I need some help..

[Steven.]

Hey guys. Im here because i need some serious help with prime. He has been ultra grumpy the last couple of weeks. I cant even pet him anymore. He get on all fours and does the snake thing with his tail when i get close to the cage. When i put my hand inside, he does the same thing but starts breathing really hard. This really sucks. He has never been like this. Not even when i first got him. Yesterday my girlfriend, who use to hold him almost everyday, put her hand into the cage and he threw himself at her. Like he flew toward her, mouth open and all. I don't know what he was trying to do there. I only get two days off during the week, so i try to spend time with him, but as of lately, i cant do anything. He starts to whipp and flip out i pet under his chin. When my hand gets close to him and he closes his eyes. I wait till he opens his eyes for me to move closer until i can pet him. But as soon as i touch him, its either a whip or heavy breathing. The funny thing is he doesn't run to his hide. Never. Like he would lay there and fight my hand no matter how long it takes. I usually pull my hand away from him as soon as he gets on all fours. So maybe he thinks if he acts up, ill leave. Which is excatly what i do. I just dont want to invade his space, or bother him. I don't know what to do anymore. I tried to lead him to my hand with food, and he didnt even care about it. Usually when i mist the cage he runs for cover and thats when i get him, but now misting has no effect on him. He doesn't even move. I need some advice tegutalk. Im completely new to tegu's. I've had reptiles before and i did my reasearch for couple of months before getting him. So i knew what i was getting myself into, but man this is not prime at all..=(

 

[Aardbark]

How old is he, and how long have you had him?

 

[TeguBuzz]

Could it be that something is preventing him from going into hibernation and it is irritating him? I've had that happen with Buzz last year. Or could it be that he was injured some how without you knowing and he's being defensive? These reptiles are damn smart and when they flip it isn't out of randomness, there must be a cause. How does he act when you are not attempting to touch/handle him? Does he flip when he sees you, or just when you approach him?

 

[Steven.]

He's 3 months old and i've had him for about 2 months now. But i think tegubuzz is right. I think theres something thats stopping him from hibernating. Reason being, he sleeps for the whole day and has refused food. He comes out in the morning for maybe 2-3 hours and then goes in his hide until the next moring. I think the only reason he comes out though and is not hibernating is because the sun beams right into the cage in the morning. Its right by the window. So he'll come out and lay where the sun light is, to probably warm up. I can't drop the temps in the cage and i cant block the heat. Temps stay around 75-85 degrees throughout the day/night. When the sun hits the hotside, its 85-90 degrees. Plus I haven't given him any lights for about 2 weeks. I'm thinking that might be throwing him off. Can i just put him in a plastic bin with substrate and a hide, cover it and leave him alone?... Maybe that might put him into hibernation.

 

[james.w]

How much and what type of substrate is in the enclosure?

 

[Steven.]

Its a topsoil/cypress mix. Theres about maybe 6 inches on the cool side and 9-12 on the hotside.

 

[TeguBuzz]

Have you tried covering the window with a sheet of some sort? That would probably do the trick.

 

[Steven.]

I have pulled the shades for the last couple of days. The sun didnt get the cage, but he still came out. I think it might be temp. in the cage...

 

[james.w]

I don't think he is acting out because he can't hibernate. What size enclosure is he in? What are you using to measure the temps?

 

[Steven.]

He's in a 4x3x3. He's about 15 inches. I also use a automotive temp gun to measure temps. He was amazing last month. Put your hand in the enclosure and he crawled right on. He enjoyed being held. Never whipped or puffed up anything of that nature. Then last month he slept for an 2 days, came out the next morning and has been acting like this. He goes down for 1-3 days and then shows up in the sun light. All the signs show that he wants to hibernate. He's not as active. Doesn't basking as much. Sleeps all the time. Refused food more than once and he's grumpy. What else can it be?... Nothing has changed in the last month.

 

[james.w]

Maybe its just a "wild animal" being a "wild animal", it sounds like you have things setup correct. Only "problem" may be the sunlight, but if he doesn't like the light/heat he should be able to burrow down and escape it. Just give it time, and hopefully things will turn around.

 

[Steven.]

I hope so too. Do they usually take the heat while in hibernation?... Or do they just go down and never show back up until time is right?...

 

[james.w]

When I had my red, he went down in the same enclosure that my All American was up and down pretty much all winter. The longest the AA stayed down consistently was about 2 months. My red was down from November-March and the heat was on at least 6 hours a day for most of the winter.

 

[omgtaylorg]

You shouldnt keep the heat on while they are under the substrate trying to hibernate, if they go under for more than 3-4 days id shut down all the light and heat sources completely. You dont want them in the heat while they sleep because even though they are sleeping their metabolism will still be active which will cause them to lose weight while being under and eventually dying of starvation while asleep and/or make them anorexic by the time they wake up again. Shut off all the heat during hibernation just make sure your house isnt too cold. Also if they are not accepting the food dont try forcing them to eat because if they have food in their stomach and go down for the winter the food can rott in their stomach causing them to die as well