Unexpected first tegu. Help?

[Riv]

hello everybody, ive been trying to sell/ trade my burm for about a week now, and This guy on craigslist kept offering me this Tegu for her. Knowing nothing about them I said no a few times then he offered me the tegu and a full grown female Ball python. I HAVE been looking for one of those so I said yes. I think hes dropping them both off tomorrow night, so im scrambling to learn as much as I can and get things ready before then. Im honestly not sure if I want to just keep it for a little while and sell it later when I find a good home at a good price, or if Im going to fall in love with it and keep it for good.

What I know
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Temps:80-85 ambient 90-95 basking
UVB bulb necessary for D3 production
They need a ton of attention
They love to burrow.
Omnivorous, but prefer meat
-They need an 8L*4D*4H enclosure

What I think I am doing
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Im planning to keep him in my spare room, Put down a dog bed and install a heat lamp above it for basking, and give him a large pile of blankets to dig and burrow in.

I intend to feed a whole prey raw diet(rats) but I read they cant digest fur well so I am planning to skin them before presenting the food. I plan to supplement with reptile vitamin powder to replace greens

I should have plenty of time to interact with him.

Humidity should not be problematic.

Do I have the basics for care down? And can anyone give me an idea of their temperment, do and donts of handling and the tegus comfort zone, how frequently/how much I should feed, and any other advice for a first time tegu owner? I am aware that they get 5 feet, and Ive heard that they can take fingers off if you arent careful, but I dont know how much of that is just media or if I truly should be that cautious while handling? Heres a photo of the little guy.

I read that they can be difficult to sex without probing. I have a probing kit I use for ball pythons. Is the theory the same? Any differences I should Know about?
Thanks for reading!
-Riveran

[JaGv]

make sure the ball is actually a female if you haven't checked her out already.

[Riv]

I got permission to probe her myself befkre going through with the trade, so If it doesnt turn out female then I dont have to worry about it of course, but he had no problem with me probing whatsoever so I feel like he's pretty confident.

-Riveran

[Riv]

HEres a pic of the allegid females(such as it is)

-Riveran

[satomi325]

I love Tegus! I suggest bouncing over to Tegutalk forums.


They need a higher basking temp. 95-110. Room temp ambient is fine. And I suggest you put that baby in a 30+ gallon tank at the very least. Some Tegus are free roam, but they also have access to outdoors where they can do their tegu business. Digging under blankets doesn't seem like it would cut it. They need substrate to dig.

And as that Tegu looks fairly young, it will need to be fed mainly insects, cooked eggs, and some meat(ground meat/
feeders). An adult diet is a little different where you can offer fruits and veggies as well.

And I suggest you use a water dish where the Tegu can fit it's whole body in.

Black and white Tegus are typically very nice. I haven't met one that wasn't dog tame. Nor have I met one that was aggressive, although I have heard of cage aggression. They're great animals to handle, especially socialized adults. I hope this guy isn't trading that Tegu because it has some behavior problem or something. Try handling the Tegu regularly. They are generally very sweet animals.


And that female BP looks a little thin, but otherwise very pretty.

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[John1982]

Looks like a columbian tegu in the picture though it is hard to tell being so small a shot. They wholesale for $10-15 and tend to be on the more flighty/aggressive side compared to the argentines - though this could have more to do with there being no breeders for CBB so they're ALL imported/farmed babies. Also, columbians are 100% carnivorous, you can offer fruits and veggies and they'll generally stare at you like you're crazy.

[mumps]

I agree with John, that looks like a Colombian.

Whole other ball game.

Skin the rats??? You've been researching in the wrong places...

Chris

[Riv]

He was actually smaller than I expected. maybe 4 inches in body, the rest being tail. He's EXTREMILY aggressive though. He was fine for the guy during the transaction, but he bit my fiance once and has made many attempts at biting me. Im counting on daily handling to route that kind of behavior. I dont want to lose any fingers when he gets older.

I wound up putting him in a 40 gallon tank with a large water dish and a hide he can grow into, I skinned a large rat and put a bit in his foood bowl, which he ate *most* of. I portioned the rest of the rat, and based on what he ate tonight he should have one weeks worth of meals from that rat if I feed daily.

Do columbians get the same size? Heres some better photos of him. Do these help ID him?

[Ridinandreptiles]

Looks columbian IMHO

[John1982]

Columbians have smooth scales whereas argentines are beaded. Most columbians have 1 loreal scale while argentines usually have two. Columbians get about 3 feet long and will stay on a carnivorous diet their whole lives, other than that care is basically the same.

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Argentine tegus also hibernate for up to 8 months of the year while the columbians do not. They may slow down a bit in their eating/activity but will not go into a deep slumber like merianae are wont to do.