Before I start rambling and explaining everything let me run through all the necessary information:
Kind of tegu: Argentine Red
Age: 3 Months
Size: roughly 13~ inches, not sure of weight
Sex: Possible male but too early to tell
How long have I had him?: 7 weeks
Brumate or hibernate?: Too young
Enclosure size: 4x8x4
Kind of substrate: Cypress mulch mixed with eco earth
Kind of UVB: Zoomed 24 in. Reptisun 10.0 going across the middle and Zoomed Powersun 160w mercury vapor bulb for basking
Basking bulb wattage: 160w plus 75w to increase temperature
Age of bulbs: 7 weeks
Distance of UVB: Tube: 3 feet, MVB: 2 1/2 feet
Basking and cool side temps: Basking gets to 100 quickly then rises to 112 by the end of the day. Cool side stays around 73-78.
What I use to measure temps: Zoomed thermometer with probe and Accurite digital thermometer/hydrometer without probe.
Humidity and what I use to measure it: I never let humidity get below 55% and the highest it gets is 90%. We have to mist daily because we live in dry Colorado but we're aware of it. I use the same Accurite I mentioned above.
What I've tried feeding: Salmon, chicken hearts, chicken liver, chicken gizzards, ground chicken, ground turkey, hard boiled egg, raw egg, crickets, dubias, supers, canned snails, horn worms, wax worms, pinkies, and fuzzies.
How often and when do I feed?: Since I work nights I turn on Marshmallow's (my tegu) lights at 12 p.m. and feed him around 2-4 o'clock depending upon when I wake up. I only offer food once because he only stays out until 5 if I'm lucky.
Supplements and brand names?: Zoomed calcium without d3 and an attempt at National Geographic calcium with d3. As for multivitamins I use beardeddragon.co brand without d3. I also offered cod liver oil.
How often do I offer supplements?: Since he has never eaten every day since we got him I offered them every day just in case. The cod liver oil was only once a week though.
Regular bowel movements?: Yes the day after he would eat. They were always somewhat runny but it could have been from urine making it that way.
Vet check and fecal test?: He has never been to the vet but the vet understood how skittish they can be as babies so I brought in a stool sample and it was tested. It had no traces of parasites.
Does my tegu share its enclosure with another tegu?: Nope.
Okay I think that covers it as far as questions go. Now for the issue. Marshmallow was eating a decent amount for the first two weeks we had him (by decent amount I mean about 3-5 cut chunks of salmon or two pinkies per meal) and then slowly ate less and less until about five days ago when he completely started denying food all together. He would even go crazy over pinkies and won't eat those. Nothing really has changed in our routine other than I changed the light schedule from being on at 10:30 to 12:00 about two weeks ago but even before that his appetite was declining steadily. And after the light schedule change he ate a little bit here and there.
I would feed Marshmallow when he came out for adventuring around the bathroom just to make sure he wouldn't accidentally eat substrate. If he decided he didn't want to come out that day I would just put his food in a dish and set it in his enclosure. Out of all the food we've offered Marshmallow the only things he actually took multiple bites out of was salmon, chicken hearts, a few crickets, and a dubia here and there. I'm sure there's some more details I'm forgetting but I'll add them in the comments if I remember. I'll provide some pictures of the enclosure and of Marshmallow in all his glory.
Oh, I also wanted to list some reason why we think he might not being eating. The enclosure is too big? There's too much open space? Too much UV radiation? Not enough ventilation? Wrong temps?
Kind of tegu: Argentine Red
Age: 3 Months
Size: roughly 13~ inches, not sure of weight
Sex: Possible male but too early to tell
How long have I had him?: 7 weeks
Brumate or hibernate?: Too young
Enclosure size: 4x8x4
Kind of substrate: Cypress mulch mixed with eco earth
Kind of UVB: Zoomed 24 in. Reptisun 10.0 going across the middle and Zoomed Powersun 160w mercury vapor bulb for basking
Basking bulb wattage: 160w plus 75w to increase temperature
Age of bulbs: 7 weeks
Distance of UVB: Tube: 3 feet, MVB: 2 1/2 feet
Basking and cool side temps: Basking gets to 100 quickly then rises to 112 by the end of the day. Cool side stays around 73-78.
What I use to measure temps: Zoomed thermometer with probe and Accurite digital thermometer/hydrometer without probe.
Humidity and what I use to measure it: I never let humidity get below 55% and the highest it gets is 90%. We have to mist daily because we live in dry Colorado but we're aware of it. I use the same Accurite I mentioned above.
What I've tried feeding: Salmon, chicken hearts, chicken liver, chicken gizzards, ground chicken, ground turkey, hard boiled egg, raw egg, crickets, dubias, supers, canned snails, horn worms, wax worms, pinkies, and fuzzies.
How often and when do I feed?: Since I work nights I turn on Marshmallow's (my tegu) lights at 12 p.m. and feed him around 2-4 o'clock depending upon when I wake up. I only offer food once because he only stays out until 5 if I'm lucky.
Supplements and brand names?: Zoomed calcium without d3 and an attempt at National Geographic calcium with d3. As for multivitamins I use beardeddragon.co brand without d3. I also offered cod liver oil.
How often do I offer supplements?: Since he has never eaten every day since we got him I offered them every day just in case. The cod liver oil was only once a week though.
Regular bowel movements?: Yes the day after he would eat. They were always somewhat runny but it could have been from urine making it that way.
Vet check and fecal test?: He has never been to the vet but the vet understood how skittish they can be as babies so I brought in a stool sample and it was tested. It had no traces of parasites.
Does my tegu share its enclosure with another tegu?: Nope.
Okay I think that covers it as far as questions go. Now for the issue. Marshmallow was eating a decent amount for the first two weeks we had him (by decent amount I mean about 3-5 cut chunks of salmon or two pinkies per meal) and then slowly ate less and less until about five days ago when he completely started denying food all together. He would even go crazy over pinkies and won't eat those. Nothing really has changed in our routine other than I changed the light schedule from being on at 10:30 to 12:00 about two weeks ago but even before that his appetite was declining steadily. And after the light schedule change he ate a little bit here and there.
I would feed Marshmallow when he came out for adventuring around the bathroom just to make sure he wouldn't accidentally eat substrate. If he decided he didn't want to come out that day I would just put his food in a dish and set it in his enclosure. Out of all the food we've offered Marshmallow the only things he actually took multiple bites out of was salmon, chicken hearts, a few crickets, and a dubia here and there. I'm sure there's some more details I'm forgetting but I'll add them in the comments if I remember. I'll provide some pictures of the enclosure and of Marshmallow in all his glory.
Oh, I also wanted to list some reason why we think he might not being eating. The enclosure is too big? There's too much open space? Too much UV radiation? Not enough ventilation? Wrong temps?
