to work requirements). He has plenty to climb, and he loves to run about. He doesn't seem to have a lack of energy but does still hide alot too. He also likes to barricade himself in his hot hide by digging the dirt from inside the hide and blocking the entrance with it. If you need anymore info please ask. I will try and post some photos later today.

 

[Debita]

I just got a new baby from the guy doing Florida rescues (Rodney Irwin) and I enticed her with raw egg in a shallow dish (no shells). She does like super worms, but I'm trying to just get her onto ground turkey with calcium and vitamin supplements along with fish, and chicken gizzards, liver, and salmon. Her favorite now though is fuzzies. I give her those at least 4X/week. I either dust them with the supplements, or add the supps to her gnd turk. I have 2 Tegus, and they both love the turkey. The 2 year old is completely uninterested in any bugs.

I think your temps are close - except it might be a little warm for the low end, and a little cool for the high end temp. I do the same with my humidity - although I try to stay around at least 70% as my minimum.

Do you give him baths? I think it's a good way to break up the monotony - maybe stir up an appetite. Your baby looks pretty small still - I would think 3 locusts might be a lot of food to him? Yours is prob too small for fuzzies but you could give pinkies to start. Good luck!! Looks like a little cutie!

 

[Artemis]

I just got a new baby from the guy doing Florida rescues (Rodney Irwin) and I enticed her with raw egg in a shallow dish (no shells). She does like super worms, but I'm trying to just get her onto ground turkey with calcium and vitamin supplements along with fish, and chicken gizzards, liver, and salmon. Her favorite now though is fuzzies. I give her those at least 4X/week. I either dust them with the supplements, or add the supps to her gnd turk. I have 2 Tegus, and they both love the turkey. The 2 year old is completely uninterested in any bugs.

I think your temps are close - except it might be a little warm for the low end, and a little cool for the high end temp. I do the same with my humidity - although I try to stay around at least 70% as my minimum.

Do you give him baths? I think it's a good way to break up the monotony - maybe stir up an appetite. Your baby looks pretty small still - I would think 3 locusts might be a lot of food to him? Yours is prob too small for fuzzies but you could give pinkies to start. Good luck!! Looks like a little cutie!

Thanks for the reply, I'll give the raw egg and super worms a try! If the temps are a bit high what temps would you say I should go to? I'll keep offering the locusts every day, but he just never seems interested. I do give him baths, he had one last night and afterwards he fell asleep as I was drying him! Such a cutie! I'm going to give him a substrate change soon and give him a mix of coco husk brick and repti bark. That night help to stimulate him a little (it's a shot in the dark but it cant get much worse!) Thanks for your help! How old is your tegu by any chance? And what size?

 

[Debita]

You're welcome! I have a 2 yr old male Argentine B/W, and a 6 month old female - both from Tegusonly. My 6 month old is now 24", and 2.2 lbs. My male is 40-41" and weighs about 9-10 lbs. (Skully - male, and Captain - female)

So - I'm converting the Celsius, but what I come up with is (for a juvenile) it should be closer to 44-47 deg. That would be about 110-115 degrees farenheit for it's basking heat. When it's an adult, it can be increased to 125 deg or more.

The cool side should be 24-29 deg celsius (looks like you're right there with your 25-28). I was thinking that 72 deg farenheit was about right, which would be 22 celsius. Looks like 75 deg is good though.

A temperature gun (infrared) is a handy tool to adjust your environment - not very expensive either. They need that basking heat for their digestion. It's funny about the diet - my female was devouring a few horn worms, now will have nothing to do with them. She's very into the pinkies now. I agree - ridiculous cute. Don't forget to let them soak for a half hour - or more when you can. Water is extremely important.

 

[Artemis]

Thank you for the information, I'll increase the temperature of his basking spot. But would that do much for his appetite? He still shows no interest in any foods that I offer. And at 3/4 months old he is only 13/14 inches and hasn't grown the the 6 weeks I have had him :/ still worried for him!

 

[AlphaAlpha]

yes the basking temp aids Digestion ..... Make sure to use a slate/stone under so your gu can rest its belly on.

 

[Debita]

Sooo - I'm thinking there's a possibility that you may want to make sure your buddy has fresh water, and is actually drinking it. I would watch him close for that. When mine had a problem with impaction, he would go up to the food, lick it, but then reject it as if he knew it would be painful. He had stopped getting enough water, and not kidding - I almost lost him.

