Tia the night owl

[tegudude500]

hey guys new to the fourm and tegu's! I bought her from a guy in chicago a few weeks back. She is super tame and likes to crawl out of here cage and find a spot to hide. still having trouble feeding her i've dangled mice in front of her and ground turkey balls ( like previous owner fed her) she seems very uninterested. I always seem to catch her up around midnight. Which is strange because the old owner said she was up everyday at 10 am. But anyways heres some pics of her about 12:30 tonight

her posing shes about 3 feet

 

[txrepgirl]

Hi tegudude500. Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new Tegu. She is very cute . Do you have her lights come on at the same time every day ? How far away is the basking light and what kind of lighting do you use ? What are the basking temps ( measured on the basking spot and not from the side ). I'm not sure but it looks like in the first picture that you are using a red lighting. If you do please take it out. It's not good for her eyes. There was a research done before that it can damage the lizards eyes.

 

[reptastic]

I agree with sam, the red light could be the reason she is up, I had the same problem with one of my girls when I used a blue infrared light, she was up at night sometimes til 2-3am, she looks great though, give her time she will start eating soon, are you from chicago or nearby?

 

[tegudude500]

Hi tegudude500. Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new Tegu. She is very cute . Do you have her lights come on at the same time every day ? How far away is the basking light and what kind of lighting do you use ? What are the basking temps ( measured on the basking spot and not from the side ). I'm not sure but it looks like in the first picture that you are using a red lighting. If you do please take it out. It's not good for her eyes. There was a research done before that it can damage the lizards eyes.

yes i have a red light on at night to keep tank temps up shes in my garage thats semi heated it stays around 65 so i try to keep her warm. basking spot with dytime basking bulb is 105! hotside stays in the 90's cold in the 70's and my basking light is about 2 feet above her substrate! humdity stays around 50%. i dont not have a timer so i try to get her lights on around the same time everyday

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I agree with sam, the red light could be the reason she is up, I had the same problem with one of my girls when I used a blue infrared light, she was up at night sometimes til 2-3am, she looks great though, give her time she will start eating soon, are you from chicago or nearby?

yeah i'm from chicago just moved out to midlothian. what else could i use to keep tank temps up without using the red light at night

 

[reptastic]

Cool I'm in chicago, I actually get my feeder out there at animal island in crestwood, I never use any heat source at night, its really a waste if you ask me, unles the temps are dropping below 40*

 

[tegudude500]

nice yeah i'm a few blocks from them i know jason and them pretty well! i get all my mice and stuff from there too!

 

[reptastic]

Yeah they are awesome, I havnt neen I quite a while since my tegu's been brumating/hibernating

 

[AP27]

Welcome! And that's a nice looking little gu you've got there
If you want to use some form of night time heat I would suggest a ceramic heater or other form of night bulb that is not red light or infrared. If that does not solve her unusual hours of waking then just try to keep your light cycle as consistent as possible and she should eventually come around.

 

[txrepgirl]

What are the temps in the enclosure at night if you wouldn't have a heat source in there ? If it doesn't get to cold you don't need a heat source. This would help her go to sleep at night. But if you really would like one in there I recommend a heat pannel ( link below ) or a ceramic light.

Heat panel info:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Wyvj3sSNqI

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/heat-pads-heat-panels-heat-cable-and-rocks/-/mini-helix-radiant-heat-panel/

 

[tegudude500]

What are the temps in the enclosure at night if you wouldn't have a heat source in there ? If it doesn't get to cold you don't need a heat source. This would help her go to sleep at night. But if you really would like one in there I recommend a heat pannel ( link below ) or a ceramic light.

Heat panel info:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Wyvj3sSNqI

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/heat-pads-heat-panels-heat-cable-and-rocks/-/mini-helix-radiant-heat-panel/

I tried something different last night! I left my big heater in my garage on till about 1:30 and it was around high 80's warmer than usual in the garage. turned all the lights off and woke up about 10:30 tank temps were about 63 at the coldest is that too cold for night time temps?

 

[reptastic]

As long as the temps aren't dropping below 40* she will be fine

 

[txrepgirl]

reptastic is right. Those temps are fine. Here is a link for you to check out so you can see that Tegus can tolerate cold temps ( if taken care of the right way ). There are some breeders who keep their Tegus outside in the winter time without any heat source.

This is what it sad underneath the video:

Uploaded by agamainternational on Sep 16, 2009

Basic Argentine black and white tegu hibernation nest. This works in central Alabama. It snows here about 1 day a year. At night it can get to 15F. Normally, however, it is about 25-32F at night and about 32-40F during the day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g4L_fz1DLs&feature=plcp&context=C3eb1709UDOEgsToPDskKb80En2knOFBGhY8EBei2i

 

[tegudude500]

ok i picked up a heat emitter its 150 wat it says only to use with specail wire fixture can i use a normal one with no dome on it or one with a dome out in since its not going on top of the cage