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New to this please help...
- Thread starter tegugirl
- Start date
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- 823
Your doing fine. But your Tegu is gonna hibernate on you. It's up to you to decide whether you want to hibernate it or not. My opinion is to let it. Which means turn off the light and let things take there course.Keep the heat pad for a while but eventually turn it off. Cause your just wasting electricity. If she comes out and starts looking all around the cage tongue flicking. Then try feeding it. But if my bet is right. It will eventually go down for the remainder of the winter.
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- 291
Ok I'd like to ring in on this one too The tank you have is probably a bit small for her size. She would benefit from more space. The mulch is good. As for the heat lamp over the water, she'll get warm water as opposed to room temp or colder. I'm going to suggest making her a enclosure. You want one end warm and the other cool. Water and hide at the same end and basking in the other. Aswell you should let her be for a week to let her relax. They don't cope with stress like you and I. It takes much more time for them to recover from scary things. The cold probably did trigger her natural instincts to hibernate. To clarify what a hide is, it's simply a cave or place to "hide" That's made easily by placing some heavy rocks in a "C" shape and put a cover on it. A piece of thick plastic or some ply-wood will work. You're gonna have to check out what is and isn't toxic, but to help you, Cedar and Pine are a big danger. If she is "hibernating" stop feeding her. The food can rot in her belly and her demise will surely follow. You must provide the proper UVA and UVB for proper digestion aswell as blood warming. The UVA also allows for calcium to be absorbed. Sprinkle Calcium powder (only reptile specific formulas) and Reptile vitamins on most meals but not too many. Watch out for Calcium with D3 as it's dangerous. And don't worry that you got her at a bad time, no one is perfect. If your tegus want to go into hibernation, let them. I agree with Harvey and also think if it wants to hibernate it would be some sort of animal cruelty to denie it. The heat pad won't do much but overheat the tegu. If you would like her to eat something, stop handling her and offer meals when she's awake on her own. Don't wake them ever. It pisses them off, and destroys the feeling of a safe place. How would you feel if some big ole giant keeps ripping the roof off your bedroom? Scared as all H^$$ I bet. They need a security blanket so to say. And the hide provides that. Otherwise I think from what I've learnt, you're doing the best you can with the tools you have. Just need a few new tools and maybe to replace some others. Sum of it all, to get her to eat, don't touch her and let her settle in. Settling takes a week or two and sometimes more. These creatures live on the Eat or be eaten principal, and fear is a very big tool to their well being. Have patience and show lots of love and your tegu will become very comfortable.
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- 416
I see a problem with the enclosure but it is minor and easily fixed. The water dish that you have is a bit overkill. Just offer a small dish of water, something that holds a cup or so (healthy tegus don't soak so a large dish is unnecessary), move it to the cooler side, and put another log hide on the warm side. Find an accurate way to check your temps (Pro Exotics temp gun is an awesome choice) and make sure you have a basking temp of 100 degrees F. The cool side can stay in the 70's. Spray the mulch lightly daily and keep as much of the tank top covered as you can. The damp towel is not a bad idea and can work well to help keep the humidity levels up.
If your tegu is going into hibernation it's best to just let it happen. It's no fun to have a new pet that is sleeping all of the time but that's what you deal with when you keep tegus. If he perks up with the changes in the enclosure I'd keep handling to a minimum to reduce stress and keep offering food, maybe some ground turkey mixed with cooked egg. None of my adult tegus are truly hibernating right now but they have slowed down on food intake.
Congrats on your new tegu and welcome to TeguTalk!
If your tegu is going into hibernation it's best to just let it happen. It's no fun to have a new pet that is sleeping all of the time but that's what you deal with when you keep tegus. If he perks up with the changes in the enclosure I'd keep handling to a minimum to reduce stress and keep offering food, maybe some ground turkey mixed with cooked egg. None of my adult tegus are truly hibernating right now but they have slowed down on food intake.
Congrats on your new tegu and welcome to TeguTalk!
