Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Alright,
Ive had my black and white Tegu for over two months now...He has grown like an inch...I recently put him in a new 2x4X2 cage..so he has plenty of space..I have one side 120 and the other hight 70s...maybe a little hotter. He has NEVER shed completely, when I first got him he had just finished and I took some she off his toes. I spray the cage constantly, but I have not soaked him as much as I used to. He eats like 1 pinky every other day if even that. He hates crickets doesnt bother with them. He eats king mealworms but rarely, he used to eat more. Ive been trying to feed him grounded turkey but he wont touch it, it ends up cooking inthe heat. What should I do? SHould he be eating more,? Shedding more? He rarely gets up too, I usually wake him up. He doesnt like it when Im around to eat unless hes in his hunting mode when I can just chuck a pinky and he'll attack it..How much should this guy be eating? Hes almost two feet with tail maybe less...>
Anything would help, I would like to get him off pinkies and just feed him turkey etc. but the way its going he only likes the live stuff....

i know a lot of ppl dont use them but try some UVB. Taz as a baby had to have it.if i didnt have any he would hsve tremors i put UVB in there and the tremors stopped within 12hours. like i said a lot of ppl dont use them but i do. if they dont benefit from it oh well im out of some money. but if they do which mine seem to then good. try that out and see how it goes. make sure humidity is around 65% and he has plenty of dirt to dig in. also from what you say it sounds as if he has stress. is he tame? if not then it may be you stressing him out. if he is make sure he cant see OR smell any other pets that could stress him out. remember these guys can smell VERY good. Taz HATES the smell of my dogs and ferrets. he used to run when he was smaller but now will attack without hesitating. so his cage is outside to reduce stress and comes inside to the 3rd floor where they never go to.

He does have a UV. He does have plenty of place to dig. He IS stressed out by me, probably because I dont handle him too often...but Im thinking I will..He IS acclimated to his environment but he still sees me as a threat..I plan to work on that.
Thanks,

Mike

About the shedding. I came across a neat idea from Proexotics. Take a clay plant saucer, the plain ones not glazed on the inside, take a hammer and knock a door way in the side. Use this for your hidebox and keep inside moist. You may still need to assist with shed on the tail and feet. It comes off much easier. Good luck.

Mike

I know of these apparatuses but the thing is that he is not even begining to shed to begin with. These I believe are more to shed the harder to get places.
Thanks,
mike

Put a probe into his hide box and check the temperature at night and all day, if you look on page 2 here Stella says they'll refuse food if it gets below 75. Maybe he wants to hibernate, I can't remember if you got him from Bert if so he should have just got done hibernating humm. If he hasn't hibernated lately that's probably what's going on. If that's the case you have to let him sleep it off or he'll waste away I don't think there's any way to stop it.

I used to live in a place just last week that was below 75 sometimes...but now for sure its hotter..hopefully that fixes that problem of him wanting to hibernate.
Thanks,
Mike