Chronicles of a Tegu

On September 4, 2013, I took the plunge into giant, scary lizard ownership, and it has already been filled with seemingly perilous situations (for the lizard, not myself). My hypochondriac of a self has already projected multiple illnesses upon my tegu, and I'm fairly certain this validates that I am not ready for parenthood. Hours upon hours of research have confirmed that I am indeed making a big deal out of nothing. One of my major concerns was food. 

"My tegu isn't eating enough. It’s going to starve in a single day and die!"

First, I have to say is thank goodness for thetegu.com. This particular forum has been a lifesaver and invaluable source of information. According to other tegu owners, it is quite common for tegus to refuse food for the first week of being shipped.

My tegu, thankfully, has consistently ate (at least a small amount) since I received it. My main concern was HOW MUCH it was eating. After multiple Google searches, I found threads of owners similar to myself, fretting about their tegus lack of appetite. Well, fear no more! It's okay! It's not the end of the world, and, if your tegu appears healthy in every other way (active, no signs of illness: nasal discharge lethargy, etc.) he should not starve himself to death. Though my tegu wasn't eating much, I now know I cannot complain, as some tegu owners don't get their babies to eat for weeks.

Threads about baby tegus not eating:
new baby tegu
new tegu not eating, hiding

I did learn an effective way to determine whether your tegu is full: See Post #3 by bubblz. According to bubblz, you can gauge the fullness of your tegu by the amount of folds present on it's side. Here are some fairly clear pictures of what she is explaining.

In this photo, you obviously see the skin fold on her Coronal (or frontal) plane.

If you still don't see it, look at the space between her hind and front legs. There is essentially what looks like loose skin forming on her body, creating a fold (click photo for a closer view).

In-shed tegu hatchling

After a small meal, this photo shows a very slight fold, indicating she is not at her fullest.

Tegu after first shed at new home

In this last photo, she has gorged on a large meal and refuses to eat any more. There is no fold present and her body appears plump.

Wheezy Bat Photos

I also learned the key to success was a varied diet. Initially, I attempted to offer her only a ground turkey mix and grapes. While she appeared to tolerate those foods, she did not eat them with the fervor I anticipated. This lasted for the first three days until I gave in and decided to offer a plethora of foods. The four foods that resulted with the best success were raw salmon ("fresh" from the grocery store), crickets, hornworms, and pinky mice. I have also offered other foods, such as scrambled eggs, kiwi, and duck heart with slightly less success. She refuses to touch mealworms.