question on brumation/ eating habits.

[telat]

I got my tegu today from varnyard. she is very beautiful
i wish i wasnt in a hurry this morning trying to talk to Mr.Hill. i was trying to fix an error i had made on substrate and get off to work.

at any rate. My tegu has been in brumation/hibernation since sept or oct. i got her today. she seems fairly active. But i dont know if she wants to go back into hibernation. And ive tried feeding her a couple times today with no success. I not worried. It takes some reptiles a week or 2 to adapt to the new cage ect. But as im not a seasoned owner id figure id ask what is typical behavior.
She was born in june. And is just over 2 feet long. im wondering how often to feed her, and if i should keep her lights on, or shut them down and let her sleep. or if the turning lights off is even neccisary

 

[Toby_H]

I got my female B&W as a hatchling from Bobby in '08.

She slept her entire first winter from November until April/May...

Her last couple weeks before going down she ate less and less... and when she woke up in spring she didn't eat much but ate more and more (and more and more and more)...

Between November and April/May she didn't eat anything at all. During that time I did move and in doing so I moved her cage from one home to another. She stayed asleep.

So while in your case, she was disturbed in the move, I still suggest you encourage her to return to hibernation, as this is what she was doing per nature before the disturbance.

I would simply give her a cage with the same substrate she was burried in before. Give her a few hours (around 4) of UVB per day (just in case) and access to water. Otherwise make her cage as undisturbed as possible.

Waking up and laying under UVB doesn't necessarily mean she wants/needs food. If you find her roaming/pacing her enclosure then this may be searching for food, although small amounts could just be checking out the new environment.

But ultimeately my goal would be to allow her to return into hibernation, because that is what she was doing before she was disturbed...

 

[MIKE-ZILLA]

I think Its a good Idea to let her hybernate (because you cant stop her from doing it anyway.) if she hasnt eaten , you can reduce the temperature slowly. that will help facilitate hybernation. some people keep them warm all year, but many still slow down, sleep alot and refuse food.