- Messages
- 291
oh and the bulbs you want are a Repti-Sun 5.0 UVA flourescent light,or equivelent and a Day-time white light basking lamp,that provides UVB and a 24 hour heat source which you can do with a red heat light, or a ceramic heat emitter. If I have that UVA and UVB backwards I'm sorry. But I think I have it the right way
also provide fresh water everyday in a clean dish.
If your tap water is chlorinated, treat by putting water in a pail to let the chlorine to vap off, then run it thru a Brita to be extra safe. You're going to find that tegus are very time consuming and require lots of work. But eventually it all seems to go smooth.
also provide fresh water everyday in a clean dish.
If your tap water is chlorinated, treat by putting water in a pail to let the chlorine to vap off, then run it thru a Brita to be extra safe. You're going to find that tegus are very time consuming and require lots of work. But eventually it all seems to go smooth.
tegugirl said:
Here is a tutorial on how to post pics using photobucket:
http://www.tegutalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2332
or
Here is a tutorial on how to post pics using imageshack:
http://www.tegutalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=274
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- 291
You can leave the red heat light on always, and yeah you need to turn the white lights off everyday. What is it guys? 10 hours of "day light" right now? Your red light will provide heat 24/7 so that's fine. All together your looking at three lights. One basking lamp (UVB), one day-light(UVA; for metabolism) and one 24 hour heatsource. That heat pad wasn't really needed. Unless your place is too cold. Get a timer and set your day lights to run off the timer. And for placement, heat and basking light at one end, and none on the other side. The hide is to be away from the hot end. They will move around to regulate their own temperatures, and that's why you need a "cool" side. Overall temp is around 75F to 80F and the hotest spot during the day is to reach 90F air temp or 100F on the basking spot surface( top of her rock she lays on to bask) I have the same waterdish as you, just in grey 
It's about the biggest you want to go but yeah it is overkill.
It's about the biggest you want to go but yeah it is overkill.- Messages
- 291
Oh and when moisturizing his cage, don't over do it or you will be battleing mold and that's a big danger, aswell as always spot clean. Remove all "poops" I beleive the saying is "Cleanliness is next to Godliness"
Oh yes Welcome to TeguTalk. I'm DaRealJoker AKA Andy
Hey I see a face in one of those pics, is that your daughter, the actual handler of this tegu? If so hi to you too and maybe she should be reading these posts aswell. Knowledge is power.
Oh yes Welcome to TeguTalk. I'm DaRealJoker AKA Andy
Hey I see a face in one of those pics, is that your daughter, the actual handler of this tegu? If so hi to you too and maybe she should be reading these posts aswell. Knowledge is power.
Ok i am confused.... my friend that has snakes gave me the red bulb I dont know what kind of light it is and now i am told she needs UVA and UVB lights? do you rotate them? When do i use which one? also if she is going into hinernation do i just use her heat pad under tank? I am so confused....
personally as far as placement of the heating pad i usually put that under the hide and for a hide i use ones that r enclosed not like a half log just b/c it contains more humidity u can spray the inside and i put one of my warn t-shirts in side of his hide so he gets used to my sent and as far as food goes he might be hibernating so he wont eat if it is u can still handle em but its not going to matter b/c its just going to look for a place to sleep again a way u can try to break it outta hibernating is just turn up the heat in your tank but besides that u sound like your doing good give her lots of love attention and food and shell grow to be your best friend good luck
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- 291
Yeah a white UVA light is the basking light. It's placed over a rock around a foot and a half away. That get's turned on during the day everyday. It's on for 10 hours a day right now and 14 in the summer. That cranks out lots of heat for them. The UVA is a full spectrum type light. It use phosphors to produce a certain variance of the spectrum so that they can get UVB which is in someway Vitamin D. They need this second light for prevention of Metabolic Bone Disease or "MBD" for short. This light is also on for 10 hours a day right now and 14 in the summer. Run both of these liights together at the same time simultainiously. The red light is for warmth and just provide a heat source. But what your going to see is that your tank is going to be way too hot because it is too small. so you will have to turn off the red light during the days until you have the proper cage.
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I'm the friend. -Grins.- The red bulb was an added bonus to the heating pad I gave her for the ball python.
I have pictures of the tegu in the bathtub. I suggested the tub. She then enjoyed being wrapped up in one of my towels. I tend to spoil my herps, so I saw no reason to deny her tegu that spoiling.
