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Thread: Adopted Tegu hibernation

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    San Diego, CA
    Posts
    6

    Default Adopted Tegu hibernation

    Hi all,

    We adopted a red tegu two weeks ago. He's less than an year old, terrified of peeps, and has been hand fed in his cage. I just learned today that the tegu was pulled out of hibernation before being surrendered. We adopted him and took him home the same day he was dropped off. However, we did not know his previous circumstance. We take him out of the cage and put him in the bathroom to feed with a heating pad and UVB light. He's not a great eater, but loves F/T mice. Today he ate two mice and a tiny bit of ground turkey with mixed veggies (he eats all around the fruit I give him, so I thought veggies were the next best thing. He seems to like them better) . None of my lizards have ever brumate/hibernate. I'm in So. California, so there's not a drastic weather change. They all slow down in the winter but that means going from chowing down daily to every other day or every two day with some daytime napping. That being said, how do I care for a tegu fresh out of hibernation? He's reluctant, but is eating every other day at this point.
    Last edited by Rojo; 03-03-2013 at 02:12 AM. Reason: we are only feeding him in the bathroom and placing the food in there before he arrives

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Reno, NV
    Posts
    266

    Default

    id say he will wake up when he is ready and slowly start coming out more...make sure ambient temp is a lil warmer to let him know it is not winter anymore

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    San Antonio,TX
    Posts
    9,505

    Default

    Congrats on your new Tegu. When he is ready to come out of hibernation he will come out more and more. He might have to bask for a while ( with the right Temps ) to get his metabolism going. I don't want to be rude. But I recommend giving him a heat lamp ( one that has heat, UVA/UVB in one ) and not a heating pad. Tegus get their heat from above not from the bottom. We have been using the zoo med powersun. I'm glad that you are feeding him outside of the enclosure.
    Rich is not how much you have, or where you are going, or what you are.Rich is who you have beside you.

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  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    San Diego, CA
    Posts
    6

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by txrepgirl View Post
    Congrats on your new Tegu. When he is ready to come out of hibernation he will come out more and more. He might have to bask for a while ( with the right Temps ) to get his metabolism going. I don't want to be rude. But I recommend giving him a heat lamp ( one that has heat, UVA/UVB in one ) and not a heating pad. Tegus get their heat from above not from the bottom. We have been using the zoo med powersun. I'm glad that you are feeding him outside of the enclosure.

    We have a PowerSun in the enclosure but not in the bathroom yet. The heating pad is just a large one used for humans so he can crawl under it and when he sits on top of it or is walking around, it warms the bathroom tiles so it's cozy when he decides to go back under. He's not spending a bunch of time in there, just about an hour or two a day. Enough time to eat and socialize. We are still working out all the details and may have to install an additional outlet in the bathroom to provide a true basking spot.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    San Antonio,TX
    Posts
    9,505

    Default

    Oh, OK. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. We have a basking spot like this in the living room.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsthJieV5qs
    Rich is not how much you have, or where you are going, or what you are.Rich is who you have beside you.

    Our videos :

    http://www.youtube.com/user/txrepgirl

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