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Thread: Laura, texasrepgrl, anyone? possible gravid.

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    351

    Default Laura, texasrepgrl, anyone? possible gravid.

    I know hardly anyone comes here anymore, but not sure where else to ask.

    Before anyone jumps on me, I did NOT breed my tegus. This is a rescue.

    On August 10, I took in a red "male" tegu from a teenage boy, who said his parents are making him get rid of his only tegu. This tegu has some jowls and ia heavily bodied, healthy and active, so I took it "as advertised".

    It shows no aggression towards me, but attacked any other tegu on sight. I tried introducing in neutral territory, tried putting it in the others territory so it is submissive etc etc, but it would chase and bite any other tegu on sight, none of which fought back. They just ran away. Finally, I just decided to keep them separate.

    Today, I decided to take a closer look.It has NO bumps/beads behind the cloaca at all.

    I suddenly think perhaps it is a gravid female. She has a HUGE appetite, attacks other tegus on sight but not humans, and has a big belly.

    I called the kid and this is what he said: That he got the tegu from another owner december 2014, where there were 5 tegus housed together. He had said before that his parents made him get rid of his only tegu, but now says he has a "female" blue tegu (not that he is good at sexing apparently)' but it is small subadult and were never together unsupervised. I don't know if this info is believable given that he sold me a male which is female...

    I want to ask, is it possible for her to be gravid at this time of year? Also, she has been here for 5 weeks or so now, what are the timelines for tegu gravidity? If I am to give nesting material, can I use that hay from rabbit shops? No farm supplies here in this skyscraper city. Do I need a box of some kind?

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

    Default

    Hi Anthony. I'm so sorry for the very late reply. I'm also very sorry that I can't help you on this one. If you have facebook you can check this group out. You will get some fast responses there. https://www.facebook.com/groups/120192141326139/
    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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    http://www.youtube.com/user/txrepgirl

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Abbotsford, BC
    Posts
    234

    Default

    Anthony,

    Also sorry for the slow reply, I haven't checked on here lately.

    I have no experience with female tegus, so can't be a ton of help here. Although this is not the regular time for tegus to be gravid, captivity does produce some abnormal behaviors in animals and these timelines can become obscured. From what you describe of her body condition and demeanor, she may be gravid as you suspect. One way to find out could be to provide the nesting materials and setup and see what she does, if she builds a nest chances are you are correct and she is gravid. Hay should work as long as it is on the softer side, I would not use any coarse material as it will not make a good nest. I hear that they like to build their nests underneath a shelter, not in the open exposed areas, which makes sense. That's what I meant by a nesting setup, so provide a shelter and the fine hay. Be sure to provide lots of fresh water and increase the calcium amounts in the diet, as egg production requires additional calcium. I'm sure that they seek out these types of high-calcium food (crustaceans, I would imagine, due to their calcareous exoskeleton) in the wild during gravidity. As for gravidity timelines it is variable, but I think egg-laying occurs around 1-2 months following mating.

    Hope this helps, let us know how it goes. If she is gravid and you don't provide a nesting setup, she may have problems related to egg-laying, which you don't want.
    Last edited by dpjm; 09-28-2015 at 02:26 PM.

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