Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here's TegTeg (yeah, I'm not very creative with names!) soaking in the tub. He's 9 months old, 45 inches long, and weighed in at 11 pounds today.

Thats a Great growth rate. Santiago was 43 1/8" and 8lbs-9lbs at that age . Russ

Oh dear! I may be raising Godzilla! The vet was quite astonished when I opened his carrier case today. We weighed him twice just to be certain of his weight.

nice pic russ, he is closer to the camera so it makes it look like your tegus head is bigger than yours. had to look at it twice just to be sure

If it were ,It would half to be 10 feet long cause I have a big head. Thanks Russ

What a fine big tegu! But now I'm worried. I just got two reds that are supposed to have been born in June or July of last year, and they are only about 8" long. They're still hibernating, and I don't know when they started hibernating, but I look at yours at 9 months and I wonder why mine are so small. Did yours hibernate, or has he been eating all this time? Are mine too small for their age, or will they catch up once they wake up and start eating? From the posts it seems that everyone's tegus are waking up but mine!

Any suggestions, comfort, etc. will be gratefully appreciated. I've got a dwarf tegu, but this is my first experience with the big guys, and I'm a little worried here.

Thanks

contact the breeded you got them from. 8" is small. They all wake up at different times. I am in south Florida and 6 of mine are still sleeping. Are you raising them indoors? what is your setup like?
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

My B&W did not hibernate. His eating slowed down a bit, but it hasn't stopped by any means. He, and a red tegu I got last August, are my first tegus, so I'm not really sure what's normal for these guys. My red tegu had been starved by his previous owner, and though he was over a year old, he was still hatchling size when I got him. Now, 7 months later, he's 34 inches long. He hasn't completely hibernated this winter, but he's been sluggish, and his appetite has been poor. Maybe you could contact your tegu's breeder about your concerns and ask what kind of growth is expected from his or her tegus during their first year.

The breeder assures me that they are fine, and will grow rapidly once they wake up and start eating. I've only had them three weeks. According to the breeder, they had been being taken out to sun, so I assumed that they had awakened fully, but they both went back to sleep immediately once I got them home. One thing I did not understand is that the breeder said theat they had been on a "maintenance diet" so they wouldn't get to big. They were kept in an outside shed in a shelf system and were cool and asleep when I first got there, but both woke up easily and were active and curious when I held them.

Right now I've got them inside in a 20 gal long until they wake up and start eating. One side is in the 80's, with a basking spot about 90, and the cool side is about 70. They went to sleep on the cool side, but sort of in the middle of it, not as far from the heat as they could go. I've got reptile bark as a substrata. I know the tank is small, but I always start babies in a smaller enclosure, so they can find their food. It has worked well with my dragons and uromastyx. I plan to hit the Tampa show next weekend and check out some of the BIG Vision and Neodesha cages. I've also been looking at all the past posts for design info; my husband says he'll build me a big cage, as soon as we decide what will work best.

Thanks for the help; I know you're not supposed to wake them up when they are hibernating; I'm glad to know that mine aren't the only ones still down. I live near Daytona Beach, Florida, so we may put up an outside area for them eventually, at least a place to saunter and sun.

Any suggestions gratefully appreciated. I read everything I could find before the purchase, but nothing seemed to give me a guideline on how big they should be at what age. I guess it varies with the hibernation period??

Yeah I wouldn't worry about it too much their growth to age ratio totally depends on how much they hibernate. I don't know about the "maintenance diet" thing I'd feed them as much as you can when they wake up. Also the basking spot seems pretty low but how are you taking that temp? I've got mine at about 130 that's with a digital thermometer probe on the basking rock. My cool end is about the same though at low 80s. I've got a growth chart of mine I could E-mail you if you want. Hang in there; I'm sure he'll wake up soon! Here’s a pic in the meantime.

Yes, I sure would appreciate a growth chart. My email is druidwood1@yahoo.com (sorry, don't know how to add it as a link). I really appreciate everybody's help. I haunted the forum for weeks before I got these two, as well as reading everything I could find; books, Reptiles mag and on the web. If they grow up to be half as magnificent as yours and some of the others I've seen, I'll be delighted.

Thanks!