Tegu love

[LadyOhh]

So, I'm looking into getting a Tegu.

Who out there has them, and what species?

What are your setups? How old are they? What do you feed them?

I'm getting really fired up about them, and I am really interested in hearing people's experiences here on this board.

[wolfy-hound]

I have three.
ONe Argentine Black and White, Noah.
Two red tegus. Gracie and Groo.
Noah arrived and was nice enough, he was a small baby(not newly hatched but still had some green on his head). I fed him a varied diet of the preferred veggies, fruits, and meats. He grew quickly, hibernated well, and in general did very well.
He went into hibernation about 10 weeks ago(guessing, I'm not sure, and can't find the papers where I wrote it). For the months prior to him going into hibernation, he was aggressive, and not a pleasure to deal with at all. I'm hoping that the hibernation will calm him down out of whatever got into him.
The reds started out wary and shy, but as soon as they got some size on them, turned fairly tame, and Gracie was climbing on my leg for attention, even leaving the food dish with her favorites to come see me instead. Groo would come over, but was slightly standoffish.
They are EXTREMELY sturdy animals. They like the basking spots and all, but they are hardy critters. If they stayed fairly tame, I think they are great lizards, keeping in mind that they get BIG BIG.
If I can answer anything for you, please ask.

[Patrick Long]

I too have been interested after seeing that video of the tegu's lovin attention.

do they really get BIG BIG. Ive seen numerous pictures of adult B&W's and they were no bigger than an iguana. Maybe just a little thicker.

[wolfy-hound]

I haven't seen any iguanas that get as large as some of the tegus I've seen. Iguanas are more slender and long, while tegus are much more thick and heavy.
I tried to upload a pic into my gallery, but it just won't take. Here's a link to one pic.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t=IMG_1634.jpg

[Patrick Long]

Reds are my Favorite!