Tegu Help

Hello, I just adopted a beautiful young tegu from a reptile adoption center. He looks extremely healthy and had video footage of him eating and getting along quite well. But, since I've brought him home he constantly hides and isn't eating anything I've tried to give him. He has proper basking temperature and lots of hide space. I've also been concerned about his substrate cause it is a mulch blended with soil/dirt and it seems to be getting into his eyes when he burrows and now one eye looks like there's dirt on the eyelid and he keeps it half closed. I'm in desperate need of some advice. I just want him to be healthy and happy! PLEASE HELP.

Originally Posted by Elepheguttata007

Hello, I just adopted a beautiful young tegu from a reptile adoption center. He looks extremely healthy and had video footage of him eating and getting along quite well. But, since I've brought him home he constantly hides and isn't eating anything I've tried to give him. He has proper basking temperature and lots of hide space. I've also been concerned about his substrate cause it is a mulch blended with soil/dirt and it seems to be getting into his eyes when he burrows and now one eye looks like there's dirt on the eyelid and he keeps it half closed. I'm in desperate need of some advice. I just want him to be healthy and happy! PLEASE HELP.

Sounds as if it's being a perfectly normal newly acquired tegu.
Give it time to settle in, hunger will drive it out of hiding eventually.
Don't harass it. Just let it come out when it's ready.

Originally Posted by Ameivaboy

Sounds as if it's being a perfectly normal newly acquired tegu.
Give it time to settle in, hunger will drive it out of hiding eventually.
Don't harass it. Just let it come out when it's ready.

I appreciate the advice, is there a time when I need to start worrying?

Sounds like a normal tegu to me. I wouldn't worry much about the substrate just make sure his water dish is like a small pool to him so he can submerge his entire body in it if he wishes and he will rinse off if needed. With my experiance tegu's will hide for a vast majority of their life, My gold is only out for about 2-3 hours a day. I also previously had an argentine and he would only come out for 1-2 hours a day on average. As far as feeding give him a week or 2 before you worry and offer him a variety of foods such as mice, ground turkey and I occasionally use ground beef, chicken(chopped or ground), hard boiled chopped eggs, insects such as roaches, supers, mealies, crickets, etc... and Im sure he will be a chow hound for you. Also I don't know what your temps are but I keep my enclosure which is a 4x2x2 at 104.7 hot side on average and 84.3 on the cools side and he thrives and is growing like a madman! Also make sure you keep a good humidity level above 60%, mine is always between 60%-90% normally on the higher side around 75%-80%. Any other questions feel free to post them here or you can PM me if you wish. Hope this helps

Originally Posted by jeffwyatt81

Sounds like a normal tegu to me. I wouldn't worry much about the substrate just make sure his water dish is like a small pool to him so he can submerge his entire body in it if he wishes and he will rinse off if needed. With my experiance tegu's will hide for a vast majority of their life, My gold is only out for about 2-3 hours a day. I also previously had an argentine and he would only come out for 1-2 hours a day on average. As far as feeding give him a week or 2 before you worry and offer him a variety of foods such as mice, ground turkey and I occasionally use ground beef, chicken(chopped or ground), hard boiled chopped eggs, insects such as roaches, supers, mealies, crickets, etc... and Im sure he will be a chow hound for you. Also I don't know what your temps are but I keep my enclosure which is a 4x2x2 at 104.7 hot side on average and 84.3 on the cools side and he thrives and is growing like a madman! Also make sure you keep a good humidity level above 60%, mine is always between 60%-90% normally on the higher side around 75%-80%. Any other questions feel free to post them here or you can PM me if you wish. Hope this helps

Thank you for the advice. He ate two fuzzies for me yesterday, I was very happy! Also another quick question. He is very flighty when I go into get him. Then he does calm down very quickly after I hold him but he tends to close his eyes and "sleep" on me quite a bit. Is this because he is stressed or does he enjoy being out? I can't tell and I don't want to stress him out but how can I get him used to handling if I shouldn't handle him? Just looking for some advice. Thanks.

Argentines tend to be quite calm for the most part so sleeping isn't a bad thing especially if it's on you, he may just feel comfortable when he is on you and the warmth that you body puts off. As far as handling I usually let animals get acclimated to the new enviroment for a few weeks before handling them. His flightyness (if thats even a word, Lol) is most likely due to his smaller size and he probably looks to you more as a predator while coming into HIS cage, that will go away with regular handling and even more as he gains some size.

