he just wont eat and i don't get it...

[Gnatilie]

I posted the other day about how my new tegu will not come out... so I started making the decision for him to come out and he seems cool w/ that. I got him a new UVB bulb saturday (its a nice one I forget the brand but its a 10 and he is in a 40 gallon so its just right ... right now) his warm side is steady at 92 during the day and it gets down to 75 at night the cool side stays around 85 daytime and 75 at night... he has a rock that gets warm from the basking lamp and it stays at 106 his humidity is at 70 percent he is on cypress mulch has 2 large water sources one on the hot side and one on the cool... he has a hide that he never uses as he buries himself all the time... anyway so I have tried a lot of things to get him to eat... turkey, beef, superworms, mealies, strawberry, tomato, canteloupe, pineapple, hard boiled egg, earthworms (I raise them myself) and grapes cut in half... he won't eat... he ate a little bit of egg last week .. other than that I have had him coming up on 3 weeks and he hasn't eaten... no signs of parasites and the previous owner stated she kept her herps checked out by a vet and she gave him vitamin supplements from a local vet he was healthy and happy when he came to my house and now he won't eat... the skin on his sides looks baggy to me and he just doesn't feel as sturdy his tail is still thick and firm at the base but I am a worried momma i guess.. today i took him out and he snuggled me a bit and chilled out more so that was nice but i am scared since he won't eat and hasn't eaten anything more than a bite or 2 in weeks... i got him on 3/10 so it has been 16 days today w/ only a bit of egg eaten the girl who i got him from stated he ate a pinky the morning before i got him so ... idk what to do i offer anything and everything and he licks it like he is gonna eat it and then nothing... i put him in a tub tonight w/ supers mealies egg and canteloupe and he licked everything and acted like he was interested and then nothing ... he went to the other end of the tub and went to sleep... oh he is on a 12 on 12 off timer and i am about to purchase a humidifier to alter to raise the humidity for him... we will see if that is the issue... idk what else to do! HELP!

[scubatyler]

From what I understand, it can take a tegu a few weeks to adjust to a new living arrangement. It might be a good idea to weigh your tegu and make sure it is not losing a bunch of weight. When you spend time with it every day it is hard to notice the change without weighing it. You could try frozen thawed pinkie mice or mixing a few drops of cod liver oil in with some raw ground turkey. The cod liver oil is very good for them and sometimes will stimulate their appetite. Try leaving your tegu alone with the food for a half hour or so and see if it will eat when you are not watching. Make sure it stays warm though because it may not want to eat if it is too cool in the feeding area. Try giving your tegu a bath in 85 degree water for 15 minutes then dry it off with a towel and then try feeding it. The warm water will help get its temperature up and may stimulate it to eat. Most likely your tegu will begin to eat once it has adjusted to its new living area and gets hungry. Good luck.

[Dana C]

I, like Tyler have great experience with a nice warm bath. Eva, who is a little picky, scarfs down everything after a nice soak. It also wouldn't hurt to ramp up the basking rock surface temp to 110-115. I raise or lower the surface of my stump to increase / decrease its temperature. The cod liver oil is also good. I give a little to my Tegus and Black Throat monitor along with 2" baby trout from a local hatchery. I found out that they like their fish a little stinky as well.
Your Tegu won't starve if food is available.
One other thing to think about is brumination. My Tegus still are not all the way out yet. Eva wakes every other day now and is eating more and Gordo, after a pretty active week and consuming huge amounts of food, has been asleep for two days. Your baby may be experiencing a little of the same thing.

[laurarfl]

What was he eating for her? Can you duplicate the same thing? Maybe try a F/T small sized rodent and dip it in raw egg. If it eats it, do the same thing again for the next meal, but add some extra calcium powder on it. You can also try some chicken baby food with about 1/4 teaspoon calcium supplement added in a small jar.

How are you feeding him? When you are first taking him out? In the enclosure? Try placing him in a rubbermaid container with a lid, the kind that is solid color. Leave him in there to see what happens. I'm a firm believer that they will eat before they starve to death as long as they are healthy from the beginning (no underlying organic reason for loss of appetite).

[laurarfl]

Another thought after I reread your post...

He's 18months old, right? It seems odd that she's feeding him pinkies. They are quite low calcium/high phosphorous. I wonder if he is a bit lacking in his diet and that is making him feel a bit poorly? See if you can get him to lap up some chicken baby food or raw egg with a lot of calcium. You don't want so much that the food will taste chalky. And you don't want to overload him, but definitely more than normal (1/2 teaspoon in small jar baby food).

Feeding rodents with bones will help, papaya is a fruit with a higher amount of calcium.

[Gnatilie]

Turns out he isn't 18 months I guess she thought I was asking how big and she said 18... inches... so miscommunications coming together now he is about a year 10 months ish... anyway I have tried soaking in warm water then letting the water drain and allowing him to have food in the tub.. I have tried on a plate in the enclosure, i have tried on a tupperware thing in a tub that he can see out of... one that he can't see out of ... she told me all the different foods she has fed him and I have attempted to recreate it as much as possible, ground turkey, boiled egg, ground beef, tomatoes, strawberries, cantaloupe, grapes, w/ calcium w/out calcium superworms, mealworms, earthworms i have crickets but she said she never fed those... she suggested chicken gizzards and well the only thing i can find in my area is livers so i am gonna try some today... w/ calcium on them and see if the stinky livers will get him to eat... I have bumped his basking temp to 110 and added a cool mist humidifier pumping into there to bump the humidity to what she keeps hers at... at his other house he lived w/ another tegu... his substrate was paper there... so maybe im in need of a substrate change... i can't get another tegu right this second for him to be friends w/ but i can change his substrate... we will see today after the livers... oh and i left him a plate w/ food on it in the enclosure (on a plate) all day yesterday... nothing but a messed up plate w/ cypress mulch in it.. my ratty just had babies yesterday... maybe he will wind up getting one of those... idk we will keep trying and see what works...eventually he will eat though

[Gnatilie]

K so I followed several different peoples advice... Today I cut up a chicken liver and put it on a paper plate and warmed it for like 10 seconds in the micro just to cut the chill off it... while all of that was going on I was allowing Weasley to soak in the nice warm tub. So he soaked about 15 minutes or so and then I let the water out and put the plate w/ the liver in the tub. He started sniffing around so I went and got my feeding tongs and offered him a piece (as suggested by my friend who is a zoo keeper) and he licked at it and as his mouth was open i slid it in and he was like OH! ok... so he ate that peice and then another one that was offered right after ... he ate those 2 pieces and wouldn't take anything else so we cleaned up and i put him back in his house and now he is happily basking on his paver under his uvb light... so maybe if we keep this up I won't have to tong feed him... I have a small rat hopper that is too small for my snakes ... I am gonna try to give him that tomorrow maybe with some egg or something oh i did put calcium spray on the liver so he got a bit of calcium as well... makes me feel a bit better now that I have seen him eat.

[laurarfl]

Well, good, I'm glad he ate something!

[Gnatilie]

yeah me too! ill try again tomorrow and maybe just maybe we can make this a regular thing

[laurarfl]

I know you are relieved. Sometimes it is just trial and error to see what works for that animal. I'm glad your friend came up with that suggestion for you! I feed mine with a fork at times, but never thought to suggest it,