I spent the better part of a week coaxing him back to the world of water. I still don't know why he stopped drinking other than I moved the dish inside the home. Also, introduced a new baby Tegu as a companion for him. I could be paranoid but wanted to mention that you want to watch him poop. If he's straining and giving up with no result, he may be blocked/impacted...etc. My 2 yr old male had calcified urates, and he had to have help getting those out of his system. He was on his way to giving up.

I found that dripping drops or a tiny stream of water from a bottle -right onto his nose- was somewhat irresistible to him. He started lapping at the bottle like a hamster. He still looks for the bottle sometimes when I'm working in his house. Anyway - just wanted to pass that on. It's not like they don't eat at all - they slow down first, then as time passes, they stop eating. Hard to know the difference, because they really aren't interested in eating every day. Makes it difficult to know if they're just plenty satisfied without food today, and that it's no big deal.
Good luck!

 

[AlphaAlpha]

Sooo - I'm thinking there's a possibility that you may want to make sure your buddy has fresh water, and is actually drinking it. I would watch him close for that. When mine had a problem with impaction, he would go up to the food, lick it, but then reject it as if he knew it would be painful. He had stopped getting enough water, and not kidding - I almost lost him.

I spent the better part of a week coaxing him back to the world of water. I still don't know why he stopped drinking other than I moved the dish inside the home. Also, introduced a new baby Tegu as a companion for him. I could be paranoid but wanted to mention that you want to watch him poop. If he's straining and giving up with no result, he may be blocked/impacted...etc. My 2 yr old male had calcified urates, and he had to have help getting those out of his system. He was on his way to giving up.

I found that dripping drops or a tiny stream of water from a bottle -right onto his nose- was somewhat irresistible to him. He started lapping at the bottle like a hamster. He still looks for the bottle sometimes when I'm working in his house. Anyway - just wanted to pass that on. It's not like they don't eat at all - they slow down first, then as time passes, they stop eating. Hard to know the difference, because they really aren't interested in eating every day. Makes it difficult to know if they're just plenty satisfied without food today, and that it's no big deal.
Good luck!

I just put extra water in with what ever I'm feeding Alpha to help with hydration.

 

[Walter1]

My frozen/thaweds are fed soaking wet.

 

[Artemis]

Hi guys, thanks for all of your replys. He has improved very slightly (eating maybe 2/4 locusts a day). I have tried everything suggested, but the thing that I found that worked was to lower the temperature in his basking spot to 36C. Somehow that made him more hungry. Is this normal?
Also can anyone think of a way to increase his hunger so he eats more? Maybe a type of food that I haven't mentioned in my original post? Thanks guys!!

 

[Debita]

They love fish. Don't forget your calcium/supplements. Keep serving pinkies.

 

[Artemis]

They love fish. Don't forget your calcium/supplements. Keep serving pinkies.

I'll try him on some salmon. Thanks for the suggestion. How long is it safe to leave the pinkie in his vivarium for before it goes "off"? I've been leaving it about 30 mins to be safe

 

[Debita]

Much longer than that - they have iron clad stomachs. I took one out when it started to swell - it grossed me out, but I know they've been in there for hours before. I'm sure they're getting "unfresh" items here and there as they scavenge around in their natural environments. I probably don't go much longer than a half a day, but that's just me.

Guys at the reptile store told me to leave it overnight.....but I can't do it.

 

[Artemis]

Much longer than that - they have iron clad stomachs. I took one out when it started to swell - it grossed me out, but I know they've been in there for hours before. I'm sure they're getting "unfresh" items here and there as they scavenge around in their natural environments. I probably don't go much longer than a half a day, but that's just me.

Guys at the reptile store told me to leave it overnight.....but I can't do it.

I agree, overnight is a bit much. But I'll start leaving it in there for much longer then. Thank you for your help. I'm just so worried for this little guy! The guys at the reptile shop told me they have never heard of a tegu like this before. I even took him to them and they couldn't believe the sheer lack of interest in food that he showed. Very uncomforting.....

 

[Debita]

It's a little unusual for him to hang on this long.

I did have an unusual situation with my 2 yr old male, that was a yr old when I got him. Looking back, remembering how he hated me for 8-10 months, I think he just wanted to go back to Florida. Everyone thought it should end within a few weeks. It went on forever. Not trying to alarm you, but another common thought amongst Tegu owners is that they're very individual in their characters.
You're doing well! You sound very committed, and that's important.

My new 5-6 month old shows no signs of hating me, other than the usual squirming and an occasional spitting when I pick her up.