R.I.P Dixie Rose

[savagesage]

I had a bad feeling today, so I went to check on my little red tegu in hibernation, which I know is a no no, but I had an overwhelming bad feeling inspite of conditions all being fine. She had passed on. Temperatures were good, she had an empty belly before hand, water provided, but for some reason she just couldn't stay with us anymore. Rest in peace my little bright eyed girl..

 

[TeguBuzz]

Not to come off as accusing you or saying you're wrong.. but are you sure your tegu is dead? If so, I'm sorry for your loss. I'm just asking because many times when my tegus would be hibernating, they would look "dead" - at a first glance.

 

[Roadkill]

First off, checking your tegu while they're hibernating is not going to harm them, that's just people being overly cautious when they're saying that.

TeguBuzz is correct, you will want to be very certain the animal is dead before you "give up" on her. There are a few scientific reports of tegus being in such an extremely deep state of hibernation that they are completely unresponsive to stimuli. Are your tegu's eyes sunken in? Is her tongue dry? These are some pretty good signs she would be dead, if not, then maybe she's still alive.

 

[Josh]

Very sorry to hear this. Please be absolutely positively sure that she's not just sleeping

 

[savagesage]

Yea, eyes were very sunken in, tongue dry, completely unresponsive. Unfortunatly, definantly dead..

 

[savagesage]

It's not my first rodeo with tegus. I had a male argentine black and white for about 12 years, but he never hibernated.. I've been working with reptiles and animals for 14 years, kept and bred successfully everything from dart frogs to cordylus species to water dragons. I just don't know what went wrong with her. Thanks for the condolences. It's just hard losing her..

 

[Aardbark]

Aww Im so sorry for your loss. The poor little thing, I wonder what happend to her.

 

[savagesage]

I plan on getting some blue tegus in the spring, if I'm ready by than. It still hurts when I think about it