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Thread: New red tegu!

  1. #1

    Default New red tegu!

    Hey guys, so I finally got my red tegu at my local reptile show last Saturday. He looks healthy and is somewhat active. He is generally not eating much though, today he ate a cricket, superworm, and a pinkie. Yesterday he ate some chicken livers,chopped to size, and seemed to like them. But when I got home today I saw a pile of what looked like semi digested livers. He also pooped and it was a bit runy and bright green. Should I be worried? He is in a 3ft long tank with a 160watt basking bulb, and a 10.0 UVB. He's only 70 grams and maybe 10". So, do you think his lack of eating is due to his moving and new enclosure? Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
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    San Antonio,TX
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    Hi Chris. Congrats on your new Tegu. I'm glad you found one that you like. I'm glad to hear that he at least ate something. It's normal for Tegus not wanting to eat much or not at all when they are going through a change like moving into a new home, being stressed about something, or going to get ready for hibernation. The runny stool can be due to stress or he isn't used to this type of food yet. How did the poop smell like ? Did it smell like regular poop or very very sour to where you almost couldn't breath ? If a stool is runny and it smells very bad you might want to get him checked for parasites. If you want to you can try to give him some more of the rodents dusted with some calcium powder. This usually hardens up the stool. Even if the small rodent has bones I still would put the calcium powder on it because it's so young that the bones haven't been developed enough yet for your Tegu to get the calcium from it that he needs. Since he pooped out some undigested food I would get the basking temps. They might be to low. How far away is the UVA/UVB light ?
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  3. #3

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    Ok, the UVB is about 6" at most from his basking spot. As for the basking spot temp, if anything I thought it was too hot. I think the reason for the weird and undigested food was I feed him chicken livers. I don't think he's every had them before and made a few weird noises while eating them, sounded like a normal huff. Earlier in the week he ate a lot of ground turkey and his stool looked fine after that so do you think it's from the livers?

  4. #4

    Default New red tegu!

    Ground turkey and chicken livers are both poor choices for food for your new tegu. I, like you, choose to feed ground meets but it would be exponentially better for your tegu if you feed whole-ground animals. You can buy this at several online store such as hare-today. This together with whole-prey items (fish, quail, rodents) and good supplementation of occasional multivitamins and you should be all set.

    Some people also choose to incorporate insects into the diet however I chose not to. Either way, I would stop the store bought ground turkey and chicken livers as soon as possible.

    Matt


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  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Lake Havasu City AZ
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    83

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    I feed my tegus chicken liver, ground turkey, and F/T chicken parts all the time. In fact when I'm at the store I'm always looking for differnt things i can throw in their cage for them to eat. I also feed whole prey items like rats, birds, and fish. Don't forget to add fruits when possible, although mostly my tegus won't eat the fruits and hold out for the meaty meals. If his poop was normal before, I'm thinking its just an adjustment to something new. Their are times when I find runny poop in the enclosure too. I would just keep an eye on him and see if things don't change once he settles in a bit.
    It's all fun and games until you lose your right to vote and bare arms!!!!

  6. #6

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    Ok, so he pooped yesterday in the bathtub and it looked normal and healthy. He has been eating superworms and crickets like there's no tomorrow. So I think he just doesn't like eating ground meats yet. Is this normal? He's only 4-5 months old.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
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    Massachussettes
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    216

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris View Post
    Ok, so he pooped yesterday in the bathtub and it looked normal and healthy. He has been eating superworms and crickets like there's no tomorrow. So I think he just doesn't like eating ground meats yet. Is this normal? He's only 4-5 months old.
    if he doesnt want to eat the ground meat, and just things that move like superworms/crickets like you said, try puting a small patty of ground meat on a plate and put the superworms ontop of it. push them into the meat slightly so they are stuck and will wiggle to try and free themselves. this may get your tegu to try some ground meat (when he goes to bite the worms) and he will probably most likely enjoy the taste its an idea that may work. also can put the worms in egg and such...


    EDIT---Disregard everything i said lol!! i just went thru and read all comments....
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  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
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    San Antonio,TX
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    I was going to recommend doing the same thing what subiedude09 sad. Also try to mix in just a bit of water with the ground meat. Sometimes the ground meat can be a bit dry and sticky. This will be to hard for the Tegu to swallow/eat. I also recommend feeding some roaches. They have more nutrients than the crickets do. I'm glad to hear the poop was normal. Thank you for the update.
    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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  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    San Diego California
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    Pictures? (:

  10. #10

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    I haven't taken a pictures of him and he's hibernating right now.

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