Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I just bought a brand new Blue Tegu at FIRE today in Orlando. I just have a quick question/concern. I noticed that his eyes are always slightly closed and I'm not sure if this is normal, bad, good? Please, let me know if you have any information for me. Here are some pictures of him. Also, if anyone has some tips/info on how to care for him, I would very much appreciate it. Thank you for your time.

Chris

www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?selected=289829
Tegu Pics

this mite come off as rude but... why dont you research on this animal before getting him? if you had researched properly then you would know not to get an animal that mite already have something wrong with it. it just seems like common sense to me to read up on something before buying it. but i wont leave you hangin' . first off, substrate (ground, floor of the cage) i would say put cypress mulch in there atleast 6 inches deep they love to dig and will stop for only 3 things... warm up, eat, and sleep. give him a good hot basking spot of around 120F now remember make sure that he can also cool off and have it no higher than 80 at the cool end. i think the cool end in Taz's cage is around 72F. i cant tell from the pics but if he is in an aquarium you might need to tape some paper or add backround of some kind so he doesnt rub his nose raw. lizards dont really understand glass... so they keep going on and on and can make messes of there snouts. you can go to home depot, lowes whatever you have and buy a dome light and halogen spot lights work very well for heat. so dont go buy the expensive "special" reptile lights when regular halogens work great. i try to keep a water tub large enough for my tegu to soak in... they will throw dirt into there water and poop in there. be sure to clean it immediately or it will start to smell BAD! as far as food goes... they eat a LOT!!! Taz (my tegu) now is on a diet of roaches, rats, and chicks. depending on the size of your tegu you can feed crickets. if he is baby to 2ft i think crickets should make up the bulk of their diet. if larger i normally feed mostly mice, rats, chicks. whole food items. they also LOVE eggs. boil them to kill any disease they might have. you can go to a bait shop and get all kinds of insects for cheap. big ol' nightcrawlers are real good Taz loved them. they also eat fruit. Taz never really ate fruit or veggies. but i would try it. cantaloupe and honeydew are the only fruits he would eat. try foods see what keeps him healthy and what he likes. any more ?'s just ask. and as far as the eye take hi to a vet and see what he can find. also these guys eat a lot and grow VERY fast if kept right. so be sure to get a big cage. 6x3x3 i would say is minimum. good luck with the new tegu.

Matthew,

Thanks for the information, I did reserach him actually quite a bit, my purchasing the Tegu was the result of a lot of reserarch and asking around, I just wanted to make sure that I hand't forgot anything and a second opinion never hurts.

But what I am really concerned about are his eyes. Both are always partially closed. I examined him before I bought him and asked the salespersons at the breeders counter repeatedly if he was alright, and they told me that his eyes were partly closed because "it was cold and he wanted to go to sleep". I'm not sure that I belive this anymore as I havent' seen any change in him yet. I don't think it could be an infection though, as both eyes are similar. I might go ahead and take him to a vet though, just to be safe.

Thanks Matthew.

you could try letting him soak in the tub with just enough water so he can swim around if you want. if there's something contaminating his eyes then this could possibly flush it out. also, you should let people know about your cage set ups and stuff like that when you have a problem, that way they may possibly point out an error you have with your tegu's set up. good luck and i'd definately take it to a vet if it is stays like that for more than a couple of days, especially because you don't know how long it was like that at the pet store. goodluck, let us know how it turns out.

Are his eyes puffy and swallen?If they are He may be difficent of Vit A. I have seen bearded dragons with this problem. You might want to take him to a vet to make shure he is ok . Good luck Russ

I found out what was wrong with my Tegu. It turns out he has a lung infection which has also caused his eyes to become squinted. He's on antiobiotics now and hopefully he'll make a full recovery. It just goes to show the dangers of buying from unknown breeders/vendors at expos and shows.

Respectfully worried,
Chris