Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hibernation -

Should never be forced.

Most baby tegus will not hibernate their first year if they are provided with steady night time temperatures . If your nightime temperatures are falling into the low 70's or bellow most baby tegus will not feed and try to bury themselves in their substrate , this is a natural survival instinct to conserve energy since it is to cold for them to digest food .This is especially true for Argentine black and whites and Argentine red tegus as where they occur in nature in can get quite cold at night and the slightest dip in night time temperature warns them that winter is coming and it is time to stop eating . If you want to try to keep your tegu from sleeping through the winter try to keep your night time temperatures at 75f plus .

Older Argentine tegus that are kept as pets only do not need to be hibernated and should not be forced to do so. If they want to sleep let them , if they don't want to do not force them .

Blues , Colombian black and whites , and Golds are tropical lizards that do not normally hibernate where they occur , ever. Forcing these tegus into a cold sleep can quickly result in death .

Stella St.Pierre

Blue Tegu (Ron St.Pierre)

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Stella St.Pierre
www.bluetegu.com

I was wondering what type of set-up you offer the Argentines to facilitate hibernation. Natural materials? Heated houses?

Also, what do you do with your Colombians (blues) in the winter? I assume indoor caging, can you describe it?

Thanks,
Jim

Stella - I have an argentine B&W tegu baby - Is it going to HARM him for him to go into hibernation/brumation? He is doing it for a few days, and then coming out. He IS stopping his eating habits for the most part, and im afraid this isnt good for him, as he DOES come out as well. He is in shed - I do not know really if i can raise the temps - any suggestion? A night light? Thanks - and also thanks a lot for the article, it helps more than you can imagine!

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KDRKreatures.com
Exotic Reptile Breeders - Specializing in Bearded Dragons

Email

We provide night time heat for all our tegus even those that are hibernating whenever it gets cold
For heat we mostly use Kane Heat mats run on rheostats (these can be purchased from David Blair - I will write his number below )

For indoor cages we use heat also

Heat for indoor cages at night can be provided with heat tape if the cage is a Neodesha / Vision

IF the cage is like a glass tank that has a ridge around the bottom heat tape doesn't work well as the ridge won't allow you to run the tape directly under the tank - heat tape doesn't work well - for these type cages or for wood type cages that you can't run heat tape under ceramic heaters that fit in a light socket works well - You can order these from David Blair also along with the thermostats needed to controll them .

David Blairs contact information is as follows
1-800-HERP-NUT (800-437-7688) for ordering
Or for more product information, call (760) 746-5422 or email critter@herpnut.com

David has extensive knowledge of the dry goods buisness and is very familiar with the products you will need for whatever type cage you are useing to keep the temeratures where you need to .
He is also one of the best herp breeders I know .

Stella St.Pierre

Blue Tegu (Ron St.Pierre )

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Stella St.Pierre
www.bluetegu.com