How fast do they grow?

[Roadkill]

Do you know where they were bred bc I know in America the don't breed until spring and usually hatch round July.

If you know what you're doing, you can breed them any time of the year that you want to.

I didn't think it was possible to keep them from hibernating. :/ if they really want to.

It's not a case of "if they want to", it's about how you control the zeitgebers that influence their physiology. Amongst hibernators, there are two kinds, obligative and facultative. Obligative hibernators don't need external cues to tell them to hibernate, it is governed almost exclusively by an internal clock/genetics and therefore these hibernators will hibernate every year at the same time no matter what you do. Facultative hibernators require zeitgebers to align their physiology with their environment, without the zeitgebers they will not go through the proper physiological adjustments to prepare themselves for hibernation or enter hibernation through normal means. While to many it may seem that tegus are obligative hibernators, there's one simple fact that disproves this notion - in North America they hibernate according to OUR weather patterns (ie. during our winter). If they were truly obligative hibernators, they'd retain their hibernation cycles from where they originate - South America, and therefore would be active during our winter and hibernate during our summer.

 

[BatGirl1]

I wonder, then, why upping temps and resuming the lighting etc has not triggered anything in his 'waking ' process. He had begun refusing food on his own regardless of temps and light pattern. So I had no choice but to 'let him ' go down for fear of him depleting reserves. I stopped light/heat and he eliminated rest of tummy contents etc. Now in new enclosure I resumed reg temps and light but he's still not getting up to bask and eat. While I hear others ( in same climate etc as me) not hibernating. And people in warm climates ( fla and so on) that 'do '. Confusing that the same animal types 'may or may not ' hibernate... and possess this internal clock. I wish niles would set his damn alarm already. :/

 

[Dubya]

[attachment=6627]Batgirl1, try this.

 

[Deac77]

Kirby is nine months old an looking female but unsure on sec, and he's well over 3 foot

 

[BatGirl1]

Re: RE: How fast do they grow?

Batgirl1, try this.

that gives me an idea... cafepress has clocks you can customize

 

[Teg]

Teg was 14inch and 3 months old in oct 25 .... He's now a whopping 42inch and just on 8 months and weighs in at 5lbs 8 oz !! lol

 

[E_M]

What do u guys feed your tegus?? Growth hormones?!?

This one guy I know has a 17 months old tegu that's "only" 27.5 inches. Is that considdered a small size at that age?

 

[Roadkill]

I wonder, then, why upping temps and resuming the lighting etc has not triggered anything in his 'waking ' process.

This seems to get overlooked every time I post it, but here goes again: If there is a window in the room where you keep your tegu, even if the light from that window isn't directly falling upon the tegu, even if that window isn't large, that window is such an overwhelmingly powerful signal to the tegu's physiology compared to what you are trying to manipulate artificially. Your artificial manipulations compared to the information streaming through that window is like you trying to have a conversation with someone on a cell phone while you're standing in front of the speakers at rock concert.

Another aspect to consider, although I don't have much concrete evidence to back this up, is that in nature it is likely that it isn't the constant length of the day or the constant elevated temperature (ie. basically what we give them at home) that they respond physiologically to. It is more likely that what they are responding to is the continuous change in these variables (the daylength gets greater/lesser every day; temperatures, particularly night time temperatures, gradually increase/decrease with changing seasons). So a one time change from 20C to 28C isn't likely going to do much to convince them to leave hibernation.

 

[Ripkabird98]

My Tegu is a freak then. He did NOT hibernate. And he was born in September(?) and has grown like 3-4 inches.

 

[BatGirl1]

Ok I think I get it. It is strange to me though how some are so affected by this while others just go about their normal routine despite being in or exposed to the same 'conditions '. . . (Like natural daylight/etc) in new england or some that hibernate even though in florida or other similar places. Kind of freaks me out a little. :/

 

[Roadkill]

Keep in mind that average growth rates are just that - nothing but an average. It means nothing if your tegu is above or below the average. The average may not even reflect what is common. Say you have 20 tegus, 9 grow 20 inches in a year, 9 grow 2 inches in a year, 1 grows 11 inches in a year, and the last one grows 13 inches in a year. The average works out to 11.1 inches a year. If the average means something, then 1 tegu is normal, one is above average, and 18 are "freaks". Now, how likely is it the that the average represents what is normal? Does it even reflect what is common? Averages mean nothing in regards to growth rates.

 

[Dubya]

What do u guys feed your tegus?? Growth hormones?!?

This one guy I know has a 17 months old tegu that's "only" 27.5 inches. Is that considdered a small size at that age?

No hormones. I feed a mix of 1/3 cocktail franks, 1/3 Hillshire farms Lil Smokies, and 1/3 saurkraut. If you mix in 1/2tsp of caraway seeds, it may reduce gas somewhat, but Gwangi is still unpleasant to be near in a small room. :s

 

[Teg]

Well ... About a month ago we had a small tremor/earthquake which is very rare around here !!!
It happened just after I went to bed at about 10-45pm when i was still wondering what the hell was wrong with Teg. He was mental from around 7pm onwards, very restless, launched at me a couple of times, very unusual behaviour from him !!! I did not believe all of that crap that animals could sense things but .... Now i do !:-/
Our weather here in West Wales is of damp, wet, warmish and windy low pressures from the Atlantic... Ranging temps from 8 - 14 c over the winter ! and Teg has been fine up until 2 weeks ago where he has slowed down considerably, I wouldn't say he was hibernating but it looks as if he fancies the idea !! and what have we had since 2 weeks - a cold Scandinavian North Easterly wind pattern - temps -5 to +3c !!! Although the temps are the same in the viv and house, again I'm wondering if they read/feel/sense these pressure/weather patterns etc .... Just a thought, please don't shout at me for being so silly !!! Lol

 

[BatGirl1]

Well i know my joints hurt and I get headaches when storms are coming... ;p and also my aunt had 2 chipmunks that would 'tell her ' when it was going to rain, etc. Barometric pressure etc def affects some of us! Haha

 

[E_M]

What do you guys feed your hatchlings/juveniles/sub-adults? What insects and what other kind of foods?