Tegu Enclosure

[Darkbird]

I guess I just don't understand why anyone wouldn't want to provide supportive conditions year round. A lot of the ones I've seen that were maintained with optimal conditions year round still remain active, or at least go through a much shorter and lighter brumation. To each their own then.

[John1982]

I guess I just don't understand why anyone wouldn't want to provide supportive conditions year round. A lot of the ones I've seen that were maintained with optimal conditions year round still remain active, or at least go through a much shorter and lighter brumation. To each their own then.

That's different from my personal experience. Mine seem to take their cues more strongly from the photoperiod than actual temperatures. They start going down in August. Temperatures are still getting into the high 90s, or even low 100s, during the days. If I maintained them in "supportive" conditions as you put them then I'd end up with half starved, or dead, tegus by the end of the season.

[jclaiborne]

That's different from my personal experience. Mine seem to take their cues more strongly from the photoperiod than actual temperatures. They start going down in August. Temperatures are still getting into the high 90s, or even low 100s, during the days. If I maintained them in "supportive" conditions as you put them then I'd end up with half starved, or dead, tegus by the end of the season.

I guess I am a little confused, so this may be a dumb question, I know that if you brumate them they will burrow, but aren't they still somewhat active in brumation? The only animal I have brumated was my skinks so it may be completly different, but even though they were brumating there were still somewhat active and move around the cage from time to time, drink water etc, which is why I would think you would still want to provide a larger cage for them. Is this not the case with Tegus? Mine didn't brumate last year so I haven't had any experience with this yet.

[John1982]

I guess I am a little confused, so this may be a dumb question, I know that if you brumate them they will burrow, but aren't they still somewhat active in brumation? The only animal I have brumated was my skinks so it may be completly different, but even though they were brumating there were still somewhat active and move around the cage from time to time, drink water etc, which is why I would think you would still want to provide a larger cage for them. Is this not the case with Tegus? Mine didn't brumate last year so I haven't had any experience with this yet.

I would say ones that don't go down for extended periods are an exception rather than the rule. Your safest bet is to take cues from the individual animal. If they stop eating, stop coming up to bask, are seldom coming out to even drink - start dropping temperatures. I've seen it time and again, owners who keep temperatures elevated to try and dissuade this natural part of a tegu's cycle end up with a nearly starved or dead animal. It's practically impossible to prevent a tegu who wants to hibernate from doing so. Even if you could, it seems an unhealthy thing to frequently force on an animal who's natural existence revolves around particular seasons so strongly as to spend such a large portion of the year inactive.

As for your activity question. When I bring mine indoors, they largely stay put. They might change locations a couple times or, on warmer days, come out to have a drink but they are nothing close to what I'd call active. They basically drag themselves from one point to another. They might take all day to move from under the couch, to the water, have a drink, then mosey back under the couch - and the water dish is only a couple feet away. Temperatures and lighting along this path are identical so there is no reason for it taking so long other than them just being in a semi-dormant state. It's also not because they are so cold they are incapable of moving quickly because, if startled, they can still high tail it back under the couch. If I put the water dish closer I'm confident they would only go that far but I like to occasionally see them during their long sleep to get a visual check and make sure all is well. There is also absolutely no foraging activity during this period of dormancy so I don't offer food.

Now, while you can't prevent hibernation, you can induce it. This is why I am not so concerned with the size of the OPs indoor winter quarters. If their tegu is left in it's outdoor enclosure until the animal is naturally inactive then it's basically a gigantic(compared to the space they actually use) sleeping box with lighting and heating options if they're ever required. If the OP intends to attempt to keep the animal active and feeding, and happens to be successful, then I agree that this is not an adequate size for an adult tegu.

[ladywhipple02]

Thanks for all the feedback on this thread. Drake is a yearling and went into brumation last year pretty heavily. He was small enough that we could keep him in a 50 gallon tank - he didn't eat for about four months and would only move to regulate his temps. We would try to interact with him, but he would only curl up in our hoodie pockets and go back to sleep. Now that he's awake, he's eating like crazy and growing like a weed, so I know we are going to need something else for him this winter.

We interact with our Gu as much as we can, even during the winter months - we simply need something to put him in during the day while we are at work or whatever as the house is old and very drafty. It also keeps accidents from happening as we have two large dogs and a cat.

[Darkbird]

The ones I was speaking of were in enclosures with full lighting and an artificial photoperiod, so maybe that is the differenence. There's also a big difference between the way you folks in Florida can keep yours compared to those of us in the more northerly areas. I'm in southern Michigan, and I'm lucky to get 4 or 5 months where much of anything can be kept outside without issue. Heck it was down to nearly 40° just a few nights ago. So from my point of view any outdoor caging would be the temporary enclosure.

[John1982]

The ones I was speaking of were in enclosures with full lighting and an artificial photoperiod, so maybe that is the differenence. There's also a big difference between the way you folks in Florida can keep yours compared to those of us in the more northerly areas. I'm in southern Michigan, and I'm lucky to get 4 or 5 months where much of anything can be kept outside without issue. Heck it was down to nearly 40° just a few nights ago. So from my point of view any outdoor caging would be the temporary enclosure.

You're right, of course. I often forget that people live in these frozen wastelands.

[John1982]

We interact with our Gu as much as we can, even during the winter months - we simply need something to put him in during the day while we are at work or whatever as the house is old and very drafty. It also keeps accidents from happening as we have two large dogs and a cat.

During the day is when he's going to be most active rooting around in his digs. The 4x2 might be adequate for 1 more season, if he somehow has a slow growing season, but definitely wouldn't cut it for an active adult. I also don't suggest messing with your GU unless he's awake and active; let sleeping dragons lie.