Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know these questions are going to sound really stupid to a lot of people, but oh well. I got my first Tegu in august, he is a really mellow red named Uteg. I have a bunch of other 'tiles, but have never owned a tegu. He seems to behave differently than the other tegus i have known and i was wondering if i could get some general information on tegu behavior.

He spends all of his time hiding and is not very active at all. He is currently about 9inches long in a 30breeder tank. He has mulch for substrate, a large shallow water dish, heat lamps and uvb strip lights, and a humidity box to help with shedding. The thing is...he spends all his time in the humidity box anbd im wondering if this could promote more skin problems than it fixes? He doesn't come out even to chase his crickets or eat pinkies, we feed him now im a seperate containor to make sure he is eating. Are they supposed to be this mellow? (When you take him out of the cage he is very active and crawls around checking things out.)

What temperature ranges do you keep your tegus at? im worried maybe he is too cold, his tank is in the high 80's to low 90's in the hot spot. and cools down to the low 80's in the cooler spots. Does this sound ok?

My last question is about skin problems, i have red that Red Tegus can get some really bad skin issues if not provided with a good place to shed. Does anyone know any good links to pages containing good information about this?

Thanks in advance!
-----
1.0 green iguana-Deitrich
1.1 Common Boa-Un-Named, Ursula
1.0 Ball Python-Anabell (go figure!)
1.0 Red Tegu-Uteg
1.0 Albino Cal King-Pig
0.1 Mexican Black King-Morticia
1.1 Bearded Dragons-Unnamed, Hanabil
1.0 Albino San Diego Gopher-Unnamed
0.1 Hermans tort-Esio
1.1 JCP-Milton, Medusa
1.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Snow Corn-Unnamed
1.0 Hypo Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Motley Okeetee-Unnamed
1.0 Western Hoggie-Wyrm
0.0.1 Rose Hair Taruntla-Unnamed
2.0 Leopard Geckos-Reptar, Pogo
4.1 cats-Tucker,Poe,Abhib,Emerald, Felicity
0.1 Bullmastiff-Asha

Im very new to tegus as well, but my guess is that hes trying to hibernate..? Most tegus hibernate every year from about August for several months, so this may be the reason for his inactivity. Personally I would take him to a reptile vet (mines already been and luckily a wheeze wsa detected and treated before it could develop into a more serious respiratory infection) just to make sure he doesnt have any parasites or anything. If he checks out ok it may be a good idea just to leave him sleeping; he'll probably come out every now and then to bask, so you can keep an eye on him.

Tegs need high temps - if by "hot spot" you mean the basking spot then low 90s is too low. My basking spots at around 117F, with the cooler end low 80s and the hot end in the high 90s. He moves around a lot, so I guess the range is good for him. Humidity has to be high as well, which can be a pain when the cage is so hot - 50-80% (sorry if you know this stuff already).

My tegs just gone through his first shed with me, and he was ok; I kept the cage particularly humid to help with the shed, and gave him a soak in the sink for a while to loosen it. He took care of most of it by himself by rubbing against the cage furniture; so long as you have something with a relatively abrasive surface, like a stout branch or something (I have a load of big branches and a log hide) for him to rub against then you should be ok. Keep an eye on his toes; these stand the most chance of damage if the skin gets caught on them and dries, restricting blood flow as it shrinks. Feed him fruit as well to help in shedding - thanks to someone off here (I think it was TC500...sorry if I got the name wrong!) I have learned that mine likes grapes. I dont know how far this helps, but more vit C will help with shedding, so if you can get him to eat fruit then all the better

This is mostly stuff I have learned from people on this forum in the short time I have been here...thanks everyone! I hope its all right!

