my baby tegu won’t eat!

[sammy:)]

Hi! I’m Sammy. This is my first tegu, and her name is Blue! I got her three days ago and she is refusing to eat anything. I have tried feeding her mealworms, and canned lizard food, but I am getting pretty worried. She is super small and still has a lot of green on her. She was shipped to me from Florida and has been pretty active, not really agressive or skittish, but still is a little scared when she is picked up at first. She sleeps a LOT. She will usually burrow at 5pm and sleeps until 1-2 pm. Is this normal? Thank you!!
xx, Sammy

 

[Walter1]

Welcome, Sammy.

You'll see from many threads here that the behavior you're seeing is normal for any tegu recently moved to a new home. They are strongly creatures of habit and rely on knowing the area around them. When moved, they are stressed and in response go under for 1-2 weeks as they acclimate to the new surroundings.

What should you do? Talk to him even if he's hidden, place a worn piece of clothing in his moistened hide box so he associates your scent with security. Off er some food every other day and see what happens. He'll become more active and bask as he settles in.

 

[Godzilla Earth]

Welcome! yeah just like walter said, they need time to get used to you and their new enviroment. also to help out with cleaning, try the penny trick. Get a pre-1982 penny and clean it in viniger for about a day. then place it in the water bowel and because before 1982 the pennies were made from 95% copper, which is anti-microbial. also, if the tegu puts uraites or urine in there, it will react with copper and turn blue, a sure indicator to clean it

 

[rantology]

Have you tried anything beside mealworms or canned food? Do you know what she was being fed before you got her? Try to offer her a variety to see if she was used to a certain type of food before hand. Crickets, roaches, Hornworms, ground turkey or even some super small pinky mice if you can find some.

 

[AlphaAlpha]

Hello and Welcome ....... Nothing out the ordinary ..

 

[Debita]

It's the most common question asked here! Don't worry - he/she will be fine, and is just settling in to the new world it's in. I do agree with feeding a little more variety. My male would never eat a worm, cricket or any other insect. My female thinks insects are very exciting, and she seriously gets hyper when they're offered.

I think some of the most common well-liked foods amongst Tegus would be ground Turkey, and frozen/thawed mice (or pinkies if they're very young). My female wouldn't touch salmon when young, but started enjoying it at about 8 months old. One more thing!! I tried that canned reptile food - and neither one will touch it.