2 tegu's together problem

Knight05 · Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 5:08 am Post subject: 2 tegu's together problem

I know this is going to sound some what obvious and stupid but...

I bought 2 tegus same age same litter or w/e its called. One male one female. I knew the male would get bigger obviously but she still is very small and runt like almost 6 months later. And he has exploded into a giant monster. Normally I wouldn't care but I think its becoming a problem. They are in a large 8x3x3 enclosure the problem is.... hes like 5X her size and she gets the short end of the stick. When it's meal time he eats her food as well as his so I had to start feeding them seperately. They snuggle together and are generally inseperable so i feel bad but at the same time he is so massive I think he is unintentionally hurting her. I've seen him climb over her several times like a stepping stool and push her face in the dirt.

It's sort of like a big brother playing with a little sister but he doesnt realize he is hurting her but he is because of his shear size. So the bottom line is what do i do? I mean if I seperate them im worried they will both get stressed out. But the female seems really broken and less active lately. She has like no energy and seem fatigued and timid all the time. He on the other hand is perfectly fine and happy. She also seems to have little or no control over her tail and seems to drag it along behind her rather than control it with muscles/bones etc willfully. So I'm concerned it might be broken dislocated etc etc. But don't their tails naturally heal on their own? I mean im fairly new to this someone please help me out if you can.

angelrose · Moderator Joined: Jan 05, 2008 Posts: 1470

Hi Knight05, I have bunches of them and have seen some stuff. they naturally lay on top of each other and bask and their heads go in the mulch; that's fine. but if you are seeing changes in the females health; separate now. don't wait.

she is probably more stressed now then if you separate them.

do you have a pic of the tail ?

laurarfl · Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 6:58 am Post subject:

Plus, what are your plans when they become of breeding age since they are related? Do post pics of the tail. Can she ever move it, like when you pick her up or touch her back legs?
_________________
Laura R (FL)
0.1.0 Colombian Tegu
0.2.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
1.0.0 Red Tegu
1.0.0 Green Amevia (yet another teiid)
8 other lizards
1 little gator
13 snakes
4 frogs
some bugs
and a partridge in a pear tree