new tegu!!!!! yay!!!!

[Alane252]

well i just got my new tegu in today he is 7 months old and just under 2 foot long im guessing ... he was cold when i got him out of the box (due to the person i got him from had never shipped before and didnt do the best job in the world) he didnt properly insulate the box so the heatpack couldnt really heat the box up properly... but he got here safely thats all i could ask for... but i got a few questions ... the tegu is not the thickist in the world the former owner said it was due to him hibernating ... which i can some what believe but i dont know if he has enough fat reserves on him to safely hibernate so should i let him go back into hibernation? i dont know if he will go back into hibernation with him being as active as he is right now in his enclosure ... he is basking and walking all around his new setup checking everything out i dont want to feed him just in case he does go back into hibernation (should i?) .....i have gave him plenty off water cause i no they need that.... what is the normal size for a tegu his length? an i want to know if he his a argentine red? i got a great deal on him though 140$ shipped

p.s. i will put some pics up so yall can anwser some of the questions i have asked and so you can see him

 

[james.w]

You can go ahead and offer food, but don't be surprised if he doesn't eat. I'll wait for the pics to answer your other questions.

 

[omgtaylorg]

Him being thin can deff be because of hibernation depending on how long it has already been down for and how fat it was before going down. As far as letting it hibernate or not, it will do what it wants. Keep your light cycle normal right now since you said hes up and about right now. If you notice him being down for a period of time longer than 3 days without coming up at all you should go ahead and put some water in there and go ahead and kill the lights. If thats not the case though keep everything normal, lights, feeding, etc. As far as the size and if its normal for that age, you cant really judge a tegus size and if its normal because all tegus are different as far as growth, or whether or not its hibernated or brumated...theres just no way to say an average size in comparison to age. They all sleep, eat, and grow at different rates. Now if you can post some pics we can better help you know what you have as far as an argentine red or not. Anyways grats on the tegu, is it your first?

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Congratulations on the new addition . You can offer food now or wait. If it was truly hibernating and not brumating then I would wait to see if it decides to go back down. When you post pics we'll be able to tell you the type of tegu and what condition its in.
Although Reds are pretty distinctive their color alone gives them away . Where it's from doesn't matter,.. it's still Red.

Their size depends more on whether or not they hibernate and their diet more than age.

 

[Alane252]

Him being thin can deff be because of hibernation depending on how long it has already been down for and how fat it was before going down. As far as letting it hibernate or not, it will do what it wants. Keep your light cycle normal right now since you said hes up and about right now. If you notice him being down for a period of time longer than 3 days without coming up at all you should go ahead and put some water in there and go ahead and kill the lights. If thats not the case though keep everything normal, lights, feeding, etc. As far as the size and if its normal for that age, you cant really judge a tegus size and if its normal because all tegus are different as far as growth, or whether or not its hibernated or brumated...theres just no way to say an average size in comparison to age. They all sleep, eat, and grow at different rates. Now if you can post some pics we can better help you know what you have as far as an argentine red or not. Anyways grats on the tegu, is it your first?

thanks ..... no ive had two reds in the past but i had to sell them because of my school schedule didnt have the time to give them the proper attention they needed .. but now i can so i just had to get another one an just couldnt pass up the deal i got on him so happy their the best reptile to have in my opinion ..... i will get some pics up of him/her this afternoon after he has had some time to get use to his enviroment ...

 

[slideaboot]

Him being thin can deff be because of hibernation depending on how long it has already been down for and how fat it was before going down. As far as letting it hibernate or not, it will do what it wants. Keep your light cycle normal right now since you said hes up and about right now. If you notice him being down for a period of time longer than 3 days without coming up at all you should go ahead and put some water in there and go ahead and kill the lights. If thats not the case though keep everything normal, lights, feeding, etc. As far as the size and if its normal for that age, you cant really judge a tegus size and if its normal because all tegus are different as far as growth, or whether or not its hibernated or brumated...theres just no way to say an average size in comparison to age. They all sleep, eat, and grow at different rates. Now if you can post some pics we can better help you know what you have as far as an argentine red or not. Anyways grats on the tegu, is it your first?

thanks ..... no ive had two reds in the past but i had to sell them because of my school schedule didnt have the time to give them the proper attention they needed .. but now i can so i just had to get another one an just couldnt pass up the deal i got on him so happy their the best reptile to have in my opinion ..... i will get some pics up of him/her this afternoon after he has had some time to get use to his enviroment ...

They are DEFINITELy the best reptile to have. Hands down.

 

[Alane252]

here is one pic i got of him while he was running around ... i will put more up later... dont want to disturb him to much right now ... what do yall think

 

[JohnMatthew]

Congratulations, it's a pretty tegu you got there! He looks like a red but it's hard to be 100% on that with all the crosses these days. I'd start offering small amounts of food so as not to waste much if it takes a while to get him going. Once he does start eating I'd let him gorge as much as he wants and just keep him in summer conditions, it doesn't look like that GU has much in reserves to go the distance(body and tail a bit thin) were he to go back into hibernation. I brought mine inside last week and they still have tons of bulk on them after being down over 3 months already.

 

[Alane252]

thats what i thought .... the guy i purchased him from said he has been down for over a month an a hlf so hopefully he doesnt go back down it would have me worried since he is so small .... i really dont think he is going to go back down with how active he has been today he hasnt burrowed down since he has been here ... he is basking going in and out of his hides bask a lil more then drink a lil water and do it all over again ... if he doesnt go back down give me a month and i will have him fat and happy prolly will triple n weight atleast since he is so skinny , his is not deadly skinny but to skinny for my comfort ....

 

[JohnMatthew]

Yeah, not dangerously skinny by any means. He just looks more like a GU waking up after a long hibernation, not one that's just a couple months into it. The previous owner probably didn't have him fattened up enough or he's been semi-active the last 90 days without food. You could definitely have him looking nice and plump in a couple weeks on a good feeding regimen.