Tarot

[HeatherN]

nice to meet you! as you can see, it can be nerve-wracking for a worry-wart, but so worth it. they arrive so tiny compared to the monsters they grow into. word of advice though... potty-train that sucker ASAP!

 

[HeatherN]

earlier i made a post about pre-MBD/early MBD symptoms with Tarot, such as swollen gums. i am wondering though if that might just be him teething! it didnt occur to me until i saw him chewing on the snail. his gums have remained swollen, but dont seem to be causing discomfort. i often see him move his jaw around, then yawn repeatedly. perhaps it is the discomfort associated with teething. adult skeletons have teeth that are all pretty much the same length, but Tarot has only these two vampire-like fangs, the rest seem to be just gums. perhaps i could offer him something to chew on, like a small breed dog toy. anyone have similar experience?

 

[Dana C]

I am almost 100% sure he won't touch a dog chew toy. Try giving him a chicken drum stick, a large one too big to swallow or a beef rib. Both will be to large to try and swallow but with the flavor an scent of the meat, he may chew them.

 

[HeatherN]

ok, thanks for the advice! i have plenty of those two things around.

 

[Logie_Bear]

Heya Heather. Have you noticed any changes in Tarot's swollen gums? Today I noticed that Esmeralda is beginning to show the same thing.

 

[HeatherN]

ive been dosing him with large amounts (not too large) of calcium. and now he gets probably more whole prey than he should, even changed his uvb and give him natural sunlight every day. yet his gums are STILL the same amount of swollen. its caused the hypothesis to switch to the fact that he may be teething. he likes to chew on his tougher food, and he has more teeth than he used to. he used to only have these two vampire fangs, now he has a whole set in the front.

the characteristics of his swelling include firmness, a "grey-ish" color, and no apparent pain or discomfort when i examine them. he lets me open his mouth relatively easily to look at his teeth, but the swelling seems to be on the outer edge of his teeth only, not on the inner. it seems to be a little more prominent on the left as well. if i could get pictures, i would!

i hope ezzy is just teething! if its the same type of swelling, i think ive ruled out husbandry -at least the parts I've addressed- at this point.

 

[Logie_Bear]

the characteristics of his swelling include firmness, a "grey-ish" color, and no apparent pain or discomfort when i examine them. he lets me open his mouth relatively easily to look at his teeth, but the swelling seems to be on the outer edge of his teeth only, not on the inner. it seems to be a little more prominent on the left as well. if i could get pictures, i would!

i hope ezzy is just teething! if its the same type of swelling, i think ive ruled out husbandry -at least the parts I've addressed- at this point.

Hmm, its more prominent on her left side as well, ill try and take some pics and start a new thread about it. Lemme know if it looks like Tarots lips.

 

[HeatherN]

thats rather strange, youve inspired me to try and get any pictures i can. if i can get some, ill post them to your thread

 

[HeatherN]

here are some pics of my young tegu setup.

the entire DIY enclosure
[attachment=4980]


the left side. hes semi-potty trained (when he wants to be rofl) i use a small dog self-waterer as a water bowl/bath. he doesnt like water but its there if he wants it!
[attachment=4981]

heres the humid area with eco earth and sphagnum moss. he likes to hang out where he is in the pic.
[attachment=4982]

this is basking spot, theres usually a flannel shirt balled up on the end, but he pooped on it so im washing it lol. he likes to slide off the platform onto the moss. the repticarpet lining the platform is velcro'd on for easy cleaning.
[attachment=4983]


average basking temp is around 105 degrees F, with a fogger, the humidity fluctuates between 50% and 80% but usually around 70%. when he sheds, i let peak at 90%

 

[HeatherN]

as of today, Tarots around 17 inches long. hes really hard to measure! his scales are looking so vibrant and healthy after i bought a zoomed reptifogger. it can keep the humidity up better than me spraying occasionally. unfortunately, he has been kind of shy lately, but hes much more tolerant of strangers. in a week or so, ill be moving, and i anticipate some stress-induced set backs, but it marks the start of a new chapter in training him while free roaming, eating, outside, and with people.

 

[HeatherN]

Tarots been surprising me lately with his intelligence. i decided to try to get him to come when i tap my finger on the ground and say "comere', Tarot". i wanted to start off the positive association with food, as i have a strong trust in his innate ability to tell my hands from food. at first, he came running for the food, but when i tapped, he became hesitant, and walked away. he kept retreating when i tapped. so i put the food away and got on my computer to work. i noticed he started foraging a bit later, and banging on the glass, obviously hungry. curious, i opened the cage and tapped on the wooden lip. to my surprise, he came running to it. thinking a coincidence, i moved it away and tapped again. he followed! after repeating the cycle several times, i rushed to get his food and reenforce it. he hesitated again, but came to my hand maybe 5-7 more times before his hunger no longer overrode his caution. i tried feeding him without the tapping, but he was too full. i had never tried any of that before with him, and that all happened in one day! im going to continue to associate the tapping and phrases with food, as there is no sense of praise for tegus other than food.

one problem i do have with him is that he is afraid of my feet when he's on the ground. ive been trying to show they mean him no harm, but hes having a real tough time. understandably though, since he's a little hatchling, and when a looming giant is soaring towards you, it can be scary!

despite my business, hes also getting better about being pulled out of his cage (not litarally pulled, more scooped really) im amazed at his progress when i look at how little time its actually taking.

