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Thread: my female tegu found dead today

  1. #1

    Default my female tegu found dead today

    ive had my female tegu for around 2-3 years, and loved her dearly, i found she wouldnt eat anything apart from mice or chicks since the day i bought her at around 14 months old,

    i did try her on different foods but she turned them all down , i didnt want to startve her due to this so kept to the her known foods,

    due to hibernation season ive made sure she or the other he tegu never ate nothing at all, i noticed 4 days ago she was out her hide and resting her head at the glass with her eyes shut, that day i saw her she did open them up when i came into the garage to see what i was doing, so she seemed fine then, the next day i checked on her and she was in the same postion, first i assumed she was resting as they can do for days and weeks, but today ...the 4th day i decided to actually get her out and check to see if shes fine,

    i touched her and she was stone cold......she was stuck in the postition i saw her in the first day with the water bowl, i was very upset as to why or how she died......im still puzzled now. truely upset i couyldnt leave her there so i burried her in my front garden this afternoon. she was around 3-1/2 ft long and was truelly amazing and very tame. she will definatly be sadly missed and remembered dearly.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Central FL
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    I just went through the same thing with my red male. It really upset me. I'm sorry to hear of you tegu passing.
    Laura R (FL)
    1.0.0 Colombian Tegu
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  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Birmingham England
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    sorry to hear of your sad news
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  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
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    Central Maine
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    I am sorry to hear about what happened. Was the base of the tail skinny?

    Just for general knowledge to make sure everyone is hibernating their tegu as safely as possible.

    In order to hibernate your tegus they should be well fed all year. They should have a very fat tail base, this is their reserves which they use during hibernation.

    They need to be kept warm for a week or two until they have voided their stomach of food and then cooled. They need to be cooled enough to full hibernate. If they are too warm, their body will be sluggish and they will try to keep hibernating, but their metabolism will start to speed back up, using the reserves of fat in the base of the tail. They will effectively starve while hibernating.

    You need to check on them periodically to make sure the tail is still fat. If they start using up the reserves, you will need to bring them out of hibernation early.

    Rick

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    I am really sorry for your loss. I know it's really hard to know what to do when your tegu doesn't cooperate with what you've learned is good care. We all do the best we can and are learning always. There are so many variables, only an autopsy would give clear clues as to what went wrong.

    Take comfort in your happy memories of your pet.

  6. #6

    Default

    yes the tail was nice and fat, and she was fine, ive done the same with her 3 years in a row, only difference was ive extended my tank of two meaning the house wasnt an option, i had them both living in the garage with the full lighting and heating. I use to notice she wasnt going to the toilet as much as he was, he use to eat something then do his buisness right after eating, she sort of did the same but very little , i mean a tiny bit.

    the more i think about it the more i have the option of maybe she was impacted and couldnt go properly, meaning that when she hibernated she had all that waste still inside of her....finding it difficult to remove.

    i just couldnt believe it when she was stone cold dead, her body was bloated and that has to be the reason for this. It was more upsetting to me that i never did anything sooner rather than later, i should of known something was wrong that day she was laid at the front of the tank leaning on the glass, alot of regrets for me......:cry:

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
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    Earth
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    Actually, Rick, there's a growing body of evidence that indicates that reptiles (and tegus in particular) do NOT utilize their fat stores during hibernation. This is one of the arguments for some researchers why reptiles don't hibernate (mammals hibernate, and utilize fat stores for their energy substrate while doing so, the argument is that beings as it appears reptiles utilize glycogen stores and protein as their energy substrates, then it isn't "hibernation" - but that's a question of semantics at the moment). Reptiles instead save the fat stores for reproduction following the hibernation period (think about it - in females they have to lay down a LOT of fat in the yolk of a large number of moderate sized eggs, males are courting and combating instead of foraging - both of which are far, far more energy instensive than "hibernating").

    davebelcher, I'm sorry for your loss. It is a shame you couldn't get a necropsy done before burying her. Bloating can be a symptom of impaction or other gastrointestinal disorders.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
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    Florida
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    I am sorry to hear about your loss.
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  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
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    I'm very sorry for your loss. May she R.I.P. Don't be so hard on your self. Every one of us makes mistakes sooner or later. No one is perfect. May God give you healing to your heart and mind. Hang in there.
    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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  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
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    Central FL
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    I don't know if it upsets you to have a discussion. Quite frankly, I grieve hard and the passing of mine has been very upsetting. Could the bloating just have been from being dead? Mine had a nice fat tail and was in good condition. I'm thinking that he either got too cold (lower tolerance than the others or his cage got colder than the others) or had undigested food in his gut during hibernation.
    Laura R (FL)
    1.0.0 Colombian Tegu
    1.4.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
    1.2.0 Red Tegu
    1.2.0 B/WxRed Tegu
    1.0.0 Green Ameiva (yet another teiid)
    7 other lizards
    1 little gator
    3 FL box turtle
    1 Sulcata tortoise
    16 snakes
    5 fuzzy pets
    4 little frogs
    a bunch of creepy bugs
    and a partridge in a pear tree

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