i need advice on an argentine b/w tegu...anybody there

[chelleb]

Hi

I have a tegu for around four months now and hes acting strange, any one there with advice?????

 

[PuffDragon]

Hi Chelleb,
Welcome to the forums. We are here to help. You are going to have to be a little more specific in order for us to help you. In what ways is your tegu acting strange?

 

[jor71]

I think you may need to elaborate on what is strange. The more information you provide, the better it is for anyone to guide you.

What is he/she doing that is strange?
what kind of tegu?
Provide us the size and age of your tegu.
What is the size of his/her enclosure?
What are the temps of your enclosure (including humidity)?
etc
etc.

 

[chelleb]

HI Puffdragon

he is around 3 yrs old and up until recently he has been really chilled out and friendly but the last couple of days he has been aggressive and started pushing all his bedding up against the door of his house. We usually leave his door open and he has free roam but i dont want to do this while he's freakin out??

 

[chelleb]

Hi Jor71

he is around 3 years and about 4ft long, he is argentine and he has an enclosure of approx 6ftx4 the temp daytime is around 80 and humidity varies 60/70 he only goes into his house to sleep and bask he chills out in the house with us usually when hes being himself

 

[PuffDragon]

80 is a little low, does he have a basking area with higher heat? Looking at your weather in Cavan, it is fairly cold. I am reading it's 11C or 52F. It sounds to me that he wants to hibernate. He is closing off his cage door to block colder weather from getting into "his burrow." Has he been eating regularly? The aggression could stem from a number of things. Have you scared him in any way recently? Do you feed live rodents?

 

[chelleb]

Hi

Although you may think hes cold (it rains alot here) he was born in ireland and the guy who had him previously said he had never hibernated, and he only had a basking light there rather than a specific enviroment, he has seemed really happy and well adjusted until now. Nothing has scared him we have a dog also but monty (my tegu) would usually just walk over him and they get on fine.

I too thought the hibernating thing but he would usually burrow in his cage at night but he is now pushing the bedding away from the end of his house that he sleeps in. He eats a couple of mice every other day and snacks on a wide variety of fruit and he likes scrambled egg too!

 

[PuffDragon]

Are the mice fed live or pre killed? What kind of aggression is he showing you? Is it like tracking your movements and attacking? Or more of a defensive posture? Like arching his back and huffing? Tail whipping?

Is 80 for the entire cage or is their a temperature gradient? It should be 90 on the hot end and 75-80 on the cool end. With a basking area of 110F.

 

[chelleb]

the mice are dead, its illegal to feed live food here or to buy it ??
he has a large basking rock where the temp would be around 95.

I gave him alive one once but he wasnt that impressed although he got it in the end.

And its more like hes watching me and then snapping at me.