Two Questions about Red tegus, need advice

mturner01 · New Member Joined: Nov 07, 2006 Posts: 4

I have two red babies produced in 2006. Both have fed and grown very well up until about early Jan. when they both began slowing down despite temps being stable (basking ~110, warm side ~85, cool end ~75).

The male has always been picky with regard to fruit so I have to trick him into eating it with turkey, but all-in-all, he eats less fruit than the female. He was in mid-shed when they started burrowing and rarely coming out and even more rarely eating anything.

Now it seems as though the old skin has partially sloughed, but remains thick and patchy around his neck, limbs, and tail. My first instinct is to get more fruit in him, but both will hardly eat anything at all.

First Q: should I try some soaking and manual picking at the skin?

Second Q: should I go ahead and hibernate them to restart the metabolism and feeding and then deal with the skin?

Thanks
Matt
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Matt and Nicci Turner
www.selectiveorigins.com

Diegar · Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 5:38 pm Post subject:

The slowing down for reds late in the season is normal. My red continued eating and actually started to eat more than normal, well after the B&W's went down for the winter. If they are still willing to eat, dust something they love, pretty good with vitamins. I use a crushed up hard boiled egg for this purpose (shell and all).

As for the skin, I really wouldn't worry about it, until it starts layering up. If it is one layer, leave it be. A lot of the time, they will shed in patches anyway, and some will fall off sooner than others. If there is still skin left when the Red goes into another shed, then you will want to start working with it.

Soaking is good. Give them a good 15 minutes in the warm water to moisten up, and then, if you would like, you can rub the skin. Try not to pull it. If a piece is dangling, where it is connected might not want to let go yet. This could hurt the tegu if you pull at it. Rubbing against the shed, where it is coming away from the skin, will help to roll it off. If it doesn't want to come up, then move to another part of the body. Soak them every other day or so, and eventually, all the skin will work itself off.

After the soaks are done, their skin is stripped of some natural oils, so when they dry, they literally dry out. This isn't good either. So once you take them out of the bath, rub them down with some mineral oil. Make sure it is just plain mineral oil though. Other kinds like Baby Oil have fragrances that might irritate the skin. The mineral oil will help to lock in some of that moisture from the bath, and will continue to soften the shedding skin hours after the bath is finished.

Oh and for the second part of that.... If they want to hibernate, you can let them.. Their metabolism slows down and they stop eating and growing, so the skin will more than likely be the same when they wake up, if it is still there at all.

Hope this helps

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The Jay

barb · Member Joined: Oct 04, 2006 Posts: 20

Mine is acting the same way. If i let him hibernation how long will that last? He is kept indoors.

barb