r/Tegu

So cute! He pooped a big log after this

Hi guys, I have a b&w tegu named Everest. He is about a year and a half old. When i first got him at 3 months old, he brumated. No matter what we did he wouldnt come out of it so the vet recommended letting him finish the cycle even though he was so young. When he woke up he went right back to normal he was eating and drinking and socializing properly, but now he looks like hes going down again. I'm so so paranoid, so could anybody tell me if he looks okay? I put bamboo under his waterbowl so he could burrow with some structure under because his heavy water bowl seems to be his favorite hide out od his 3 others lol. Any advice for brumation care would be GREATLY appreciated

PS he is pretty small for his age, vet thinks its because the juvenile brumation slowed his growth considerably

So I got a tape measure and steak measures a whopping 32.5 inches. I also met the previous owner who said he got steak around August as a hatchling and didn’t expect him to grow as quick so he brought him to petco who took care of him until I took him in. That’s where I learned his story and he was in a small tank because he grew to fast. And I agree he has grown really fast. He sheds every day now and I’m having trouble keeping up with his sheds but he seems to have them under control. I brought him home January 31, 2026 around 2pm cst. I can see steak getting to that 4.5 foot range. He’s so big and heavy now

His sister potato is 2 year old. I got brought her home on October 18th,2024 around 2-3pm CST. She was still partly baby green partly yellow and looked like a fat little unripe potato. If I had to guess she was only a couple months old. I didn’t get a hatch date. She’s only 23.5 inches. I can probably guess she may get to 3 feet.

While potato is still very small for her age she is very healthy acording to the vet. Vet recommended that I feed her full rats rather than separate meats so that she gets more food in her since she is such a picky eater. So for now on she is eating small- medium rats. I’m trying to set up another uv lamp for her that hopefully she can’t break this time 🤞. I’m putting heavy duty metal zip ties on it so she gets her uv because I think her habit of breaking lamps has maybe caused her growth. The vet gave me the idea to put metal automotive zip ties on it so it’s more stable. I don’t know if the uv and rats will help but let’s hope. I really don’t want to drop another 100 bucks on a uv lamp again. She could just be small. Steak however is gonna be huge.. he’s constantly growing. I kind of wish potato had steaks genetics. Her growth has worried me. I wish petco let the owners meet the parents but I feel like their breeding facility would make me cry. It’ll at least let me understand potato’s genetics. My mom is helping me with a tank. It’ll be a birthday gift I can fit in my apartment. Even though it’ll only be 4’x5’ it’s something temporary until I can get a house. I’m glad she’s willing to help me because she knows how much my reptiles mean to me even if she doesn’t really like reptiles.

Love you mom ❤️.