Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought my first Tegu, an Argentine Red Tegu named Dresden a few months ago. He has decided to hibernate. What are the proper temps for hibernation? He lives in the basement with me and if I was to put him on floor, it's tile, it would get to 60 something degrees F. I was also thinking of putting him in the furnace room that gets colder than that because of the cold air intake, but it might get down to 40 degrees I'm guessing.

He went of feed three weeks ago and I stopped offering food two weeks ago. How long should I wait to turn off his heat to make sure his system is all cleaned out? He has also be buried for over a week now with out coming back out.

He is currently housed in a 20 gal long with shredded coconut and the bed a beast type bedding mixed together. I filled the cage about half way so he could burrow. Is there any other ideas for substrate that will hold their shape for burrows better? Also should I be keeping the substrate moist even though he is going to be sitting in it for a while?

Lastly I'm looking for some good Tegu Food recipes. I want to make a Tegu Mash that is complete. It would be convenient to be able to freeze it and then thaw off chunks as needed or at least make it up only once a week. Or is it better to give them chunks of fresh food?

I just want Dresden to be happy and healthy! So thanks very much for taking time to read this.
-Meg

I dont know uch about hibernation in tegus, i keep blue tegus so i get to skip that. From what i've read though, 60 degrees should be fine, don't put him the the furnice room if it gets below 50 then your jerpordising your tegu. As for heat leave it on for another week or two and still offer a bowl of fresh water. Once your sure his gone down for the winter don't both misting the cage and right now doin't worry about chaning out the bedding, it'll only both him.

As for a tegu mash, a bulk of the diet should be fresh foods or whole food product ie incects, mice, rats and chicks. Complete diets are easy for humans to give but not the best thing for tegus. I know some people use a blend of lean ground turkey, fresh fruits and supplments as part of thier weekly food schedual but ontop of that they use mice, fresh fruits, supper worms... and so on and so forth.

SO it's ok to let the cage dry out until he wakes up? I don't want him to start growing fungus or something, but also don't want him to shrivel like a raisin. LOL

Also I can't have him out side all the time. So what about potty training? I would love for him to be able to wander about the house or at least in a room once he gets bigger. I'm used to snakes that only go once in a while. I don't want him to s**t on my couch. Is their a little wiggle that they do? My snakes have a little potty dance they usually do and there is also a bulge before the big performance. Kind of an odd subject...

Thanks,
-Meg

Your tegu won't shrival up like a rasin, for one thing they dont gain any water through their skin.

AS for potty training you can in fact potty train a tegu. The quickest and easiest way is bath tub training. Its simple really. Everytime you take your tegu out and want to let it free roam, simply place it in they bath tub (or a tub of water in case you dont want him going in your bath). Fill it with warm water and jsut let him soak. They first few times it may take some time before he gets the idea. Once he has done his duty just take him out and let him free roam. Lizards do poop more often then snakes but this will clear his system for a few hours.

I changed this up by actully using a large cat litter box and use a all natural cat litter. I place my tegu in the litter box and he does his thing and then just wonders around my room, when he gets board or hungery he heads up the ramp to his cage and either eats or sleeps.
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Leo Gex
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