Feeding problems?

[Allycatalex]

Okay so, I finnally got my girl home and have been trying to get her to eat. Granted I know that she just got moved its a new environment and all but still. Ive had her for over a week and she still wont eat. Ive gotten her to eat 5 small pieces of chicken and salmon total. (3 pieces of chicken the first night I had her home and 2 pieces of salmon tuesday.) I tired egg dipping them. Ive tried putting things in wet cat food. I just cant get her to eat. Shes also abnormally sleeping a lot. I just cant figure out what to do.

 

[Walter1]

Does she otherwise look healthy to you? Well-rounded, clear-eyed, no discharges? If so, probably trying to overwinter, which is typical for the species and varies in duration among individuals.

Maintain a hot basking area on one end and a hide on the other in mid to upper 70s F. As days naturally lengthen, she'll come out of it.

 

[Allycatalex]

This was her a couple days ago. Shes about 5 months old. Her basking side is at 95 F and the other is at 74 F.

 

[Walter1]

She looks good. Basking temp could be closer to 110-115fF.

 

[Allycatalex]

Really? I always heard high 90s to 100F the people I got her from told me 95-96.

 

[Roadkill]

Whenever a lizard gets "relocated", and this seems to be particularly true with tegus, they go through an adjustment period wherein they're a little nervous about their new surroundings and this is often expressed by not coming out much and not eating. A week or two is quite common with tegus, and isn't anything to worry about. Secondly, being the time of year that it is, there's a good chance that the tegu simply isn't interested in eating as their metabolism is slowed down.

As for the heating, definitely too low. Under normal, active conditions, tegus like to behaviourally thermoregulate their body temperature to around that of mammals, so right away 95-96 is too low. Now, this doesn't mean that the warmest they can experience is around 98-99, this is where they like to have their active body temperature at. If that's what they have exposure to, then if you understand an equilibrium curve, you know it will take a significant amount of time to get anywhere near that. Hence why it is recommended to have a basking temperature in the 110-115F range, which allows them a more efficient gradient to thermoregulate with.

 

[Allycatalex]

Okay. What is the best way you recommend whole tank heating. I have the hot spot at 110 F but the rest of the tank is still at like 75. Unless thats okay Im not sure how to change it.

 

[Roadkill]

There are many different ways, and their success often depends on other factors. Many people like the use of under-tank heaters, I personally abhor these. If you have thick bedding (as is typical with most tegu enclosures) the heat gets trapped by the substrate and can elevate to dangerous levels. In a glass enclosure (such as an aquarium), many think this is safe but with a good douse of water will break easily. With many custom made enclosures utilizing wood (such as plywood, melamine board, etc.) I've actually seen severe scorching (meaning a very real possibility of a fire hazard). Using more than one hotspot is also a common technique. Even fluorescent lights throw off a fair bit of heat (but to keep it in the enclosure you may need to restrict airflow, which has its own repercussions). My personal favourite is to heat the whole room/house to a decent level (my place typically sits at 83-86F) and then use less powerful lights to achieve hotspots.

 

[snibborsirk]

Okay. What is the best way you recommend whole tank heating. I have the hot spot at 110 F but the rest of the tank is still at like 75. Unless thats okay Im not sure how to change it.

What size is your enclosure and what lighting/heat sources do you currently have? Hard to recommend anything without knowing this first! 75 is perfect for the cool end/area of the tank. I have a couple of basking spots (one around 105-110 and one around 95-100) and then the temps grad decline down to mid to high 70s for some cooler areas. I have a fairly large enclosure though so it took some playing around to get temps where they need to be.

 

[Allycatalex]

I have a 75 gallon aquarium for her right now. I have a 10" dome, another small dome, a uva/uvb light, and a uth (that I dont really use.) The 10" has a 150W bulb and the smaller one also has a 150.