Won't STOP making a bed???

[S&S_Dragons]

My black & White Tegu D, no clue of the sex we got him/her on Aug 5th 09 his hatch date is July 20th 09.
Anyway today he started digging, kicking, and shoving his newspaper into his shoe box lol and he won't stop.
It's the first time he's ever done something like this, now I'm going be honest and say I really don't know alot of them and their behavior so I'm very curious to find out just what he is doing and why and if it's normal..

His tank is 6 feet high 6 feet long and 3 feet wide and he has 3 levels, we just built it a month ago.
Now it has tile as the floor and we are out of cypress bedding so I have newspaper on the floor for now, he's been on paper before of course.

I gave him a big show box and cut a big round hole in it for him to climb in, he loves it and gets very moody and angry if we take it away.
I have no clue where I'll get a bigger shoe box when he out grows this one lol.

Anyway I gave him a bath because he was shedding, when I put him back about an hour later he started digging and ripping up the paper he then takes his front feet to shove the paper to the hole, then uses his nose to try and stuff the paper into the hole, it;s rather funny and very cute to watch I have it on 3 videos.. OH and he has cypress in his show box, it's not empty!
But why is he doing this, why NOW, and what for?

He is still doing it and it's been like 3 hours lol..


Any help or ideas would be much appreciated, thanks guys!

Amanda
S&S Dragons

 

[sclevenger08]

Maybe he's trying to make a burrow to hibernate in?? Just taking a wild guess.

 

[S&S_Dragons]

Well yeah, I guess that is very possible but i don't know alot about hibernating.
Humm idk it's pretty warm in his tank at all times, I thought they did that most when they was a temp drop..

 

[rrcoolj]

Tegus will often hibernate weather the temprature changes or not. Don't be too worried though. Tegus are excavators point blank. They love to move earth, that is why it's reccomneded you give them a deep substrate. My little tegu has a half log that I put in his cage. But instead of using it at first he gathered a bunch of moss together and built his own burrow underground next to one of the bricks in his tank. I wouldn't think too much of it.

 

[S&S_Dragons]

Ok now another question on that subject, is the hides and holes ect..
I don't like mine hiding all day in the hide, for one he never gets any UVB that way and second I never see him.
I know you are NOT supposed to bother them or take them from a hide ect.. so we try not to disturb him.

So when I put cypress back he will big an underground hole and stay in there?

Also I can't seem t get him to tame down, he wants to be a bully, he jerks his head, hisses, and will hit you with his tail and I don't get why. Because sometimes we hold him like 3-4 hours a night when watching movies or if we play the ps2 he lays on the bed with us. So I know we are not neglecting him but are we doing something wrong on the taming part???

 

[rrcoolj]

Patience is key my friend. Feed him in a seperate cage, be gentle while handling him, and don't disturb him in his hide and he will come around. Slow movementts around him too. I would read the caresheets on the main page if you haven't.

He's probably slowing down like most tegus. That's why he is hiding all day.

 

[HorseCaak]

Definitely read the care sheets that Bobby has posted on this site. You need to be patient. Mine is hibernating right now and I CANNOT WAIT until she is out! Although, the nice part is it saves money and time when she is burrowed. I would love to see those videos you have of your Tegu! Post them to youtube and put the links on here! It would be much appreciated. Also, I'd like to see the pictures of your enclosure. If it isn't too much trouble, take some good pictures and post them as well. Did you guys build it? I haven't seen a multi story tegu enclosure before. Sounds interesting. Hope to see the pics and vids soon.

-CHEERS
;-)

 

[S&S_Dragons]

YES two women who have never built anything in our lives built it lol.
Yes it is 3 levels and yes he does go right up the ramps to the other levels and he really enjoys them, even though everyone says they don't go up or climb HE DOES.. We took the 3rd level ramp off to put rails on the side of it because it does he high and I don't want him slipping off the edge, so right now he can't get to the 3rd level.

Underneath his tank is 4 more cages (it's a condo) we have bearded dragons and Leos under him and moving in 3 blue tongued skinks, I just haven't more them over there yet..