Originally Posted by jeffwyatt81

Argentines tend to be quite calm for the most part so sleeping isn't a bad thing especially if it's on you, he may just feel comfortable when he is on you and the warmth that you body puts off. As far as handling I usually let animals get acclimated to the new enviroment for a few weeks before handling them. His flightyness (if thats even a word, Lol) is most likely due to his smaller size and he probably looks to you more as a predator while coming into HIS cage, that will go away with regular handling and even more as he gains some size.

Ok thanks that makes me feel better. Haha. Yeah I don't know if that's a word or not lol. How often should I feed him in your opinion?

I feed mine 2-3 good size meals a week, enough to make his belly a little pudgy.

For starters, great advice Jeff...

I have a 12 lb, 4'+ Arg Tegu that is the biggest sweety in the world...

It's very common for Tegus to be flighty when they first arrive. Within the first 1~2 weeks they usually relax a lot. There are quite a few 'tricks' to helping them get used to being handled, but it sounds like yours is well on it's way.

I believe your Tegu closing his eyes while being handled is a sign of comfortability, not stress.

I use straight Cypress Mulch as substrate for my tegu. It holds moisture very well, is quite resistant to mold/mildew, is inexpensive (where available), is easy to manage, etc, etc... I know of others who use a soil mulch mix and are happy with the results, but it's not something I would do. If for no other reason it seems the Tegu would be dirty and then when handled or free roaming would get me or the carpet dirty.

I think the Temps Jeff quoted above are ideal for Columbian tegus, but the Argentina Tegus are from a bit cooler region. I keep my (8' x 3' @ 3') enclosure approx 86*F during the day and 78~80*F at night. He also has a basking area that is around 95~100*F. The basking light is on 8 hours in summer and 4 hours in the spring/fall (off in winter).

The humidity requirements Jeff quoted above are great ideals, but Arg tegus are less picky abotu humidity than Columbians. Too dry of an environment does make shedding difficult and can allow toes to become brittle. But I find keeping the mulch moist works wonders even when the air is dry. If you are having problems or concerns regarding clean sheds, try adding fish oil (Cod Liver Oil) to their meals (easily mixes with Ground Turkey) a couple of times per week. This helps tremendously.

I also have a 6' x 12' outdoor enclosure my Tegu spends time in. Here in North Carolina the daytime temps are in the mid 90s for 3~4 months out of the year. I find my Tegu loves to bask in early to mid morning sunlight before the temp gets past the upper 80s, but once it reaches 90*F he looks for a dark cool place to hide until evening. Once the day cools off he usually comes back out for a while.

Keep in mind Argentinian Tegus hibernate in their native environment. In captivity some do, some don't, but just about all of them slow down considerably in the winter months. Personally I like to adjust their heat/light to reflect seasons, although this is not required. But even when kept at consistent temperatures they still reflect higher activity in summer and lower activity in winter.

You can attempt to prevent hibernation if you wish, but once a tegu decides it's going to sleep for the winter there is nothing you can do to stop it (besides physically wake it up daily which will excessively stress the animal).

I would feed your hatchling daily as much as it will eat. They grow tremendously fast for the first 18~24 months of their lives and they will utilize the energy gained from excessive eating. Adult Tegus are prone to obesity, but young ones aren't.

Jeff gave a great list of foods to offer. Mine highly prefers whole foods such as frozen/thawed mice & chicks and live fish. But I seek to give him a balanced diet to include Ground Turkey, Beef Liver, Crustaceans, Chicken/Turkey Gizzards, Prepared Fish and/or any other raw meats I find at a reasonable cost. I also feed mind scrambled or soft boiled eggs (He commonly gets omlette leftovers on Sundays). When they are smaller (like yours) insects are a wonderful addition to their diet.

Be prepared for this guy to grow like a dang weed. Mine was 6 weeks old at 9" long when I got him in early August '08. He was 16" less than 3 months later when he went into deep hibernation... he woke up in early May at 18" and blew up to over 36" by fall. He was quite literally growing 1.5" per week (yes week!) for many weeks his second summer ('09). This past summer, his third summer, his growth was just as impressive but it was more focused on girth than length.

What size cage do you have your little guy in now? And what enclosure plans do you have for the future?


PS - Sorry for the long post. I've been a little obsesed with Tegus for the last few years *twitch*