 

[HeatherN]

Tarot has not been really interested in food lately, but i think its been due to all the commotion around here. since ive been getting ready to move, things have been getting put in front of his cage and he's been dying to snoop around. today i was trying to feed him with tongs, but instead he insisted on pushing against my hand with his head and digging into my palm. so i opened my palm, he cautiously climbed on, then proceeded to use my arm as a bridge to the piles o' junk. i let him look around for a bit, but he couldve very easily gotten lost from me, so i put him back in after a few minutes.

tomorrow ill be driving up the coast for about 5 hours, then have several days to move in. its going to be hectic, and itll probably stress him out a bit. when i travel with him, i put him in a cat carrier with some of his substrate and a hide. it serves as a good temporary holding space for car rides and in strange places.

 

[HeatherN]

so i moved into my new apartment and just finally am getting settled. Tarot was amazing this trip. he had to stay colder than normal a couple days, but still pooped in his baths i could give him in my hotel. now that he's in the apartment, instead of hiding 24/7, he's really been hassling me to get out and explore. i havent let him go far yet, as i still need to block the areas under the fridge and stove. otherwise, hes been eating like a pig, but his schedules obviously messed up. though so is mine, so we'll both have to settle into routine soon. hopefully my classes wont get in the way too much while i try to get things back on track for him.

when i was feeding him today, he kept doing this one motion where he would press either of his front legs forward, as if he were pushing around substrate when making a den. it almost looked like a spasm due to its sheer randomness, but after he was done eating, he would just sit there and do that on his carpeted basking spot, while pausing to rub his head on things. ive never seen him do anything like it. i hope its not some sort of indicator for an issue i caused with the move. could be just a little thing he does though now, idk.

 

[HeatherN]

i took tarot outside for the first time yesterday since i moved. he was not at all happy with me walking around with him. i think the smells and sounds bothered him. i don't particularly enjoy the smells/sounds of college kids either. he was much calmer (abliet still understandably stress) when i put him on a sunny picnic table. he sat around for awhile then decided hed had enough of me fawning over him and went to explore the table top. when he wanted to get out of the sun, i offered my arm and he climbed down it to my lap. he wanted to drop from there to the floor, but i took him elsewhere in the grass so i would keep better track of him.

he took a nice big poop (better in the grass than on my carpet) and proceeded to act normal, sticking his head in depressions in the grass, looking for foods. he discovered a bush with a large bit of space under its canopy-like base and proceeded to make my life difficult. i stuck my hand in to go get him, and he did the whole song and dance with the hissing and the standing, but ultimately was retrieved without any chasing. then the interesting part happened where he insisted on climbing all over me at an alarmingly fast pace, almost scrambling, which hes never done for me. he was obviously stressed and i took him back to his cage. now he hides very quickly if i dont have food with me, but he still eats eagerly.

its quite a few steps back, but im sure he'll come around when the stress from moving has settled more.

 

[HeatherN]

Tarots been good since last update, but ive been a busy little bee. he doesnt mind since hes heading into shed again (finally!). this is the first time ive seen him rub and scratch his branch so early into a shed. he hasnt even started peeling and he looks like a bear with a bad case of fleas going to town on a log. its cute, but i know hes uncomfortable. ive been keeping the humidity extra high, but hes still grumpin' it up.

 

[Logie_Bear]

I want pics when he is done shedding!

 

[HeatherN]

just an update, besides his gum problem ( http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=12630#axzz28HNnQoVy ), Tarot has been doing fairly well considering. i can get the silly one to eat anything new i got him from hare today, only ground turkey. i think soon ill try putting some cod liver oil in it. he can tell when i mix up different types of meat!

today he was being rather interesting. i was watching him, just seeing how he's doing, and he kept going under his driftwood and lifting his tail/butt to scratch it. i dont think it was doing the trick, as it's lightweight wood. so at the risk of making him mad, i reached over and rubbed the base of his tail a bit with my index finger. when he didnt move away and lifted his tail to press against it, i started scratching. he then used his back legs to raise his butt up further, but stayed in one place as i scratched him. he knows quite well he can just move to avoid me, but he chose to stay and let me scratch his butt. i stopped, since i didnt want to hurt/bug him (even though my nails are very short). he then proceeded to turn around and stare at me for several minutes. i held my hand for him to lick, and he proceeded to rub his face on it like a cat, which could be due to his shed or gum thingy. but i scratched him again and he eventually walked away this time. just an overall really weird interaction. he then proceeded to do normal stuff, i.e. digging.

his shed is not moving along that quickly, but its moving. not close to popping for awhile though. thanks all!

 

[HeatherN]

measured Tarot this weekend. 19 inches! the shed on his tail is starting to slough, but very slowly. actually got him to eat some rabbit today when i mixed it with turkey and doused it in cod liver oil. he's weird like that.

 

[HeatherN]

My little guy still hasnt shed! its just not wanting to pop, but i bet when it does, hell come out 5 inches longer or something lol.

i took him to my hero department the other day to ask one of the head grad students about his swollen jaw. he seemed to agree with me, that he might just be teething. i was very proud of Tarot though, as everyone wanted to pet him, and he let them without issues. he also let the grad student hold him and even squeeze his jaw to palpate and he was a perfect little patient. its amazing how much he has tamed down since i first got him, and i havent been working with him in small increments. now i am usually forced to hang out with him a lot on weekends as opposed to everyday like i prefer. my break is coming up, and im going to spoil the little fool rotten!

 

[Dana C]

measured Tarot this weekend. 19 inches! the shed on his tail is starting to slough, but very slowly. actually got him to eat some rabbit today when i mixed it with turkey and doused it in cod liver oil. he's weird like that.

Hi Heather,
You may want to try feeding skinless chicken breast cut into chunks which is what I have moved to. Naturally I add liver, fish sometimes, gizzards. Because my boys are adults, they also get sectioned chicken wings as their source of calcium. Every other day the get a mouse or two as well.

What is funny about chunk'd food , is watching them eat. They root through the pieces, the liver etc. until they find the one they want. After that they sniff around looking for the chunk they want second and so on. Funny to watch.