Possible hibernation???????? or just enjoying his new life??

[Jolio]

hello all,

so i thought i'd get more response this way, maybe i'm wrong and i should post it there too..... but here goes.

So i have a 15 month year old b&w whose approx 3.5 ft long, male.

He's not had the best start in life in terms of set up, diet, husbandry, enclosure. I've had about 6 weeks now and he's been moved into his new 6x3x3 purpose built viv with a 'proper' set up; basking area, drinking water, bath, substrate for burrowing etc.

My question is this.... the previous owner said that he didnt hibernate in his first year.
he's currently shedding, which is coming off in nice big sheets and seems quite happy, i know my beardie hates shedding and us very grumpy with it. He seems to have made himself a proper burrow, i've actually watched him moving the substrate from the deeper end that i thought he'd use to the other side beneath his raised basking platform.

He's spending a lot of time in here now, like 70-80% of his day in there.

I'm just wondering if this is signs of him going into hibernation? Or just natural behaviour, especially with his shedding?

can a tegu hibernate if they missed their first year?

i dont disturb him whilst in there as as i said before i'm trying to gain his trust, he'll eventually show his face if i leave his door open if he's hungry or if he wants a wonder around.

His lights are on about 12/13 hours a day, at least 3 hours after i get back from work so that i get to spend time with him.

I just dont want to over feed him if he is going into hibernation.

thanks all.

 

[GOT_TEGUS]

hello all,

so i thought i'd get more response this way, maybe i'm wrong and i should post it there too..... but here goes.

So i have a 15 month year old b&w whose approx 3.5 ft long, male.

He's not had the best start in life in terms of set up, diet, husbandry, enclosure. I've had about 6 weeks now and he's been moved into his new 6x3x3 purpose built viv with a 'proper' set up; basking area, drinking water, bath, substrate for burrowing etc.

My question is this.... the previous owner said that he didnt hibernate in his first year.
he's currently shedding, which is coming off in nice big sheets and seems quite happy, i know my beardie hates shedding and us very grumpy with it. He seems to have made himself a proper burrow, i've actually watched him moving the substrate from the deeper end that i thought he'd use to the other side beneath his raised basking platform.

He's spending a lot of time in here now, like 70-80% of his day in there.

I'm just wondering if this is signs of him going into hibernation? Or just natural behaviour, especially with his shedding?

can a tegu hibernate if they missed their first year?

i dont disturb him whilst in there as as i said before i'm trying to gain his trust, he'll eventually show his face if i leave his door open if he's hungry or if he wants a wonder around.

His lights are on about 12/13 hours a day, at least 3 hours after i get back from work so that i get to spend time with him.

I just dont want to over feed him if he is going into hibernation.

thanks all.

Ive had many rescues that never hibernated. and had some slow down and then I put into hibernation so the answer to your question is yes they can be hibernated . my GUs will all go in the burrow close the entrance with leafs and hay in August is still in the 80-90s here and hibernate till March / April.

 

[Jolio]

Thanks for your reply.

So what your saying is yes they can hibernate even if they missed their first year.

is this something that they will naturally do or do i have to help out.
Do i have to let him hibernate?

I've read the hibernation threads, but its just a little confusing as i'm unsure if this is natural behaviour, or signs of hibernation.

Obviously because he's new to me, and has been introduced to a more suitable setup i was just wanted to check and see if this was normal behaviour or if it was signs of hibernation (especially with the time of year)

how active are everyone else's tegu's?

He happily came out last night to stretch his legs and have big bowl of fruit, not to mention soil my bedroom floor- the cheeky git.

I just dont want to do anything that may cause him more harm than good - ie feeding him whilst he's trying to slow down and go sleepy times.

 

[GOT_TEGUS]

Thanks for your reply.

So what your saying is yes they can hibernate even if they missed their first year.

is this something that they will naturally do or do i have to help out.
Do i have to let him hibernate?

I've read the hibernation threads, but its just a little confusing as i'm unsure if this is natural behaviour, or signs of hibernation.

Obviously because he's new to me, and has been introduced to a more suitable setup i was just wanted to check and see if this was normal behaviour or if it was signs of hibernation (especially with the time of year)

how active are everyone else's tegu's?

He happily came out last night to stretch his legs and have big bowl of fruit, not to mention soil my bedroom floor- the cheeky git.

I just dont want to do anything that may cause him more harm than good - ie feeding him whilst he's trying to slow down and go sleepy times.

welcome what I would do [ if your not interested in lettin your GU go into full hibernation. is just shorten the photo period to 8 hours the GU may sleep more but still feed . I had some that never hibernated they would be active for 2-4 hours and sleeping under to mulch or burrow the rest of the day. Just keep watching to see how much the GU is sleeping and reduce the photo period if the GU not active not eatin turn off the lights off keep the temperature about 60 degrees and mist the cage substrate every 2 weeks .

 

[Toby_H]

I don't have nearly the experience to suggest what yours may be doing...

But I can share what I went through with my girl last year prior to hibernation...

She was kept in a fishroom which had very high humidity and a constant 80*F...

I offered her food daily, kept her light schedule the same, didn't lower temps... nothing changed from her normal summer conditions...

Around early October she began sleeping a lot more... began eating less... by the end of October she was sleeping through the day a few days a week, skipping most of her meals...

I continued to offer her small amounts of food when she would wake up and actually move around a good bit...

By Mid Novermeber she was in hibernation...

I left her in the 80*F fishroom with high humidity until Feburary when the cage was brought inside the house... once outside temperatures warmed up enough (not below 50*F at night) I put her outside and she began waking up around April... sunning herself a couple of hours a couple of days a week... It took her about a month before she was fully awake, fully active and eating daily...

I expected hibernation to be far more compleicated than it was... and hse has been healthy as could be asked this summer...

 

[jntann]

I don't have nearly the experience to suggest what yours may be doing...

But I can share what I went through with my girl last year prior to hibernation...

She was kept in a fishroom which had very high humidity and a constant 80*F...

I offered her food daily, kept her light schedule the same, didn't lower temps... nothing changed from her normal summer conditions...

Around early October she began sleeping a lot more... began eating less... by the end of October she was sleeping through the day a few days a week, skipping most of her meals...

I continued to offer her small amounts of food when she would wake up and actually move around a good bit...

By Mid Novermeber she was in hibernation...

I left her in the 80*F fishroom with high humidity until Feburary when the cage was brought inside the house... once outside temperatures warmed up enough (not below 50*F at night) I put her outside and she began waking up around April... sunning herself a couple of hours a couple of days a week... It took her about a month before she was fully awake, fully active and eating daily...

I expected hibernation to be far more compleicated than it was... and hse has been healthy as could be asked this summer...

mine did basicly the same thing but mine went down by mid sept. and started waking up in mid feb.