My tegu has grown approx 11 1/2 inches in the past 4 months and it seems nearly 4" in the past month alone. During this time he has shed 4 or 5 times. Is this even possible? I double checked my measurements and time-frame to make sure I was correct. During this time I transferred him from a 40 gallon enclosure (which he is more than 3/4 the length of the entire tank now before he was less than half the length of the tank) to a custom 7' by 3' by 2.5' enclosure. After a few lighting changes - His basking spot in the new enclosure is 103 - 107 degrees provided by 160 watt zoomed powersun. Additional lighting: 48" 10.0 reptisun tube light (mounted in the middle/back of the enclosure) and 2 50/50 Zoomed 6500K fluorescent lamps (mounted behind the reptisun) for improved visibility. Ambient temps range from high 70s to high 90s throughout the daylight cycle and mid 70s to low 80s at night. Temperatures provided by infrared temp gun (reptileuv.com). Daylight cycle (reptisun and zoomed 50/50) on from 6 AM - 9PM, Powersun on from 10AM-6PM, and nighttime is 9PM - 6AM. I take him outside (for natural sun on a harness for 30-45 mins) at least every other day but usually everyday.
I went from feeding a few pinky mice every 3 days or so to feeding varied foods every single day (turkey, eggs, strawberries, grapes, salmon, Taste of The Wild dogfood, Tegu/Monitor diet from zoomed, tilapia, etc.) I also feed rodents approximately 1-2 times per week (rat pups/adult mice). My tegu also eats stuff when I take him outside and has been doing so for months despite me constantly monitoring him he still manages to eat stuff like weeds, small snails, and earthworms occasionally. I know this is not good but if it makes any difference I do not use and have not used in a very long time any type of fertilizer or pesticide on my lawn. Can my tegu still get sick?
I have noticed a lot of different behavioral changes during this time as well. When I used to take him outside when he was small he would just lay there mostly and sometimes walk when I "guided" him to do so. He went from doing that to going outside and wanting to bolt and run when I put him down and being really obnoxious to pick up to go inside to the point where I had to get reptile-handling gloves. Lately now when I take him out he just seems really anxious to go outside but once he gets out there all he wants to do is dig and try to eat stuff - I keep him on a harness and he's pretty easy to control on it - never tries to bolt from me at all now. He's also pretty calm being picked up in general now. Is this normal?
My tegu also used to be a VERY picky eater and now will eat anything you put in front of him, all types of fruits, meats, insects, etc.
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