Parasites?

138Shane · Valued Member Joined: Apr 13, 2007 Posts: 85

My tegu has never really had a crazy appetite. when he eats crickets, it doesnt look like he really fully digested them in his poop. Is this parasites or I don't know.i ALSO HAVE NEVER HAD A FECAL DONE ON HIM. iT WON'T BE A PROBLEM HAVING ONE DONE.

Some advice would be great. Thankyou.

AmeivaBoy · Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 7:32 pm Post subject:

if they are fully digested first thing to do is check your basking temps, my tegus appetites come and go, my colombian didnt have much of an appetite for a long time then one day just went crazy and started eating like mad,and now sometime she eats like there's no tomarrow and sometimes she doesnt now,same thing with my argentine thus far. a fecal would be a good idea regardless

138Shane · Valued Member Joined: Apr 13, 2007 Posts: 85

My basking temp is like 105 to 110 somewhere in there. Yea I got him when he wasn't eating during august. He has never had an appetite though so thats why I am worried.
Was yours like this.

138Shane · Valued Member Joined: Apr 13, 2007 Posts: 85

Its an argentina black adn white tegu by the way.

AmeivaBoy · Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 7:39 pm Post subject:

how's the growth rate going?

138Shane · Valued Member Joined: Apr 13, 2007 Posts: 85

well not as fast as people say theirs grow. Mine has hardly plumped out. Its not big or skinny. I think he has grown like 2 inches since he has started eating which is like in late february. But he doesnt eat much. He is 7 inches from snout to vent and 16 inches from snout to tail. He eats like 2 pinkies and wont eat the rest of the day or the next day. He doesnt like crickets that much or fruit. And he will eat about 15 mealworms a day

138Shane · Valued Member Joined: Apr 13, 2007 Posts: 85

Fecal came back fine. No parasites. So that isnt the problem.

worleygurl · Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 8:51 pm Post subject:

If basking temps are fine and the fecal came back negative, next thing to check would be UVB. Are you using uVB because it is necessary for Argentine Black and White Tegus and will effect appetite.

Also, pinkies sound a bit small for him. I would bump him up to fuzzies. What all are you offering him? He should be getting a pretty big variety Rodents, preferably not pinkies, as they contain very little, if any calcium, crickets, super worms, roaches, silk, butter, meal worms, horn worms, various greens and veggies, fruits such as strawberries, grapes, cantaloupe, watermelon, papaya, mango, kiwi, etc. You can also try him on raw, ground turkey with fruit, calcium, and vitamins mixed in. He can also have things like shrimp, tilapia, salmon, ocean white fish, perch, night crawlers, etc. What about some soft boiled egg? Most tegus seem unable to resist soft boiled eggs. Can you get day old quail? I am not sure how squeemish you are, but you can also buy bigger whole prey items (rodents/birds) and chop them up into smaller pieces that he can manage.
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Nero557 · Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 8:47 pm Post subject:

I would agree with all the above, try using new foods you never even thought about using. Snails, crayfish, different types of fish, anything worleygurl said, etc. Also with the UVB thing, If you don't have it, get it, and if you do have it, try to go with more or increase the exposure. IE: if you have a 2.0 bulb, get a 10.0, if you have a 10.0 move to a mercury vapor bulb, Etc. also, if you don't have a mercury vapor bulb, make sure they can get within 10 inches of the light, because if they can't, its virtually useless.
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-Art-

138Shane · Valued Member Joined: Apr 13, 2007 Posts: 85

Yea I do have UVB and UVA. I will have to check wat it is I think it is a 5.0 if I remember correctly.

chelvis · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 12:44 pm Post subject:

I use to use a 10 florecent, and it was great when he was in the 40 gallon breeder, but once i put him in his pernemnet cage i notice his appitie went down to almost nothing. I changed the blub out twice and nothing, he would bask almost non stop under it to. I adjusted the hight to 8" and there was alittle increase. Then i got a T-Rex active light and now his the hungery little (well not so little now) monster i remember. Honestly you can go wrong with these new mv uvb/uva lights.

138Shane · Valued Member Joined: Apr 13, 2007 Posts: 85

I have a 4 foot long tube of a 5.0 in the back and a power sun uv 100watt on the hotter end.

138Shane · Valued Member Joined: Apr 13, 2007 Posts: 85

To worleygurl, I have tried hard boiled egg and he checked th3em out then just went back to burrow. I will try soft boiled but he isnt interested in any food except for the pinkies right when he came out of hibernation and yea I am gonna move him up to fuzzies.

138Shane · Valued Member Joined: Apr 13, 2007 Posts: 85

Also I forgot, can his cage be to big to where he is uncomfortable? Cuz he is in a 4X3X2(LXWXH). And he is 17 inches. There are also plenty of hides in there too.

138Shane · Valued Member Joined: Apr 13, 2007 Posts: 85

Any help?