I have pictures of the tegu in the bathtub. I suggested the tub. She then enjoyed being wrapped up in one of my towels. I tend to spoil my herps, so I saw no reason to deny her tegu that spoiling.
- Messages
- 4,285
- Location
- Connecticut
Unplug the UTH, it can put out enough heat to burn him when he burrows. The mulch will insulate the heat from rising to the top making the glass even hotter. Don't risk it. As long as your night time temps are above 65 degrees don't worry about any night time heat. You could use the Red bulb if really needed.
I don't know how long he is but our female 18 month old B&W is about 39" and was close to 3ft at 1 year old (didn't hibernate). A lack of proper heat, UVB and nutrition will restrict their growth, and even cause problems such as Metabolic Bone Disease (from a lack of UVB) and bacterial or parasite flareups.
For adults I use 4ft ReptiSun 10 tubes (for UVB), he should be able to get within 12" for it to be effective; and 75W halogen lights for heat. For hatchlings/young Tegu's I use a 100W T-Rex Active UV Heat bulb in a 20G or 30G breeder tank (12" high), that will give a 100 degree basking spot and lots of UVB. Proper UVB and heat levels are very important for growth and digestion.
Normally the lights are on a 12hr on/12 hr off timer. If he's only getting up for a couple of hours a day (it's hard to tell if you're not home during the day) cut the time back to 6hrs on. Because the room our Tegu's are in is 70-75 degrees in the winter I don't turn the lights completely off. Hibernation is an instinctual thing, temps have nothing to do with it. Bobby's Tegu's start hibernating in August in the heat of the Florida summer. You can't stop it. A full hibernation requires temps in the 50's, 70's will just slow them down.
I'm guessing that's a 40G tank. If he's over 2 feet long that's too small. He should move into a full size enclosure, 6ft x 3ft minimum.
I don't know how long he is but our female 18 month old B&W is about 39" and was close to 3ft at 1 year old (didn't hibernate). A lack of proper heat, UVB and nutrition will restrict their growth, and even cause problems such as Metabolic Bone Disease (from a lack of UVB) and bacterial or parasite flareups.
For adults I use 4ft ReptiSun 10 tubes (for UVB), he should be able to get within 12" for it to be effective; and 75W halogen lights for heat. For hatchlings/young Tegu's I use a 100W T-Rex Active UV Heat bulb in a 20G or 30G breeder tank (12" high), that will give a 100 degree basking spot and lots of UVB. Proper UVB and heat levels are very important for growth and digestion.
Normally the lights are on a 12hr on/12 hr off timer. If he's only getting up for a couple of hours a day (it's hard to tell if you're not home during the day) cut the time back to 6hrs on. Because the room our Tegu's are in is 70-75 degrees in the winter I don't turn the lights completely off. Hibernation is an instinctual thing, temps have nothing to do with it. Bobby's Tegu's start hibernating in August in the heat of the Florida summer. You can't stop it. A full hibernation requires temps in the 50's, 70's will just slow them down.
I'm guessing that's a 40G tank. If he's over 2 feet long that's too small. He should move into a full size enclosure, 6ft x 3ft minimum.
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- 291
Hey Dave I was looking for you cage thread, could you upload it? It aughta be a main link somewhere here hehee I think she should see what a real set up looks like please?
- Messages
- 4,285
- Location
- Connecticut
Here it is! I need to take some new pics. The front panel was put back on the lower enclosure and .08 thick plexiglas was added to the inside of the doors to keep in humidity. I'm going to remove the 1/2" vinyl coated hardware cloth on the outside of the doors.
http://www.tegutalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=345
I'm in the process of building another one. Our Blue Tegu hold backs will be living in it in a few of months, depending on how fast they grow.
http://www.tegutalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=345
I'm in the process of building another one. Our Blue Tegu hold backs will be living in it in a few of months, depending on how fast they grow.
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- 4
Thank you guys. I'll be babysitting next week, so I'll taking care of her. -Grins.- I'm always excited to have experience with other reptiles. Of course, my experience with balls is a lot more extensive.
