R.I.P Wilbur..

blair0228 · Valued Member Joined: Mar 01, 2006 Posts: 148

I have depressing news... I bought my BW Tegu name Wilbur from Bert back in March when it was still hibernating, he said that it would become more active within a couple weeks, but that was not the case. Wilbur seemed kinda small and scrawny for being 8 months old, he was about 13 inches. Untill I have yesterday I only saw it 2 times, it would always be burrowed under the mulch. I followed all the care sheets I could find on them word for word, and yesterday I actually thought my tegu was finally out of hibernation because it was out on top of the mulch and it was napping by it's water bowl, it moved locations on top of the mulch several times through the day but I never actually saw it awake, This morning I had found it "sleeping" in the same place as where I had seen it last night, but it wasnt breathing. My tegu is dead and I dont know what I did wrong. I am not accusing Bert of sending me sick tegu, but I just want to know if I did something wrong.

yeaitsdave · Honored Member Joined: Sep 25, 2005 Posts: 261

Its possible it never got over the stress of moving, and didnt eat much, and malnutrition finnished him off. I'm sorry to hear about your loss.

What were your temps. cage size, diet, substrate, all that jazz? Maybe theres something you missed, that wasnt on the care sheet.

Nero557 · Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 2:17 pm Post subject:

I'm sorry to hear that, but sometimes unfortunate things do happen. Did you take him to the vet and get him checked ever? Or at least a fecal sample? How often did you offer food? What were the temps in the enclosure? What food items where offered? Did he ever eat? Did he ever defecate, if he ate? There could be many reasons for this unfortunate event, I'm sorry I can't be of any help, but I would need to know everything about your tegu/setup.
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blair0228 · Valued Member Joined: Mar 01, 2006 Posts: 148

since he was a baby I have had him in a 60 gallon tank, the basking spot was 100 degrees and the cool side was 80 degrees. I offered ground turkey about once a week, but he never took anything, and he NEVER pooped, I thought it was just because he was in hibernation, because thats what I was told when I got him. his substrate was cypress mulch on top of peat moss.

Teiidae · Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 3:21 pm Post subject:

Sorry to hear this, have you spoke to Bert about it ?
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Nero557 · Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 2:12 am Post subject:

Well, from what you said, the only thing I would have done differently would have been to raise the basking temp, but yours wouldn't have killed him, I agree with Teiidae, send Bert an email or get in contact with him in some way, he's a great guy and I'm sure he'll help you out.
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