Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I purchased a baby argentine black and white tegu in the summer and things were going good to start with, then things went down hill. After I had her for a few days her legs started to shake and tremble. I had proper lighting (mercury vapour) and proper heat on her. Long story short I took her to the vet and got everything straight with that issue. My issue now is before fall started she was eating good and growing great, she got up to 2 feet long. Now she doesn't eat as much, is not as spunky as she was, and she does not shed like she did. Before fall started she had a good shed except nothing came off her tail. Just as of last week the rest of her body has started to get dull and the old skin is starting to split. I have been soaking her everyday to get the shed off but it does not seem to be working, my local pet shop sold me "vita spray" by four paws that said got the shed off their store pet tegu who had a terrible shed problem as well. Today I was looking up the few spots that have cracked and the new skin underneath looks dull but shiny at the same time. It does not look normal at all. Can anybody tell me if all this is due to natural instinct to hibernate, and what should I be doing to help the skin problem, and should the dry skin on her tail come off if she picks up her growing come spring? THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ THIS LONG PARAGRAPH AND IF YOU HAVE ANY HELP PLEASE REPLY!!

The less spunky and the no sheding is form the natural instinct to hibernate. They naturally slow down, sleep more and stop eatting. Becuase they are not eating they also are not growning, no growth means no need to shed. I do not think this is linked to the early condition.

As for the shed still stuck. What are your humidity levels? Soaking works but it also drys out the skin. Try making a humidity hut, somthing that fits in the cage that hold humidity well, that also has a enterance for the tegu to come in and out of. I use a rubbermaid containor filled with moss and coconut fibers.

I use a substrate called "CoCo Soft" by blue iguana. I also have a half log for her that she doesn't really go under. Instead she usually just burrows down in the middle of her cage in a random spot. I'm going to try the closed rubbermaid box with some sphagnum moss in it? Today i put some towels around the open spots by the heat lamp after i sprayed to trap humidity in. What do you think the shiny but dull skin is underneath her dry cracked skin? Do you think everything will go better come spring time?

Thanks in Advance.

I have a couple of on-line friends on the other tegu forums that have gone through the same thing with their tegus....really bad sheds. They couldn't pinpoint an exact problem, but this is what they have been doing:

1. Quit using all OTC shedding aids.
2. Soaking in a bath then applying olive oil or mineral oil to skin.
3. Making a humid hide box with most towels, but the box needs to be kept at temps of 90. This was the advice of one member's vet as her tegu started to get respiratory issues from high humidity and low temps.

I would also recommend adding a bit of cod liver oil to the diet and vitamin supplements. Fruit and veggies are best way to keep vitamins, but not all tegus readily eat them.

Today, I made a hide box out of a black bin that has moist sphagnum moss and some coconut fiber under it and its warm inside. I fed her some ground turkey with bananas mushed in along with calcium dust and fish oil pill juice over it. After she ate this i gave her about 4 super worms as well. When she ate the ground turkey combination it seemed like it was to moist for her and she was making some weird noises while consuming it. The cage she is in has coconut fiber as it's main bedding besides what is under the hidebox, should I spray the main bedding down until it's wet underneath and on top like I have been or should I lightly spray it daily and keep the humidity box moist? I am thinking with me soaking her everyday like I have been then putting her in her cage to lay in damp bedding it may be causing the shed to stick to her. So far I think I have followed every suggestion offered, does it sound like things are going right or is there more I could be doing? I almost forgot that she eats every other day but she doesn't poop that often. She will go a week maybe a week and a half without pooping, is that normal for the fall time in tegus?

If she's eating, she should be pooping more. Is her heat up? If she's active and eating, and she's humid, then her temps should be up to 105-110 at the basking spot. That will boost her metabolism and get things moving along.

I haven't had the skin issues with my tegus, I can only pass along second hand info. If you like, you can pm me and I'll direct you to the info.

I think I am going to just keep her humidity box warm and moist, then only feed her when she acts hungry. Since it's been winter she sleeps almost the whole day. Someone told me shes trying to let me know she is trying to hibernate, that to still run the light cycle but to let her be, that march and april are around the corner and she will act back like she did then with her feeding response, her growth, her shedding, her pooping..etc..etc.. Does the second or third week in March sound about right for her to start to be more active like mentioned above? I think I will start to soak her again and everything then too. Let me know.

Hey, sorry to hear about your tegu shedding problems. I had the exact same thing happen to my argentine. The humidity in his cage was too dry with the light and heat panel I was using. The vet told me not to soak him but to run wash cloth in warm water, ring out and then lay on him. He said to use wash cloth like washing your face. Obviously you ring out all the water it just gives off warm moisture, Then repeat this several times daily. He then said to buy straight aloe vera gel (100 aloe, no perfumes or anything added) and to apply twice daily. I did this and the old skin was able to come off just fine after 4 days. I still occasionally put aloe on my cyclura's troubled shed spots and it really does helps. Good luck!

The shed on her tail is finally coming off! After months and months of soaking her it's just hanging off her tail. I'm waiting for her to let it fall off I took someones advice on here and went out and bought a black tubberware bin and cut a hole in it and flipped it upside down, I filled it with coconut fibers and moss and soaked it and made sure it got real warm. Ever since I cant seem to keep her out of that box! Recently her back started to shed too, but I think now that she has a nice moist humid box that will be off in no time as well. I also think she is coming out of hibernation a little bit too because she came out of her box twice today(unusual)..sooo i tried feeding her and I had to watch my fingers...a lot different then before when I wanted her to eat I'd have to dangle the cricket in front of her face then keep dropping it by her and making the cricket move for her to eat it. Hopefully, she will pass stool more often too, in the last few months she has only been going once or twice a week..

To be honest with you I don't recommend using the spray for the Tegu. Even if the humidity and the temps are right in the enclosure there can be other reasons why the Tegu ( any Tegu ) has some shedding problems. It can be because of not having the right diet ( I'm not trying to say you are doing anything wrong ) or the Tegu is sick ( I'm not trying to say your Tegu is sick ). Are you feeding your Tegu some fruit and veggies ? what you can do is put just a little bit of cod liver oil in some fruit or veggie/chicken stage one baby food and let the Tegu lick it up. Cod liver oil and fresh raw liver helps the Tegu to shed. You also can put a warm damp towel and a dry towel ofer the damp one on your Tegu for a few minutes. This will also help to soften up the Skin. Please do not pull on the skin because it can damage the skin and it can get infected.