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Well my baby/juvi Arg. B&W tegu is coming out of brumation. He eats pinks, but will ONLY eat one a day!!! I know hes got a bigger stomach then that because he used to eat tons of crix and supers. He wont touch those now, nor silkies or roaches. I figured that if he is only eating ONE pinky, might as well get him a large fuzzy. He wouldnt touch it. He wont even eat a small fuzzy, or a pinky with a little hair. Is he acting like this for a reason, or is he just really picky? If so, what do I do about it? I dusted both with calcium, and he licked them both, but only ate the pinky. I tried feeding them one at a time, first the fuzzy, wouldnt eat it for 15 minutes. Then tried the pinky - Licked it and ate it right off.

Thanks
David
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LOL! Thought I was the only person with a tegu who wouldn't eat mice with fur on them! My little female red is half the size of my male, as she will absolutely not eat anything with fur on it. She ate pinks only under protest. I even tried slathering the fuzzies with egg. She fell for it once, then licked all the egg off and left the mouse. Fortunately, she still eats crickets. She, naturally, is the one to slow down this winter. My male, Loiosh (the pig), is up and eating like a champ. So he's getting even bigger. Go figure. I'd hoped he'd go down for the winter and she would stay up to catch up in size, but no...

Leslie

I had a baby Argentine that decided to hibernate one November. He went into the hidebox, packed the entrance with mulch, and didn't come out until May. Yes, May.

My cage temps were spot-on, water was available, lights were on 12 / off 12, but he didn't come out. I do not mess around with a tegu once it goes down, as they know better than I what they should be doing. Anyway, every so often I'd sniff around the cage to make sure he wasn't dead.

Well, May came along and one day he was out, taking an extremely long drink. He went back into hiding for a day or two, and then emerged full of cage-trashing vigor, eating everything I threw in and growing like crazy.

So, my opinion is to let him do what he wants to do. He may be like my blue tegu that doesn't hibernate but rather brumates (slows down and hides for days at a time but emerges now and then to drink and eat a bit).

Just keep fresh water available and make sure the cage temps are correct. You may have to wait a while until he fires up again.

Bill

He is looking a little on the skinny side, and will only eat one pinky a day. He is usually always basking in the morning, but buries himself during the day and only comes out during the day. When I mist him he drinks like crazy, so I give him as much as he will drink, but GEEZ its just so frustrating!!

LOL Thanks both of you!

David
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KDRKreatures.com
Exotic Reptile Breeders - Specializing in Bearded Dragons

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The first tegu I ever got was that Argentine b&w I mentioned. I got him that October and he was a few months old and already starting to slow down. I was very concerned that he wasn't eating much and he was hiding a lot. I tried feeding him different things and was having trouble getting him interested in food.

Then he went down into hibernation. I didn't know what the heck was going on, so I called Bert and Bert said to leave him alone and let him be.

He came out of hibernation in May and all my concern about him not eating much actually became quite funny, because he became such a voracious feeder! I mean, he was growing and shedding like crazy and I had to be very careful when putting a dish of f/t mice into the cage because he would charge it, dump it, and vigorously shake the crap out of each mouse before gulping it down.

As he grew he'd trash the cage daily and was really amped up. What great beast!

This time of year is a funky time for tegus. Some just slow down, others hide for days on end, and still others close themselves into their hidebox for the long haul, not to be seen again until the spring.

You'll have a very different impression of him this summer )

Bill

Sounds like reduced appetite due to the brumation like my blue does. I would personally just wait him out for a little while. Don't feed him anything for a week and then see if he will eat or just goes back to sleep in his box. May sound mean, but as long as your Tegu is healty a week isn't going to hurt him. IF he does not eat a healthy meal after that you obviously want to get him into a vet. Strange that he won't eat the moving stuff though, they loves to chase stuff when they are young! Best of luck with your Tegu.
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Peace!
KofSeattle
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