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Is my Tegu trying to hibernate and what do I do about it?

Sammii

New Member
Messages
6
I just got Turok a few days ago and after his initial day of exploring his cage he burrowed and stayed there. I brought him out every day and when he was out he would eat a bite of food or a cricket or two, bask as needed and burrow again. Yesterday I decided I would leave him alone and he never came out of hiding. His tank temps are 100-110 on the warm side and 80-85 on the cool side. So with that, and the fact that its October, could he be trying to hibernate? Also how should I make him the most comfortable during this period?
 

Walter1

Moderator
Staff member
1,000+ Post Club
5 Year Member
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4,384
Alright. His hide needs to be upper 70s to cool off. New tegus are always shy as they adjust to the new place. Still, it's probably slowing down for the winter and that is healthy.
 

Cody096

Active Member
Messages
109
I'd up the basking to 110-125, have the warm end in the low 90s to mid 80s, and the cool end in the mid to upper 70s. Keep in mind that it will be cooler under the surface of the dirt and if they won't use a hide simply placing a flat wooden sheet may suffice for them to burrow under. One of mine will utilise the humid hide I provided him with while the other two would rather just dig a burrow under a small wood sheet or cork bark.
 
Messages
85
I just got Turok a few days ago and after his initial day of exploring his cage he burrowed and stayed there. I brought him out every day and when he was out he would eat a bite of food or a cricket or two, bask as needed and burrow again. Yesterday I decided I would leave him alone and he never came out of hiding. His tank temps are 100-110 on the warm side and 80-85 on the cool side. So with that, and the fact that its October, could he be trying to hibernate? Also how should I make him the most comfortable during this period?
From what Ive gathered, (This is my first time dealing with brumation) Your temps are higher than they should be. From my understanding, a tegu's body hibernates to adapt to the cold weather. To do this, their metabolism will slow down dramatically, this is because in a full hibernation they arent eating, so their digestive system does this to ensure they dont lose an unhealthy amount of weight during hibernation. You'll notice him start to eat significantly less or stop eating entirely. If this happens, at that point having high temps is a risk, because a climate too warm wont allow their metabolism to slow down enough to prevent weight loss. Im not sure the exact numbers on what you want your temps to be, but I believe it's like high 70 to low 80
 

Walter1

Moderator
Staff member
1,000+ Post Club
5 Year Member
Messages
4,384
From what Ive gathered, (This is my first time dealing with brumation) Your temps are higher than they should be. From my understanding, a tegu's body hibernates to adapt to the cold weather. To do this, their metabolism will slow down dramatically, this is because in a full hibernation they arent eating, so their digestive system does this to ensure they dont lose an unhealthy amount of weight during hibernation. You'll notice him start to eat significantly less or stop eating entirely. If this happens, at that point having high temps is a risk, because a climate too warm wont allow their metabolism to slow down enough to prevent weight loss. Im not sure the exact numbers on what you want your temps to be, but I believe it's like high 70 to low 80
Under 70 F they can brumate well.
 

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