Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello! I just purchased my first tegu on Sunday at the San Diego reptile show. She's a 14 inch (not sure how old, anyone care to guess?) Argentine Black and White Tegu and very cool. She's been pretty good with handling, but hasn't eaten so far. I've offered her superworms, mealworms, and some apple slices, but they've gone untouched. Any tips on getting her to eat? I'm going to get some ground turkey soon so I can mix up some SDZ turkey diet. She also does a very weird, and cat-like, thing when disturbed from her burrow. She shakes and swishes her tail slowly like a P.O.ed cat and arches her back when you reach for her. I'm guessing that she isn't very happy when she does this because she's gaped and tail whipped me when I picked her up from this position. Well thanks for your help. I hope to post pics soon!
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The Last Place

But you are plastic and so are your brains.

The primate's scream of consonance is a reflection
of his own mind's dissonance.

Sadistic and constantly inflicting a slow demise.

It does sound like the defensive position of Tegus (from all I have read). Do you pull her from her burrow? I would just let her come out on her own and interact with her then. It should be her "safe" place where nothing can disturb her. As for eating, it might just take some time. Try some grapes, and as you mentioned, Turkey. She is just getting used to her surroundings.
JonV

the tail shaking is typical for small tegus. its a warning, like a rattle on a rattlesnake just without the venom

whats your setup like? how big is the cage? temps? substrate? humidity? tell me those and that would help out a lot. she also may not be eating because she could have been hibernating. in which case it could take 2weeks for her to fully "wake up". give her time to adjust with the least amount of handling possible.

if you have anymore questions feel free to ask.

the not eating thing is normal it will take her a few days to get used to the cage. from what i have heard turkey can make tegus sleepy not sure if this is strue but just thought i would tell you. also try crickets small pinkies if she is big enough. small amount of dog/cat food. also make sure that your basking spts are up(around 120 seems to be good) make sure they have places to hide. and make sure that they are able to dig. but as said in other posts the more you post about your enclosure the better we can help you.

She's in a 20 gallon long tank (30" x 13" x 13" with newspaper and a big cardboard box full of bed-a-beast to dig in. Her basking temps range from 121-126 F. She has a Repti-Sun 5.0 over her cage. I'm not sure what the humidity is...but I'm in California so it's at least 50-60% in there. I also mist her (good? bad?) in the morning and she has a water bowl big enough to soak in. Yesterday she ate a couple bites of greens and chunks of boiled eggs, but not enough to have filled her. She rarely seems to come out of her burrow to bask or eat. Should I change the newspaper to bed-a-beast? Thanks for the advice.
-----
The Last Place

But you are plastic and so are your brains.

The primate's scream of consonance is a reflection
of his own mind's dissonance.

Sadistic and constantly inflicting a slow demise.

>>She's in a 20 gallon long tank (30" x 13" x 13" with newspaper and a big cardboard box full of bed-a-beast to dig in. Her basking temps range from 121-126 F. She has a Repti-Sun 5.0 over her cage. I'm not sure what the humidity is...but I'm in California so it's at least 50-60% in there. I also mist her (good? bad?) in the morning and she has a water bowl big enough to soak in. Yesterday she ate a couple bites of greens and chunks of boiled eggs, but not enough to have filled her. She rarely seems to come out of her burrow to bask or eat. Should I change the newspaper to bed-a-beast? Thanks for the advice.
>>-----
>>The Last Place
>>
>>But you are plastic and so are your brains.
>>
>>The primate's scream of consonance is a reflection
>>of his own mind's dissonance.
>>
>>Sadistic and constantly inflicting a slow demise.
-----
The Last Place

But you are plastic and so are your brains.

The primate's scream of consonance is a reflection
of his own mind's dissonance.

Sadistic and constantly inflicting a slow demise.

if i were you i would put him/her on dirt. its free in your backyard. all you need to do is to sift it before you put it in the cage. that way it can make its own burrow. because if they dont have a completely dark place to hide then they get very stressed out. if you ever look at there burrow it will go back straight but then it will have a very sharp turn in it to block out all of the light. try that and i bet it will ahve an awsome apetite. also try not to feed eggs all of the time they have not real nutritional value.

I don't have a backyard...haha. The ground here is pretty hard, so I was thinking mulch?

I wasn't planning to feed it eggs all the time...there's not much in unfertilized eggs...and I would hate it if I had to eat eggs all the time I'm going to try some pinkies next week and see if she likes them.

Thanks for all your help.
-----
The Last Place

But you are plastic and so are your brains.

The primate's scream of consonance is a reflection
of his own mind's dissonance.

Sadistic and constantly inflicting a slow demise.

mulch works great. just make sure that it is safe for him. i used cypress mulch and it worked great. people have also used peat moss and tp soil with great results.