Hibernation

[Guest]

This is my first time with tegus and i have 2 adults, about 3 years of age each. I am trying to get them to hibernate, ive lowered the temps and shortened their daytimes. I started this about 8 days ago, but there both still awake and every time i go near the cage they come running over, i think because theyre still hungry. Any tips on what to do? Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Feed them. They will go down when they are ready . Maybe bump the lights back to ten hours .. Make sure they have a place to bask ..

 

[Guest]

I wouldn't try to induce hibernation. I would take any hibernation cues from the tegus themselves. If they start coming out to bask and eating less and less, and start sleeping more and more, THEN I would cut back their lights and food, not the other way around.

 

[Toby_H]

As others have suggested, be cautious trying to 'put' them into hibernation...

Feel free to decrease the amoutn of hours they have heat/light, but I would avoid removing heat/light all together...

Avoid lettign their overnight temperatures drop below 65*F (or so) unless they are in hibernation and have an empty stomach...

Just watch them and give them what they need. When they decide it's time to go to sleep for the season, they will. In the meantime they will need a solid diet, heat, light, etc...

 

[Guest]

I just read a story of a member who tried to induce hibernation in his tegu by cutting back the heat and UVB every day... his tegu ended up with MBD because of it. Like I and others have said before, don't try to induce it. If it's gonna happen, let it happen naturally.

 

[Guest]

The only reason i want them to hibernate is becase i am planning to breed them this year..i guess ill heat them back up and feed them normally agian, but what if they just dont hibernate?

 

[Guest]

Actually, that whole thing about having to hibernate them to breed them is rapidly turning out to be the equivalent of an old wive's tale. Ask Bobby; he has plenty of tegus that don't hibernate and yet successfully breed for him.

 

[Toby_H]

Dave's Blue Tegus do not hibernate and breed every year...

I do support the idea of allowing them to experience their 'natural' process, yet at the same time you cannot force them down. Read what they are telling you and help them do what their nature is tellign them to do....

 

[slideaboot]

Actually, that whole thing about having to hibernate them to breed them is rapidly turning out to be the equivalent of an old wive's tale. Ask Bobby; he has plenty of tegus that don't hibernate and yet successfully breed for him.

Are you sure about this? From what I've read, Bobby says he isn't entirely sure about the validity behind hibernation being necessary for successful breeding because he ALWAYS hibernates his tegus. Not trying to start a fuss, but I'm pretty sure that's what he's said in the past.

 

[Guest]

Actually, the last time I talked to him, he told me that he's had some tegus that didn't hibernate, and yet still bred. And yeah, there's Dave's blues like Toby_H mentioned.

 

[james.w]

dont mean to threadjack, but how do you know if your tegu is hibernating? I haven't seen him in about 3 days and assume he is, but since he is my first and only tegu I'm not sure.

 

[Guest]

Keep the lights on some and keep an eye on him but he may be going down .. Mine is staying down two days and comming out for a few hours .. Mine is hungry when he comes out ...When he is hibernating you will know it ..

 

[james.w]

Well he came out today and ate some turkey and chicken gizzards. I put in in the tub and let him soak a little and he took a poop. So I guess he isn't hibernating yet.

 

[Guest]

my tegu is 9 months old and 2 foot can they hybernate early if female?

 

[Toby_H]

Jeremy, feel free to start your own thread to ask questions aboutt your Tegu...

Tegu eggs are laid in mid to late spring and they hatch in mid to late summer. So Tegus born in the Northern Hemisphere are born around June~July and those born in the Southern Hemisphere are born around December~January.

So your Tegu is more likely 6 months old at 2' in length...


But to better answer your question... It is safe, common and natural for very young Tegus to go into hibernation...

 

[carcharios]

People say not to induce hibernation but I'm not so sure about this. For example, I keep my guys outside from late March to late October here in MD and they stop coming out of the den as much and stop feeding as the temps begin to fall in October. After about two weeks of this, I moved all three into bins with cyprus mulch. They're now in my garage, where the temp ranges anywhere from 48 to 60 degrees (lately, closer to 50 degrees with the winds and cold spell we're having). I checked on them and they appear to be fine - eyes closed, slow breathing, deep slumber.

I've read several articles about hibernation and several have said to keep them between 48 and 55 degrees but that colder spells are ok so long as they're not long term. When their bins were around 60 to 65 degrees, I'd notice that they would have their eyes open when I checked on them but now that the temps have fallen to around 50, they're out cold. So the idea that you can't induce hibernation is probably erroneous. Lowering the temps does induce hibernation - just make sure their stomachs are empty prior to doing this!

Now, I've read some concern about MBD and hibernation. I believe this is occurring because the temperature isn't low enough, and the tegu's metabolism is still requiring nutrients that it wouldn't otherwise need if it were in a true hibernation mode. Perhaps reducing the temps to around 48 - 55 would induce the proper hibernation and eliminate this dilemma.

Anyway, some articles say 55 - 65 while others recommend 48 to 54. I imagine they can probably go even lower, probably into the low 40's / upper 30's for short periods of time.

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