Reptile & Amphibian Forums

some times when hes up and walking he will like push air out of his lungs real fast like a small sneeze.he does this a few times a dynusually.is he sick or somethin???

Sorry, don't have any advice about your Red's sneezing....

However, I have been wondering, since your last post, how your feeding problem has resolved. I was (and still am) having similar feeding probs with my Arg. Red. Has yours resumed "normal" eating? How long did it take, and what did you do that worked? Hope you also get some good advice on the sneezing, but was always curious regarding how he's been doing.

Thanks .....Michael

still having the problem

Us too. We have had ours about 6 weeks, and she only eats a little bit of baby food per day. ONCE, she ate a couple of bites of poached egg and I thought we were over the hump, but no. She'll lick grapes, and other fruit, but the only thing she really takes in is the baby food....and not nearly enough to fill her. But, she stays active and looks O.K. (eyes are bright & clear and she's plump.) Won't touch ground turkey or chicken, or meal worms or crickets.

What have you been doing to get nutrition into your Red?

Michael

I didn't realize you guys where still having problems with them eatting All I can do is tell you what has worked for me. I put a probe from my digital thermometer inside the chamber where my tegus sleep in the Rubbermaid and it's around 82 all the time (lights on 24/7). My basking temp is at 120. The only time I've had problems with my female tegu not eating was when she wanted to hibernate and I kept waking her up everyday.

Sometimes they dig and move the chamber around inside the Rubbermaid. When the probe gets burried it reads about 77.

Rollin,

Thanks for your interest and advice. Things have improved only slightly and it seems we have to coax her to eat (athough the up-side of that is we get a lot interaction with her every day.) At first I thought she might be hibernating, although it didn't seem like the appropriate season since we got her at the end of May (Memorial Day.) However she is somewhat active on her own, coming out of her hides and looking around and reacting to us when we get close to her cage. It appears poopoohead's is rather active too, she mentioned that he's swimming and walking about. I have a digital thermometer in the cage and the basking spot stays between 100 and 110. She spends some time there, but most of her time she tends to stay on the cooler & damp side. I am less worried because she seems to be sustaining on the limited food intake, but I know this is not normal from what I have read here. (BTW, she is only about 12 inches nose to tail, has great attitude, likes to explore the house, and never seems aggressive, even when my 3 girls are holding her. Aside from being on the starvation diet, we couldn't ask for a better Tegu!!!)

Thanks again for your interest.

Michael

Yeah if he's waking up everyday on his own then it's not hibernation. For anyone else who might read this I just want to say that she did remain active even after she wanted to hibernate. I guess that's why it was so deceptive. She would stay up for hours after we woke her up. She would walk around, hide for a bit then come out on her own, swim, and all that stuff. If we say put her on the living room floor without a hide box she would run around all day long (looking for a hide spot) without stopping except too bask. That and I thought she was too young to hibernate but according to Berts site they are born in July/Aug and "In the middle of August, when it is still hot here in Alabama, they start to refuse food and begin preparing their burrows for hibernation."
"In the middle of September, they are all inside that chamber despite temperatures of 80 to 90 F during the day"
So I don't think it's that uncommon for babies to hibernate even if it's hot (both mine did).

Is it possible he is just huffing at you? Kind of a way of saying "oooo I am a big tough Tegu, get away". If not I guess there is a possibility of a respirtory infection of some kind? Is there any nasal discharge or lethargy? What temps are you running in the enclosure and what is the age of your tegu? Not a pro, but those were the first two things to come to mind.
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Peace!
KofSeattle
Reptile-Like
Here lizard lizard.........

i dont no what letheragy means but i dont see any nasal discharge.hes done it when hes swimming sometimes to

Hi,

Lethargy in a simpler term is just acting weak, run down or sickly. The other topic I see you are having an issue with is the food cunsumption. Three times my boy quit eating and all three times it was because the temps were dropping below 75F at night in his enclosure. Stella StPiere is the one that clued me in to this. I now use a double thermostat to make sure the cool end stays 75-80F and the warm side is on 24/7 so it is always stable at 110F. HE has not missed a meal since, fat boy that he is! Best of luck. Sorry I am not more help
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Peace!
KofSeattle
Reptile-Like
Here lizard lizard.........

it's perfectly normal for them to sneeze. mine does it quite often, it just means that something is in their nose. iguanas also sneeze quite a bit, though for them it is a means of expelling excess salt...may be the same for tegus, too. i woudlnt worry about the sneezing. it makes since that he does it when hes swimming, hes got water in his nose.

sounds to me like hes expeling dust from his nose or lungs, what kind of substrate are you using? if its very dusty you might want to try another kind, if it is its probably not very harmfull but you should change it anyway to be safe. if he only does it when he wakes up or swims its probably not a respritory infection.