My introduction and a question!

[bsshig40]

Hi all, here from Oil country in W. Tx. I have a few reptiles and lately decided to buy an argentine red tegu. First off, my enclosure info. I just built a 6' x 3' x 3' enclosure. I used white tile panel for the inside and outside. There is also 3/4" insulation panels between the panels. I have 4 150w heat emitters that provide temps of 80dg cool side, 94dg middle and 115dg in the basking side. Temps are taken with infrared temp gun. Right now I have 6" of cypress mulch on the floor. I also have a 30" uvb light that is timed for 12hrs of light a day. I have 2 reptifoggers at the basking side which is putting out about 75 - 85% humidity. I bought my red tegu from backwater reptiles and they say he is approx. 5 months old. He is about 16" - 18" long. I know they need to adapt to thier new surroundings but I have a couple questions that I would appreciate some help on.
#1. I have had him for just over 2 weeks now. These are our winter months. He stays burrowed 95% of the time. I have gotten him up to try to feed. In the 2 weeks, he's only eaten a couple mealworms and a piece of fresh salmon. I read that the argentines will most likely hibernate/brumate. So do you think he is just hibernating/in brumation? I worry about him not eating being soo young. Do I just need to give him more time to settle?
#2. If he is in brumation, do I need to make any adjustments to his temps and humidity levels? If adjustments are needed, when will I know when to adjust back to normal?

Thank you for any help you can give me!
Bobby

 

[Walter1]

If his hide is in the mid-70s, he won't burn off energy much while in brumation.

Adjusting to new place always throws them off for a few weeks as they learn the new place and routine. Winter slowdown adds to the down time. I wouldn't worry. Be sure to talk ti him even when he's under and place a worn shirt in his hide.

 

[bsshig40]

Thank Walter1. Never heard of the worn shirt idea. I'm presuming that would be to get him use to my smell?

 

[Walter1]

Exactly, and hearing your voice will build a positive association with you.

 

[bsshig40]

Thanks again! I always call his name when I'm near his enclosure.

 

[Debita]

Hey good luck with your new little guy! Also - your enclosure might be good for now, but could be small even for a red in a year.

 

[bsshig40]

Hey good luck with your new little guy! Also - your enclosure might be good for now, but could be small even for a red in a year.

Yea, I may start shopping for a commercial enclosure in a few months. Trying to keep this enclosure at 80% humidity is already starting to effect the white tile board. We have NO humidity here in W. Tx. so it is a challenge to keep the levels constant. I have 2 humidifiers attached to the enclosure which does the trick but they produce a lot of moisture. I'm sure he likes it, but my enclosure material doesn't care for it too much. Lol

 

[Debita]

Is your humidifier on a timer? We had that same problem (our boards were starting to blister on our nice $800 enclosure) until we misted about every 2 hours for between 10-15 mins. Made a huge difference. We live in 0% humidity too.

 

[bsshig40]

Is your humidifier on a timer? We had that same problem (our boards were starting to blister on our nice $800 enclosure) until we misted about every 2 hours for between 10-15 mins. Made a huge difference. We live in 0% humidity too.

I was using 2 reptifoggers. One went out after less than 2 weeks. So I bought a Levoit HV600HH and modified a tube to it to run into the top of my enclosure. Both of them running keeps the humidity up but they still have to run constant. Today I just got a small wire rack shelf and moved the levoit into the enclosure. It gives off 3 times more fog than when I had the little hose hooked to it. I have sprayed my mulch and it seems to help for a little while but dries out pretty fast. It stays nice and moist underneath, which is where the little guy stays most of the time. Lol I'm gonna keep an eye on the new placement and see how it does. Might be able to use the timer once in a while as it really fogs the place up nicely. It will be ok until I get a better enclosure. I was just looking at a place called AP (animal plastics). They have a nice PVC made enclosure, 8' x 4' x 4'. Cost about $1000 but PVC seems to be pretty resilient against humidity of these levels. I only spent a little over $300 to build the enclosure. Of course this is not including lights, heating, substrate, etc... just materials. We can't get decent building materials around here. If it's not at Hm depot or lowes, we're out of luck. I think the PVC enclosure will be a much better investment in the long run. Plus I won't have to worry about the pvc getting mold from the moisture that I would have to worry about with any open wood areas.

 

[bsshig40]

Well I finally seen my little guy had pooped the other day. That's a good sign. Still stays under a lot. I held him for a bit the other day. Wouldn't eat yet but I figure brumation is probably getting close to end. I built a combo hide and basking shelf so if he starts coming out more, he'll have is hot side hide and his cool side hide. Right now I bought a plastic painters tray so he'll have a place to bath if he wants. Makes for a nice shallow to about 3" deep end. Enough for his size anyway. Y'all feel free to add any ideas that you think I might be missing.

 

[Debita]

Excellent....sounds like you've got it!

 

[bsshig40]

So I built a new combo hide and basking shelf. Got him to eat a small piece of raw salmon 2 nights ago but he didn't eat anymore than that. He went into his new hide for a few minutes which is holding a temp of 85dg inside and the shelf is right at 115dg and then went back under. I'm hoping his brumation is getting close to ending. I would like to socialize with him more but when I wake him up he gets really grumpy and I don't want to stress him out. It's been 4 weeks since I've had him so I guess things are going normal?
Edited: Checked my boy out today and he was just sitting next to his new hide relaxing. The only thing he's touched soo far is the raw salmon I've put out. So I cut up about 7 small pieces and he ate 4 of them. Yea!

 

[Debita]

Great job! Funny animals - they are really more impressed with the hide than the depth of their substrate.
It's aaaaalllll about the hide.

 

[Walter1]

Great job! Funny animals - they are really more impressed with the hide than the depth of their substrate.
It's aaaaalllll about the hide.

I believe it is. I think that hiding in substrate is what they do if no burrow is to be had.

 

[bsshig40]

Mine stays under more than in his hide. I was surprised to see him out today just kicking back. Maybe the season is getting closer for more reaction.

 

[Walter1]

Could be the hide if I'm right. Regardless, spring is having its effect on your tegu's activity.

 

[Debita]

Right...maybe looking for friends! Hmmmmm...

 

[AlphaAlpha]

Alpha has never been interested in digging in his substrate and has always preferred a hide, although he does have it filled with hay that he snuggles into.

 

[Debita]

Best of both worlds for Alpha.