still not eating....

[greenman1979]

We have had our Tegu for two weeks now and he is not eating...he may or may not have eaten a couple roaches that i put in his enclosure, because i cant see them anywhere..though they may be buried who knows.

However, he will not eat the turkey egg mix or just turkey or pinkies or anything else..he just seems so stressed and all he wants to do is hide..

He is about 10" long right now and very frisky when you try to p/u or hold him.
we leave him be quite a lot and he barely ever comes out except when no one is around..sometimes early in the morning i will come out and he is wandering around but then he just runs and hides.

His enclosure is about 4 ft long and two feet wide at least, with a big water bowl, three hides and cypress for bedding.

He has a night light, a basking light for day and uvb bulb as well.

what are we doing wrong?

 

[themedic]

first of all, at 10 inches he is a baby you are a giant, he doesnt know if your going to eat him, or what.

The next couple of weeks, even months will be almost as a chore to you as you are now a tegu owner and have now breached into the realm of the reptile!

tegu's are smart, very smart. he knows that puffin up and hissing even tail whipping or charging could deter a much larger thing then him to stay away, if he does this dont be alarmed, put yourself in his shoes, what would you do if you were 10 inches long and a hand the size of your whole body came out of no where trying to pick you up.

For now, I would keep his light on during the day, if you dont see him come out at all hes probably hibernating, just let him be, if you do see him come out even if hes under a hide and not borrowed, put some tuna on a bowl, and let it sit there and exit the room for some time.

If you come back and the tuna has been eaten, this is a good sign all this shows is that he is indeed hungry he is just scared to come out because he feels vunerable.

If the tuna has not been eaten but your tegu is out, hes probably not hungry cause tegus will devour food if they are hungry, even if your tegu was scared and there was food their, he would still come out to eat it.

When I got my gus from bobby they were hibernating the first 3 months I had them, I thought they were dead i didnt see them for weeks. when they emerged they ate every thing i put in their cage and were very aggressive with me. they would not let me pick them up for anything charging at me with mouths open and huffing and puffing.

So no worries, if you need any help just PM me or anyone on this board they are all very knowledgable and great pet owners.

 

[greenman1979]

thanks !! he comes out when its all quiet here.. but otherwise just burrows and sleeps. patience is a virtue but being a parent sometimes makes you worry too much..lol, we just want to make sure he is ok..seems frisky..just doesnt really eat.

 

[themedic]

Its all good better to have to much caring then not enough, I am sure with an owner like that your tegu will grow to be a beautiful animal.

Like i said, keep fresh water daily and everything should be good.

you could try not feeding him for a couple of days then when he is out put food in his cage, if he goes for it its a good thing!

 

[VARNYARD]

I will try to help you, first off, your tegu is an import. Many times imported tegus are full of parasites. You might want to take him to a vet and get him checked for these. Second, tegus that are imported for South America are cycled to the southern hemisphere, South America has the opposite seasons from us, right now it is getting close to winter there. If this tegu was in his home country, he would be in/close to hibernation right now.

 

[carcharios]

I went through this same thing with Diego, who my wife got for me last June from PETCO. I'm almost 100% positive that Diego was a wild caught specimen because he spent all of last summer AND all of the winter hibernating. He JUST came out of hibernation this April. You'll know when they wake up because they'll suddenly start sunning themselves and start eating. Prior to this, I had the lights on and was putting food in his cage but he just stayed under the cyprus mulch and refused to eat - or do anything for that matter but sleep. When he finally did come out of hibernation, he was thin - very thin. But since then, I've had him in his outdoor enclosure getting full sun and he's been much more active. Now Diego is on the same clock (FINALLY) as Frieda and Kimo. Just give it time. They do wake up eventually.

 

[greenman1979]

Thank you everyone!!)

 

[greenman1979]

Well, he is Def. pooping..which is good, since he has eaten a lot of his crickets n roaches..still a big no on the turkey though..maybe later..thanks for all the encouragement and advice!

 

[greenman1979]

Sooo he is finally getting more brave. Def, eating crickets and roaches so far.. and has taken a few swims in his water bowl. Still likes to come out to bask in the morning when we are sleeping.. I think he likes the cats attention more than ours..baby steps!

 

[greenman1979]

Yeah..we finally got him to eat a pinkie and he ate some turkey the day before..plus his crickets!! so proud he comes out every night and morning now to bask..

 

[reptastic]

thats great to hear, keep up the good work!

 

[themedic]

great to hear hes comin around, welcome to the club!!

 

[greenman1979]

They are the coolest to watch I am fascinated by his tongue! and he is getting to be a little fatty so YEAH! growing like a weed ))) thanks everyone for your info and support

 

[themedic]

wait till he puts on a couple inches in a month or two your going to be amazed.

mine were about 15 inches when i recieved them from bobby, they are almost 28 inches now its been about 6 months.