Quick Question?

[povmichael123]

Ok so frist off I know it was wrong for me to keep my Tegu from hibernating, but I do have a concern I know it probably isnt that big of a deal. Ok I have been feeding my Tegu through winter and he basks and comes out and has fecal matter and everything. Now my question is he is not getting any bigger he is just coming up to one year and it looks like little change since I have got them? He does sleep a lot and I dont bug him until he wakes up and then I feed him and he eats fine, he gets lots of mice, fish fillets, snails, shrimp, and raw chicken. I also spray his food with some reptile calcium and sprinkle herpetitive on his food at least once a week. Should I worry is it just going to happen and he will start to grow like a weed?

 

[mr.tegu]

tegus grow in spurts some tegus grow super fast then will slow down for a while just to have another spurt again. One of my tegus grew almost around 22 inches in 4 months and in the past 2 months has only grown around 2 inches. also i have heard that growth spurts slow way down after a year old but i cannot promise this due to i dont have any tegus that old yet.

 

[omgtaylorg]

First off, the only drawback of not hibernating him/her is that it wont be able to reproduce, BUT this is also only a myth and i heard of evidence disproving it a few times...the plus is that he can grow through winter and pass up other tegus. Now, by not growing much id like to know how big he/she was when purchased and how big he/she is now after a year...what are your temps and how much/often are you feeding the tegu? Just trying to get more details on the situation so I can answer your questions better.

 

[povmichael123]

Well he has a big cage for now and i put a cinder block in his cage to back on. Now I have the light pointing down at the basking spot at around 90-95 getting the hottest. The ambient air temp is around 80-85 at highest point. I dont know if that is bad or what? He also climbs a ladder to the cinder block and comes down it. Anyone have any suggestions for maybe a better setup?

 

[artist]

if i am not mistaken, i am pretty sure that your basking temp is too low. it should be around 105.

 

[povmichael123]

Really i thought it should have been perfect or even a little lower. I am also thinking of putting some more bedding in there maybe the ground level is too col and he want to sleep cause of it

 

[crimsonrazac]

The baskig spot should be 105-110, surface temp. NOT the air temp. Get a temp gun for around $25 its a very usful tool to check surface temps.

 

[povmichael123]

I have a temp gun and Il do m best to raise the temp thanks a bunch!