is it to early for start of hibernation?

[herpocrite27]

So I noticed the last week and a half or so that my tegu isnt eating his food every day. He is only eating every other day or so now. He is still pooping fine, so i dont think its any blockage. He is going to sleep a little earlier i have noticed, by 10pm he is asleep. Could it be he is preparing to go down already? I live in iowa and it has been super hot/humid here the last month or so. I take him outside for an hour every day to lay in the sunlight. I cant emagine he would think it's fall already with it being so hot outside. I do keep my thermastat in the house at 77 during the day and 74 at night, but his cage still stays warm. I have his cage lights on from 3pm to 3am. If anyone has some information I would appreciate it.

 

[herpocrite27]

So hibernation it is. Sid didnt even come out of his hide today. Wow he sure is doing the hibernation thing early. I am so bummed out I was hoping he wouldnt hibernate till hunting season started. Guess I will have till get another hobby till then

 

[M4A2E4]

My tegu seems to be slowing down his appetite a bit, but still has a regular sleep schedule. I really hope it isn't hibernation this early!

 

[Toby_H]

The mid day adventure outside in the hot sun simply represents a warm afternoon. In many parts of their native range they get hot afternoons well into fall...

We've seen hatchling Tegus slow down as early as August or as late as November... or not at all...

I suspect there are a lot of signals that trigger hibernation behavior. Feel free to play with heat, light deration, humidity, etc, etc to try to convince him to stay up, but I highly suggest against physically waking him up.

 

[herpgirl2510]

My extreme is also slowing down he has been buried for 2 days I know last year he went down at this time. Both of my tegus are definitely going to sleep early around 5.

 

[herpocrite27]

So it turns out he is not asleep for good yet. He is still eating but not regular. He is waking up about 3 hours later than usual and going to sleep after only 5 hours or so. I'm not going to play with the light because of what hapened last year. I will just let him figure it out. Thanks for the response people.

 

[Neeko]

Are your tegus babies? My babies were buried before 7 when I got home at 7 they were under and skipped there meal for the day.

 

[laurarfl]

I have one that will go to sleep early, sometimes in August. My red hardly comes out at all, but he's just lihgtly sleeping and will come out to eat.

 

[herpgirl2510]

Tonka my B&W is still coming out but my extreme chevy comes out to eat ask for an hour or two then is gone.

 

[herpocrite27]

Are your tegus babies?

I dont know if I would consider Sid a baby still, he is 43 inches long and 8.5 lbs. On the other hand he is just turning a year now, so maybe he is still considered a baby, I dont know.

 

[babyyitslove]

UGH! DAMMIT! I just got my 3 y/o female last week and she's been in her hide almost ALL DAY and is also only eating every other day, if even that.
I almost wanted to blame it on her big trip from AZ to here in a car...plus a new home, etc. But everyone else's sounds like it's doing all of the same things.

So what now? Just let her sleep?
Do I continue to make food readily available for her just in case?

 

[herpgirl2510]

I still feed my guys if they come out it seems more like they are slowing down. If I don't feed them they follow me around the house licking my toes and Tonka starts going after Chevy. Mine are never awake after 5 anymore.

 

[babyyitslove]

I woke up at 8am today, she was still barracaded in her hide with eco earth, checked on her at noon, no sign of her still.... went to an appointment out of town and came back to check on her at 5pm,...she STILL hadn't come out from the night before. I tapped on her glass and her head slightly popped out.... I put her food bowl in, she came out, ate like she hadn't eaten in MONTHS, went to her water tub and took a big dump in it, went BACK to the food bowl that I had just refilled because she began to drag it around the cage after the first go-round. Ate some more, she was itching a lot, so I gave her a bath and rubbed her down...put her back in her enclosure and there she went... back into her hole.

I'd say that she spent a whole two hours out of her hide today.

 

[reptastic]

I barely see my tegus during the day, they will eat like every 2 days or so, they hide/sleep majority of the day, last year I believe they went down mid september

 

[Pyr0kinesis]

So I noticed the last week and a half or so that my tegu isnt eating his food every day. He is only eating every other day or so now. He is still pooping fine, so i dont think its any blockage. He is going to sleep a little earlier i have noticed, by 10pm he is asleep. Could it be he is preparing to go down already? I live in iowa and it has been super hot/humid here the last month or so. I take him outside for an hour every day to lay in the sunlight. I cant emagine he would think it's fall already with it being so hot outside. I do keep my thermastat in the house at 77 during the day and 74 at night, but his cage still stays warm. I have his cage lights on from 3pm to 3am. If anyone has some information I would appreciate it.

I could be wrong about this as I'm certaintly no expert, but I think hibernation atleast in animals has more to do with light cycles than temperature.

 

[JohnMatthew]

I could be wrong about this as I'm certaintly no expert, but I think hibernation atleast in animals has more to do with light cycles than temperature.

True enough, mine have been known to go into hibernation with temperatures still reaching well into the nineties. It makes perfect sense for reptiles to take their first clues of hibernation from the photoperiod, if they waited until temperatures dropped too much they wouldn't be able to perform so well, being cold blooded and all that stuff.

 

[laurarfl]

I think it is a combination of things, but photoperiod is a big signal. My tegus hibernate when it is 80 degrees. When fall/winter approaches, barometeric changes occur as cold fronts push through, too.

My garage tegus are definitely showing signs of slowing down. They are sleeping a lot more and are getting picky....only wanting to eat rats. It is still 90+ degrees during the day and 77-80 at night.

 

[herpocrite27]

Well, I dont know what to think now.He is'nt sleeping as much now and has got his apetite back. He may be eating more now than ever before. I wish he would make up his mind. I dont want to go buy a bunch of food for him if he is just going to hibernate. But I also like to buy food in bulk so I get a better deal. Guess I'll just keep buying a weeks worth at a time.
I am moving to a new house by the end of the month so maybe its good that he is still up.
thanks again everyone for your help

 

[spidersandmonsters]

Gaia did this around the same time, she looked like she was going under, and then I guess just decided it wasn't her time haha

 

[Rhetoric]

Guru did the same thing. For a little while he was only out for an hour and eating 2x a week. Yesterday and today (so far) he was out all day and eating like a champ. I'm with you on the food thing. I'm not sure what my guys are doing. I stocked up on liver and mice. I am glad that I have a little more time with him if he does decide to go down later on. lol.