Awesome information. Thank you. What kinds of fruit are good to feed to them, mine doesnt like any of the fruits i have tried?
-----
1.0 green iguana-Deitrich
1.1 Common Boa-Un-Named, Ursula
1.0 Ball Python-Anabell (go figure!)
1.0 Red Tegu-Uteg
1.0 Albino Cal King-Pig
0.1 Mexican Black King-Morticia
1.1 Bearded Dragons-Unnamed, Hanabil
1.0 Albino San Diego Gopher-Unnamed
0.1 Hermans tort-Esio
1.1 JCP-Milton, Medusa
1.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Snow Corn-Unnamed
1.0 Hypo Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Motley Okeetee-Unnamed
1.0 Western Hoggie-Wyrm
0.0.1 Rose Hair Taruntla-Unnamed
2.0 Leopard Geckos-Reptar, Pogo
4.1 cats-Tucker,Poe,Abhib,Emerald, Felicity
0.1 Bullmastiff-Asha

I noticed when mine were little (Loiosh is now 32 inches), that they did not show any interest in fruit, just their crickets. I gave mine raw ground turkey mixed with the mixed fruit baby food, which is very high in vitamin C, which is what they seem to need to shed, along with their crickets. But I discovered that if you put a half on orange in with the crickets, that the crickets absorb the vitimin C, and the tegu gets it by eating the crickets! When they got older, I mixed fruit (grapes, peaches, kiwi fruit, etc.) with ground turkey, with calcium and vitimins (Do a search for the SDZ diet) to make sure they get their fruit. When they get older, they will eat the fruit on their own, generally.

I agree that your basking temp needs to be higher. If your tegu cannot get warm, it cannot digest well. Give your buddy a higher basking temp and watch his appetite go through the roof! These suckers can EAT! I started ordering a second thousand crickets a week just for two little tegus when they were small.

Good luck, and don't be afraid to ask questions. It's a great bunch of people on this forum.

Leslie

Thanks so much for the great advice! I will do those temp changes tomorrow and start using the ground turkey and baby food for the vitimin C.

thanks
-----
1.0 green iguana-Deitrich
1.1 Common Boa-Un-Named, Ursula
1.0 Ball Python-Anabell (go figure!)
1.0 Red Tegu-Uteg
1.0 Albino Cal King-Pig
0.1 Mexican Black King-Morticia
1.1 Bearded Dragons-Unnamed, Hanabil
1.0 Albino San Diego Gopher-Unnamed
0.1 Hermans tort-Esio
1.1 JCP-Milton, Medusa
1.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Snow Corn-Unnamed
1.0 Hypo Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Motley Okeetee-Unnamed
1.0 Western Hoggie-Wyrm
0.0.1 Rose Hair Taruntla-Unnamed
2.0 Leopard Geckos-Reptar, Pogo
4.1 cats-Tucker,Poe,Abhib,Emerald, Felicity
0.1 Bullmastiff-Asha

young Tegus do not generally brumate if kept indoors with heat and food. Do you ever see him basking? Your temps sound too low. I would recomend a hot spot of 110-120. They all have their favorite time of day to bask. My blues like to get up early while my reds prefer to sleep in. Your tegu should spend some time warming up and then be fed. You might want to try not moving him as it may be stressfull. Have you contacted the breeder to ask how they do it?

for more info try here
Tegu Care QA.

-----
Bennett

beardiedragon.com
Home of the Florida Orange

Thanks, I just changed his basking light so the hot spot is around 100. Tomorrowi will add another lamp so it is hotter.

What do you use for humid hide boxes in your red tegus enclosures? How much time do they spend in them?
-----
1.0 green iguana-Deitrich
1.1 Common Boa-Un-Named, Ursula
1.0 Ball Python-Anabell (go figure!)
1.0 Red Tegu-Uteg
1.0 Albino Cal King-Pig
0.1 Mexican Black King-Morticia
1.1 Bearded Dragons-Unnamed, Hanabil
1.0 Albino San Diego Gopher-Unnamed
0.1 Hermans tort-Esio
1.1 JCP-Milton, Medusa
1.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Snow Corn-Unnamed
1.0 Hypo Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Motley Okeetee-Unnamed
1.0 Western Hoggie-Wyrm
0.0.1 Rose Hair Taruntla-Unnamed
2.0 Leopard Geckos-Reptar, Pogo
4.1 cats-Tucker,Poe,Abhib,Emerald, Felicity
0.1 Bullmastiff-Asha