Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: The Wandering Tegu

  1. #1

    Cool The Wandering Tegu

    It's been a long time since I posted here I have an A B&W Tegu ... going on 8 years now.
    When he was just a wee thing we built him an enclosure - http://thetegu.com/showthread.php?50...nclosure-Built

    Just this year we built him a new vertical enclosure because he loves to climb and he needed a larger basking area and I needed room for a huge elliptical machine LOL

    He was just finishing up his hibernation and he seemed to really enjoy the new enclosure for a while and then he just wanted out.
    He's wanted out before and he usually wanders for a while and eventually comes back for the heating area etc but this time ... he never returned.
    He curled up under one of the beds and stayed there for days. Again not a problem really just strange for him since he's never done that before.
    Eventually we went under the bed and placed him back into the enclosure. The doors are sliding with no locking mechanism ... he figured out how to open them easily
    He really didn't seem to want to stay in the enclosure so we just decided to let him live outside of it.

    We have a small apartment and there aren't many placed he could get lost of injured. We have a few cats and he doesn't seem interested in them nor they him.

    We got a large heat rock and set it up under one of the desks because he used to curl up next to our LAN machine LOL and I was worried he'd go to the bathroom on it
    He now seems to spend time curled up in everyones blankets and wandering around pooping everywhere which is ... pretty awful sometimes after a lot of rats ...

    The last few nights he's bitten a couple of my roommates and I assumed it was because he was quite hungry. He goes for days without any interest in food and then suddenly he gets ravenous. It's hard to tell when that will be.
    This is the first time in 8 years he's ever bitten anyone and it was pretty frightening. He's never been terribly friendly but you could pet him for a while, not pick him up though ... the biting is new.
    Everyone is ok and we'd started making sure as soon as he is awake and wandering around we get 4 or 5 large rats or a couple of quail into him.

    We spent a lot or time and put a lot of love into custom building the second enclosure, it even has a built in fogging mechanism and a pool but he no longer seems to want to stay enclosed period.
    I have read before that some people don't even have enclosures for their tegu, just something like a toybox filled with substrate for hibernating periods so we're thinking of dismantling the entire thing.

    Does anyone else have a tegu that just wanders freely? Is there anything special we need to do? Will the biting continue and should I worry?

    Elaine
    Last edited by techrev; 06-12-2013 at 10:52 AM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    San Antonio,TX
    Posts
    9,505

    Default

    Hi Elaine. Welcome back. Yes, there are a few people who have their Tegus free roam at all times and just have a basking spot up. I don't recommend it because they need the humidity for the shedding and other reasons. I'm just wondering if he isn't interested in eating for a few days because he doesn't get the right basking temps and UVA/UVB to get his metabolism going. It's normal that a Tegu wants to bite if he is very hungry. Our Leonidas is very tame and takes naps with us ( he is over 5 years old now ). But one day when I took a nap with him and I didn't want to get up to make him something to eat ( I worked late ) he bit me on my chin. He has never done this before. He also poked me with his nose and huffed and puffed to let me know that he is hungry but I ignored it. If your Tegu isn't hungry he will not or might not bite again.
    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

  3. #3

    Default

    When he first woke up from hibernating its normal for him to not be too interested in food right away ... so I wasn't concerned. Actually the humidity etc is PERFECT in the enclosure we built and he was shedding well when he first woke up from hibernation. But as I said ... he just simply won't stay in there anymore. We even put locks on the cage doors and he pushed against them so hard (they're made of lexan) that he popped them off the sliding tracks and squeezed out. (I've posted pictures and videos of this on my blog) It was pretty obvious to us that he really didn't want to be caged anymore so I felt I didn't have a choice. We cannot do anything about the environment in the apartment and if he doesn't want to stay in the enclosure we created then I don't see what I can do.

    He basks on the heating rocks most of the afternoon and then he is immediately ravenous once he's done ... he ate 8 medium rats and 2 week old quail last night and still seemed hungry. We supplemented with fruits until he stopped eating on his own but he's eating way more now than he ever used to.

    Kosh has never been of the temperament to take naps with him. When he was small we picked him up and played with him a lot but he really just stopped liking it after a while. Once he hit 4 feet or so he didn't want to be bothered too much which made me a bit sad because he used to hang out on my computer when I was working and we even had a harness for him to take him walking. Dunno what happened but he just came out of hibernation one year and was a very different animal. Just like this last time where he won't stay in the cage anymore and just wants to wander around. He just seems different. Still friendly and everything but not the same as he once was.

    But yeah basking temp, UVA/UVB, water availability for shedding ... the custom enclosure had it all and it was actually the most perfect environment we had. The built in timed fogger and the pool with flowing water, the tiled basking area with temp control, It was nicer than our apartment And now he just would rather wander around and roll around in blankets. It's possible he just hates the new enclosure ... but he seemed fine in it for weeks and was digging like crazy and "swimming" around ... I just am at a loss here. I'm fine with him wandering around though the cleaning up the rugs all the time is getting just nasty When he wants sun he climbs into the window sill and hangs out so I figure he knows what he needs and he'll get it and there's a ramp for him to get back into the enclosure if he wants he just never uses it.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Earth
    Posts
    1,233

    Default

    Aside from some points already brought up, I advise you to use caution with setting up a vertical enclosure that allows the tegu to climb. Tegus are not arboreal, they do not have good skill at climbing and (most importantly) getting down from heights. While often they may seem to like to climb (I know I see an increase in climbing behaviour shortly after they emerge from hibernation), they really are bad at it. But as I said, the danger is in when they try to come down. Not being arboreal, their "instinct" is to typically just nose dive. In larger lizards this means they land head first with a large mass (their body) pressing down from behind on their neck, often resulting in breaking the neck or pinching and causing permanent nerve damage. It is apparently a very common issue vets are dealing with in respect to tegus.

  5. #5

    Default

    The enclosure has RAMPS. Of course we wouldn't just build one without him having the ability to move freely. I had links showing the entire enclosure but I was asked to remove them. He had no problem moving freely between the levels. And our tegu had quite good climbing skills actually. He ignores the ramps going up and uses them coming down.

    Hmmm it seems like I'll just have to keep doing what I doing already. Thanks for the assistance.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    San Antonio,TX
    Posts
    9,505

    Default

    I'm sorry I asked you to remove the links. I don't mind if you put up the photos and description of the enclosure on here. But since there was a workout machine on there and talking about fitness that has nothing to do with the Tegu or the enclosure I asked to to remove it. I know you know this already. I just thought I mention it here so others know why I asked you to remove it. You are more than welcome to put some photos of just the enclosure ( or your Tegu ) on here.
    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

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •