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Posted by Rollin on May 12, 2003 at 07:43:39:

In Reply to: I'm a new tegu owner too! Please read about tegu behavior. posted by reptilian9 on May 11, 2003 at 22:32:50:

Congrats on getting a tegu! I know exactly how you feel. As you found out the worst thing is you don't get to see enough of them. After I got mine I didn't see him for almost a day so first thing I dug him up. Then after a month he went into hibernation for 5 months! It's a good thing I gave up on trying to get him up everyday before he wasted away to nothing. He just wouldn't eat when he was trying to hibernate. I still don't know if the reason he went into hibernation is because I kept digging him up, probably not. I haven't dug them up after they got done hibernating, they wake up every day on their own. One of mine stays up for 3-5 hours, the other one will be out 5 hours a day in 1 or 2 hour blocks over a 10 hour period. They go bask and sit around inactive in their cage for a hour or so, then they come out of their cage and actively hunt around for food, they settle back down after they eat. If you want to hear that he'll be out more often after he gets older then yep mine have been, as they are more at ease with me they tend to sit out (inactive) instead of in their hide box. I can tell mine stay up 10 hours it's just a matter of how much of that time is in the hide box. Mine still try to walk out of my hands about half of the time I try to pick them up.
Another thing is when someone stops by to see them and they aren't up. What I've done is keep them in a room where they can't hide and keep them up until the visitor gets there. When you do this they actually get more active and less defensive because they are just looking for a den. But they'll loose their appetite too.
What I suggest is that you get another tegu if your cage is big enough hehe. Good luck!





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