Yeah sure I'll try to get some pic's on here and upload the videos.

Any idea on how to get them to eat fruits?

 

[HorseCaak]

YES two women who have never built anything in our lives built it lol.
Yes it is 3 levels and yes he does go right up the ramps to the other levels and he really enjoys them, even though everyone says they don't go up or climb HE DOES.. We took the 3rd level ramp off to put rails on the side of it because it does he high and I don't want him slipping off the edge, so right now he can't get to the 3rd level.

Underneath his tank is 4 more cages (it's a condo) we have bearded dragons and Leos under him and moving in 3 blue tongued skinks, I just haven't more them over there yet..

Yeah sure I'll try to get some pic's on here and upload the videos.

Any idea on how to get them to eat fruits?

I can't wait for those pics!
On the topic of climbing, Tegu's shouldn't climb tress and high up stuff. It's not to say they won't, it's that they have a good chance they will fall and hurt themselves. I think ramps should be fine. You know mine escaped it's cage when she was very new and managed to get downstairs. In order to do that, she must've fell down each step, 1 by 1. Luckily she was fine so just be careful.

As far as fruits, Tegus are carnivores until they are 1 yr old. Just feed raw ground turkey, king meal worms, cooked eggs and whatnot. Don't worry about fruit and vegetables just yet. When ready, you can just fix the fruits or vegetables in with their other foods. I recommend reading all the care sheets Bobby has posted, they are VERY helpful. Do you know where to find them?

Lastly, who built your enclosure?

-CHeers

 

[HorseCaak]

Yes it is 3 levels and yes he does go right up the ramps to the other levels and he really enjoys them, even though everyone says they don't go up or climb HE DOES..

So when are you going to post those pictures and put up videos on youtube with links posted in here to them as well? I can only be so patient you know!
:hifit

 

[S&S_Dragons]

Sorry about that, I didn't forget ya I tried uploading the videos but it took like 5 hours and at the end it failed with an error and I haven't had time to try again since. But I did find a few older pic's of the tank before we got it all fixed up and finished.
You can at least see the first ramp going up on the other level, the 3rd isn't done in the pics though..

And don't mind the mess, we were in the middle and not finished so you'll see a load of junk and tools lol..

Oh and we built it, Heather and I.. The whole tank including the bottom half is 8 feet tall..

TOP HALF

BOTTOM HALF

And here is our tegu..

We are putting a stopper near the doors and going to fill it with cypress and hay and putting little rails up/on the ramps for safety but they really aren't that steep..


Amanda

 

[HorseCaak]

She's gorgeous and that's a kewl set up. It's huge. Like for multiple repiles...

 

[S&S_Dragons]

Thank you.. And yes it's pretty big and I love how we can put leos, dragons, and blue tongue skinks under the tegu lol..

 

[HorseCaak]

does it have windows? It looks bare. Hard to tell.. how's the humidity going to hold up without getting in the wood and causing mold?

 

[S&S_Dragons]

Is your face hurting yet?

Yes it has screen windows, every cage in it does.. The tegus part has 3..

As for humidity, I'm hoping all goes well. I mist her many times a day and she has a tub big enough to lay and soak in. We'll see how it goes..

 

[HorseCaak]

i would put plexiglass over the tegu screens. where the hell did you get that condo anyways!?

 

[S&S_Dragons]

Lol where did I get it? I told you WE built it. We went to Lowes, got all the supplies, and just went at it. Took us forever and yepp there are alot of flaws but it works lol.. They all love it and so do we..

 

[Mr Critter]

Nice job ladies, Im impressed,If you havent sealed the wood i would suggest doing so, use water based polycrilic it works great, with the cypress & humidity levels you need to keep it will ruin your cage & hard work. nice job

 

[rrcoolj]

Great setup it looks good!

 

[S&S_Dragons]

Thank you all..

And thanks for the info we will check into the water based polycrilic...

Also wanted to ask what else I can try to get the tegu to eat?

She will eat pinkies of course, some ground turkey/chicken/burger, and boiled eggs.
That's it, she won't eat canned dog or cat food and won't even dare try to eat any fruits yet..

Amanda