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Young Tegu not eating, been home for a while

Egd3x

New Member
Messages
1
I have my Icarus in an Exoterra large low (36x18x12 in) tank. He was captive bred but wholesale bought, so I’m not aware of who the breeder is. I’m pretty sure he was born early 2020, but not exactly sure.

Temp and Humidity measures:
91° F on hot side, 80-84°F on cool side. 125-130° basking spot. Humidity on hot side is normally around 35%-45% on cool side it ranges from 50%-70% (at night sometimes higher). I’m using a 100w powersun bulb and a 14in T5 Reptisun fixture with a 10.0 UVB bulb just for extra uvb and visibility. On the cool side of the tank the entire top is taped so that humidity is trapped, around the reptisun fixture there is tape as well for heat retention. Icarus lives on a mix of soil I got from a Rose City Reptiles TX video (holds moisture great) and his tank is also bioactive. I’m hoping that my transparency with my husbandry will help someone help me.

So here’s my problem: My Icarus barely eats and has been the same size since May 22nd when I got him. He does poop every now and then but because he doesn’t eat a lot he doesn’t poop a lot and so he also doesn’t shed/grow. To get a gist of what my frustration looks like this is what he ate last week from Monday to Friday:
Monday: 1 pinky mouse (he seems to eat these with not problem.) I offered him crickets afterwards but he didn’t eat any.
Tuesday: 1 pinky mouse (I know you’re not supposed to do rodents too often but I want to fatten him up since he doesn’t seem to eat enough. I was hoping to stimulate his appetite.) no crickets.
Wednesday: 2 crickets dusted in calcium
Thursday: 3 crickets dusted in calcium
Friday: he picked one little bite off of a spoon (which is the only way he’ll try it he won’t eat from a plate at all) of his meat mash which is a mix of turkey, blueberries, kale, bell pepper, and soft boiled egg. Meat mash was mixed with reptivite.
Today: I just got home from work a bit ago so I just now fed him today not sure what he’s going to take. I only ever feed him 5 crickets at a time because he never seems to finish them and I don’t like to have to hunt for a ton of crickets before I go to bed.

I get home from work during the week about 1 pm so I normally dig him out for feeding time (he comes out after I go to work and before I get home) but even if I didn’t dig him out he won’t eat when he’s up on his own time.

Icarus measures 10inches long and has looked he same for the last 2 months. I’m worried for my gu. I’m going to set up a vet visit if the problem persists. But if anyone can help me figure out why he doesn’t eat and why he doesn’t grow please let me know.
 

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Walter1

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Welcome. Several things are wrong. The dimensions of the enclosure are too small to provide the thermal gradient he needs.At far end should be a cool hide in the mid-70s F. Rest of enclosure should be in low-mid 80s F. Basking temp 110-115 F.

Every meal should consist of frozen/thawed mice of appropriate size, heavily dusted with calcium. Fish oil often. Can offer grapes, strawberries, etc., too, but but whole vertebrate prey is mainstay. Can also additionally feed organ meat from the butcher and high quality wet dog food. I've heard repitlinks are good. Let him eat his fill, poop, feed again.
 

AlphaAlpha

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More common than not ...... A tegu that is Unhappy in his environment will be off his food and generally just survive on the basics.
 

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