When ends the hibernation?

[Renske]

Hello,

My tegu is in hibernation for her second time. The first time for 4,5 months becouse it went horrebly wrong. The second tegu i had died in hibernation so i starded te get te lights on too early. Becouse i was afraid she would die 2. I think this tegu died becouse he was ill bevore hibernation. He got antibiotics and got better. But not good enough voor hibernation.

Now my tegu is 1 year and 8 months. She started her hibernation in half of august. When can i put the lights on again?

Second question. Does black an white tegus stil grow after there second hibernation? My tegu is 80/80cm 31,5/33.46inch.

I hope u understand my english becouse im from the netherland and i am not realy good at writing english.

 

[Guest]

I think it can just depend on the tegu. Mine never went down but this was its first winter. I think the most common I've seen is 5 months. I think it can be up to 7 months in the wild. You might be able to try leaving the lights on for 6 hours every day for a week or so, your tegu might come out for a little while. If it stays up you can gradually adjust the time the lights are left on. Thats about all I know.

 

[carcharios]

My tegus went down in October and I won't take them out for another two weeks or so (mid April). I guess it's close to 7 months. All three seem to be doing well. I have them in the garage in rubbermaid tubs. The temps go down to about 45 degrees in the dead of winter but most nights there around 50 to 55 at night and in the upper 50's to low 60's during the day.

 

[Toby_H]

In my Tegu's first winter, he hibernated from late October until April / May. I woke him up by putting his enclosure outside when the overnight lows stopped going below 55~60*F. He began basking in the warm morning and afternoon sun, then burrowing down for the evening and overnight.

When we allow our Tegus to hibernate for long winters, I think it is very important that we lower their temperatures so that their metabolism slows down. The warmer their bodies are the more energy they use, and vise versa.

The last two winters I have cooled the enclosure and reduced the hours of lighting to a degree. My Tegu does slow down in the winter, but does not truly hibernate.


In regards to growing, the summer when my Tegu was 9~15 months old, he grew in length very quickly. The summer when my Tegu was 21~27 months old he filled out almost doubling in weight. He is now 33 months old and I believe he is 90~95% developed.

Also keep in mind, it is healthy for a Tegu to fatten up in the spring and loose that weight over the winter. Even if we do not want to let our Tegus hibernate, I believe recreating some form of 'seasons' helps our Tegus.