hibernation?

[gcd312]

So for the last few weeks my tegu has not been eating a whole lot, and has only been eating in his cage. he also sleeps for probably 20 hours of the day (or at least he's in his hide that much). i keep the temperature at about 90 on the side that my tegu is on. The last 3 days he hasn't come out of his hide. yesterday i looked in there and his head was up and eyes were open but nothing since. Did he hibernate? I was under the impression that he wouldn't hibernate unless i let temperatures get below 80 (it's only cool at night when the lights are off).

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By the way, the day before he hasn't come out he ate a lot.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

If their instincts kick in and tell them to hibernate you can't stop it one way or another,.. just let it happen and adjust accordingly. You can end up doing more damage and actually killing it, if it does hibernate and you keep the temps high.

In general,.. I really don't understand why people try too,.. if it happens it happens, if it doesn't,.. it doesn't but it's part of what they do. If you don't want it to hibernate then get an animal that doesn't hibernate. Instead of trying to change things to fit what you want.

 

[reptastic]

He could be preparing to hibernate, as many tegu keepers will tell you, keeping the temps high will not keep your tegu from hibernating, and vice versa, I tried to push my 1st tegu into hibernation, thinking if I dropped the temps she would eventually go under, to my surprise she stayed up the entire winter and didn't even brumate

 

[Rhetoric]

Guru slowed way down for a week or two and is now back up and eating everything in sight. I'd lower the temps a little bit and cut back on the amount of time the lights are on. I cut all of mine down to 8/16, if they want to come out and hang out there is plenty of time. Even with the increased "dark time" they're all asleep before the lights go off and after they first come on.
If you keep the higher temps while they hibernate you risk having an increased metabolism which can cause them to loose more weight than they should and I think I've read dehydrated as well but don't quote me on that one. Is 90* the cool end or the warm end?

 

[gcd312]

90 is the warm end. I'm very new to tegus, so some of my questions probably seem fair noob. If he does hibernate, is there anything i need to change in taking care of them? Im assuming they don't eat (how they don't eat for months, i have no idea). and I'm also guessing that waking them up is not a great idea

 

[james.w]

If they hibernate, you do not feed them as they will be sleeping. I would recommend not waking them up. Once you realize they are down for good, you can shut of the lights. They don't need UVB or heat while they are hibernating. Now if your cage gets below 55 degrees or so you may want a CHE to keep the temps a little higher.

 

[gcd312]

If they hibernate, you do not feed them as they will be sleeping. I would recommend not waking them up. Once you realize they are down for good, you can shut of the lights. They don't need UVB or heat while they are hibernating. Now if your cage gets below 55 degrees or so you may want a CHE to keep the temps a little higher.

What's a CHE? and do you have any opinions on preventing hibernation? Or just any thoughts on it? I really would like my tegu not to hibernate, but if he needs to do it then i'm fine with it. I'd just prefer he didn't..

 

[james.w]

CHE is a ceramic heat emitter, they put off heat but no light.

My opinion on preventing hibernation is don't do it. If they want to go down, let them.

 

[gcd312]

Ok, thanks