How Do Tegus React To Too Much Heat?

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My Tegus are housed outdoors and generally get the morning sun from 8am to about 2ish and then afternoon sun sporatically. I've been observing them on the weekends when I'm home and they come out of their hide (a rubbermaid bin that sits in their raised rabbit hutch enclosure) at about 8:00 and then return sporatically to the hide when they get too warm. They usually get full sun until about 2pm and then get some late afternoon sun sporatically as well. They've been retreating to their hide for the evening between 5 and 6.

Here is my question: This weekend it was in the mid 90's and high humidity in MD. Though my tegus can escape the sun and head to their hide, the rubbermaid hide is still pretty warm. Is it possible that Frieda's muscle issues are a result of having been overheated last summer? Night time temps were in the mid to low 70's last weekend and are now in the lower 60's this week with the high pressure system that just rolled in. I do have a piece of plywood over the top of their cage where their hide is located to keep it shaded.

Next Spring, I'll be housing them in a 7.5 x 7.5 caged dog kennel where their current rabbit hutch enclosures are. When I do this, I'll give them an underground hide that will be much cooler that their current rubbermaid hide which is not located underground. Until then, do I need to worry or should my tegus be ok?

 

[VARNYARD]

You should worry, tegus cannot stand a constant temp of 90 or above, they will die. You need to have a place for them to cool off, I think your set up is not going to work on hot days, and you could loose your animals. The signs of over heating can be tremors, or twitching, just as it is seen in MBD.

 

[carcharios]

Thanks Varnyard,
Unfortunately, that means the ONLY way I can keep them in an outdoor enclosure in MD is to dig them a hide in the ground because I can't think of any other way that I could create a spot in their cage with lower temps than the outside ambient temp. Of course, that means scrapping their current housing and purchasing the kennel now. With the kennel, I could at least dig out an area on the ground for them to burrow themselves to avoid the heat.

Their rubbermaid hide is in the shade but on days when the highs are in the 90's like last weekend, I'm guessing that even their shaded rubbermaid hide will be pretty hot. How can I create an area that is cooler than the ambient temp other than scrapping their entire enclosure? Do you have any suggestions? Any would be appreciated!

 

[VARNYARD]

Thanks Varnyard,
Unfortunately, that means the ONLY way I can keep them in an outdoor enclosure in MD is to dig them a hide in the ground because I can't think of any other way that I could create a spot in their cage with lower temps than the outside ambient temp. Of course, that means scrapping their current housing and purchasing the kennel now. With the kennel, I could at least dig out an area on the ground for them to burrow themselves to avoid the heat.

Their rubbermaid hide is in the shade but on days when the highs are in the 90's like last weekend, I'm guessing that even their shaded rubbermaid hide will be pretty hot. Do you have any suggestions? Any would be appreciated!

You are correct, there is no way to cool off the hide now, and it might be best to go ahead with plan B. Just remember tegus are great diggers, just something to keep in mind when digging the burrow.

 

[carcharios]

I have concrete slabs (I think they're actually slabs for putting in the ground like pavers). I could put these down on the bottom of the kennel and then leave an open area of dirt for them to dig their hide - and cover this area with a slate stone or something similar. Here are some kennels I found online: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.shelterlogic.com/kennels.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.shelterlogic.com/kennels.html</a><!-- m -->

Could you recommend an appropriate size for two adult tegus? I was thinking of the 4 x 8 model: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.dogkennels.com/dog-kennels/dog-kennels/4x8modulardogkennel.cfm?TID=NA103&source=pjn&subid=8799" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.dogkennels.com/dog-kennels/d ... subid=8799</a><!-- m -->

 

[VARNYARD]

4x8 would be fine , but you are going to need a wire top, tegus will climb out of those like they are shown.

 

[carcharios]

And how deep should the wiring in the ground be? Would 1.5' be ok?

 

[JohnMatthew]

If you have a pre dug underground hide your tegu will probably do very little digging on his own.. I had my wire only 6 inches below the dirt/cypress and Boon never dug down even that far.

 

[carcharios]

Thanks for the advice John. I'll probably dig them one. But how do you keep the hides from flooding when it rains? Do they have to be dug out on an angle?

 

[JohnMatthew]

I dug my hole ~2 feet deeper than the hide was going and filled it in with rocks then put holes in the bottom of his hide. If you get a whole lot of rain consecutive days you need to watch out for the raising water table as Bobby has warned in previous posts.

 

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What material did you use for your hide? Should I stick with a buried rubbermaid tub with holes drilled out through the bottom or should I go with another material? Also, would perforated irrigation hosing work well for the tunnel going down to the hide?

I was thinking of taking the legs off my rabbit hutch, digging a hole under it and housing the hide in the hole (with gravel under it like you mentioned). I was then thinking of connecting the cage to the hide with the irrigation tubing. Does this sound like a decent idea? I'd love to go with the dog kennel idea but that's pretty costly at the moment.

 

[JohnMatthew]

I used a big rubbermaid for the hide and sewer piping for tunnel. I got the piping at Lowes. It looks like this stuff <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.cpp-pipe.com/product_intro.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.cpp-pipe.com/product_intro.html</a><!-- m -->. It's real easy for the tegu to climb up and down as opposed to the very smooth irrigation(if you're talking about pvc) pipe.

 

[carcharios]

Ok, that is actually the stuff I was thinking about using. I just didn't know the name of it. You said that you put gravel two feet under the hide for drainage but how deep was your actual hide from the surface of the ground? I'm thinking too deep would make it impossible to retrieve the tegus for winter hibernation indoors but too shallow may defeat the whole purpose of giving them a cooling-off area.

 

[JohnMatthew]

I buried it lid side facing up so when I needed to retrieve Boon I only had to dig to the top of the rubbermaid. It was about 12 inches below the surface. It wasn't an actual rubbermaid I was using, more like a heavy duty plastic/rubber type of tool chest. I'm not sure a rubbermaid lid could handle even just 12 inches of dirt for long periods.

 

[carcharios]

John, about how big is your hide in terms of gallons, etc.? I have two sub-adult tegus so I'm guessing I'll need something substantial.

 

[JohnMatthew]

Not sure, it's something like 18 x 30 inches bottom space, maybe 24 inches tall.