Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Until recently, Draga, my B&W Argentine, has been extremely docile and seemingly content. Last month Draga began to "destroy" the terrarium. I would come home and find the shelter flipped over, artificial plants and thermometers torn down, mulch thrown around and filling the large water dish. What's even worse is that I've come home and found the 10" dome light with a 150w spot flipped upside down on top of the wire mesh (and that's WITH the clamps)!! Luckily it didn't fall and start a fire!! I thought it might be the temps due to the arrival of Spring so I purchased 2 thermostats to maintain proper temps at both ends of the terrarium. Everything was okay for a couple of days and then it started again. I currently maintain a high temp at one end of the terrarium at a daytime maximum of 95 degrees with the basking spot at about 100 - degrees. The cool end (where the shelter is) stays between 75-85 degrees. If it isn't temps what else could it be? I feed it everyday so I doubt hunger is an issue. I've also provided living conditions that I believe are comfortable and well furnished. I REALLY DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO!! I've only had Draga for eight months but it's long enough for me to know something is very wrong. Once always calm and laid back - now jumping almost 2 feet to the top of the terrarium, clawing up the walls, and even damaging its snout. Today I came home to find the lamp flipped once again and the snout was scrapped to the extent where there was dried blood and other visible damage. PLEASE HELP!!! I would truly appreciate any and all advice that can be provided. Thanks!!!

But I am sure it would help out if you could include the size of the enclosure, type of substraight, and ammount of hiding/burrowing space.

GD

Draga is currently living in a 75 gallon tank (and quickly outgrowing it!). The dimensions are 18"w x 48"l x 20"h. The hiding spot is an X-Large ExoTerra Rock Cave and has a diameter of approximately 12" and tapers to a height of about 4-5". Draga is about 2 1/2' in total and approximately 2-3lbs. but that is a rough estimate (looks healthy but not overweight). For this size, there may not be alot of roaming space but I've read that this is more than adequate for the time being. For substrate, I use ExoTerra Jungle Earth, which is basically cypress mulch. I cover the terrarium floor with about 2 1/2" of this. For heating I use 2 under-tank-heaters (one at each end of the tank)which are connected to separate dimmers and an ESU Thermostat. The probe is located at the cool end of the tank and activates the heaters only when temps at that end fall below 75 degrees (the UTH at the cool end is dimmed a bit more than the other). My primary source of heat and UVA during the day is a ZooMed 150w Basking Spot Light located at the far end of the tank, above a basking rock, and is also connected to a dimmer and a second ESU Thermostat. This probe is located at the warm end of the tank. The thermostat shuts the light off when temps at this end exceed 95 degrees. To maintain a constant daytime light, as well as UVB, I use an ESU Super UV Coil Lamp. Both lamps are connected to a timer set at 12hr intervals. As far as humidity is concerned, I try to maintain levels betwen 50-60% by hand-misting in the AM and PM, if necessary. I had previously used an ESU fogger located in a corner of the tank, under an artificial stump and connected to a timer, but due to the destructive behavior I have since removed it. In regards to feeding, Draga currently gets 60 grams of food a day. I measure this with a digital scale for the purpose of consistancy (probably too obsessive but...). Diet consists of large pinkies, crickets, mealworms (all of which are frozen and then thawed with hot water), Zupreem Monitor & Tegu Diet, and sometimes something from the fridge (chicken, hard-boiled egg, pork, etc.). Fruits seem to be unpalatable. With exception to the Zupreem Diet, I sprinkle LM Animal Farms Reptile Multi-Vitamin on the food (recommended to me). I think this is every possible bit of info I can provide (most likely more than you need!). I would also provide photos but I am not sure of how to post them on this site. I truly appreciate any advice that you can offer me. Thanks!

That is a healthy reply. Please take my advice only for what it's worth, which really isn't that much. The majority of my tegu keeping experience was way back when golden tegus were classified as T. nigropunctatus. Most of what I learned was trial and error, with a lot of both, as there wasn't much available info on tegus at the time. So there many in here with a better up to date knowledge than mysef.

Now, my disclaimer aside, here is a couple of thoughts of mine. It is quite possible your animal is just being eccentric, as you mentioned nothing has changed in his environment. But what I'd try is first add more mulch so he can do more digging and burrowing, perhaps he is not comfortable with the provided cave. Also with the cave in a static place there is no thermoregulation there. It is also possible as summer approaches the cave is too warm for his liking nowadays, where it was fine during the winter months. Hiding underground would naturally be an escape from the heat, and they do spend a lot of time burried. On this train of thought I might also try turning off the UTH on the cool side all together.
My Argentine will spend the day travelling my office roaming from hide to hide while basking in the morning and after eating in the afternoon.

Summary, perhaps offer more hiding places and a wider thermogradient and see what happens.

Keep us posted.
GD

Go to the Photo Gallery link up towards top of the page here. You'll see a link to upload photos. Use your same user name that you post with. I reduce the size of my photos to fit in my browsers(50k -120k).Use the browse button to get the photo off your computer. Then when you post here you select the picture from the bottom where it says select image from photo gallery. There's also more on photos in FAQ on top of the page. On the orgional subject I think you should get a bigger cage since your going to have to soon anyways.

Mine has the same problem sometimes. I'm thinking it's just boredom. I came home one day from work and smelled an unfamiliar smell in the air. Lex had jumped up and knocked the floodlight off of it's 13" mesh screen and had landed on the wood and was beginning to smoke. Now I have HEAVEY rocks placed around the fixture, it doesn't budge. I've noticed most of the time when I do get home, he's lazily lounging around. As soon as I sit down on the couch, he starts getting anxious. He'll try to climp the pexiglass, he'll even starting turning over his large waterdish/toilet. I think he's learned that usually when I get home, I let him out to roam about. Also I've noticed he like to wait to go to the bathroom on my carpet. Lol, he reminds of a dog being trapped in the house all day waiting for someone to come home and let him out. My cage is 6'x3'x2', but he really LOVES to get out and explore. He is so used to me being gone, that I've watched him on weekends, and he doesn't want to come out of his cage until about the time that I would normally be getting home from work.

I really don't have any insight to the behavioral changes, but I do have a suggestion for the light. I think you might want to look at the stands that sit next to the cage where you can hang your basking light from. I think they are around $40, but that is little to pay when you think of the consequences of a fire. I burned a hole in my carpet in the reptile room because I was cleaning the cage, I set the lamp down bulb first (duh) and then the phone rang. It was burned in a matter of minutes! Other than the stand, you may want to think of a way of securely hanging your light so there is no possibility of it tipping and starting a fire. Good luck.

Pam

i would say everything is very normal. i don't know if they tend to calm down when they get older. i would assume they do but my blue is only 11 months old so i don't know yet. mine does the same thing, i would say it's either boredom like previously said, or trying to find a way out. tegus are escape artists.