Hello, new here I had a few questions about my tegu:)

[Venom6547]

Hello, im new to this site I was referred from another forum where the tegu forums were dead so I thought id try here

I have a almost 2ft argentine b/w tegu over the summer and I am leaning towards him being a male since his joules are big despite his size. He's been hibernating since late september and recently started being a little more active, and hes shedding yet hasnt eaten or anything in months I was wondering if it was normal to start shedding during hibernating and when I should start introducing food again, ges my first tegu I have had many other reptiles but none that ever hibernated and I just want to make sure I do this right, ill get pictures of him once I get my computer working again
thanks a ton!

 

[reptastic]

welcome aboard...yeah it normal for a tegu to start a shed immediately after hibernation, some start before hibernation and will finish after waking up, it may take a few weeks after waking up before your tegu gets an appetite, i had one tegu it took a whole month after he woke up before he would eat, but when it do kick in be ready because they will devour everything in sight

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Rep pretty much covered it so,.. welcome to the site and thanks for coming. There's a lot of great, need to know info and helpful members here.

 

[Venom6547]

Well thats good, its just difficult because his cage is so big I cant keep the humidity up making it hard to get the shed off his toes, do you have any ideas what I could do since all he wants to do is sleep and I cant really soak him since he climbs out. Thanks again in advance

 

[reptastic]

He can climb out the tub? Make his hide into a humid hide, I use the same concept most leopard gecko's use, get a plastic container large enough for him to fit comfortably, fill it with moist moss and voila a humid hide fit for a tegu, just make sure its dark to entice him and take all the other hides out

 

[Venom6547]

He manages to stay out of the water when I soak him and he just gets to a point where he stops and starts to go back to sleep. his burrow manages to keep humidity but i feel like it isnt enough for his toes thats all he has left to shed so i'll give it a day or two to see if it comes off.

I once used olive oil to get duct tape off one of my snakes, could I use that on a q-tip to massage under the shed skin so it comes off easier?
I hope I dont sound uneducated, it's just I never had to deal with bad sheds and hibernation is completly different than everything I have read.

 

[reptastic]

I use mineral oil or baby oil when dealing with stuck shed, it works wonders, don't sweat asking questions there is no such thing as a dumb question, care sheets will cover the basics but they are nothing in comparison with real life experience, are you soaking him in a bowl? I reccomend using the bath tub, make sure the water isn't above his shoulders, let him swim around a bit, when they move around it help with the shedding also

 

[Venom6547]

I have been putting him in the bathtub so hopefully that works and the depth goes from his elbows to over his back since the tub has a slight tilt so it drains easier.
thank you for the help, you guys are much quicker at replies than the other forum.

 

[reptastic]

No prob. We are here to help each other