Black and White Tegus

[Jay_Bunny]

I was in the store getting feeders and I noticed a very large lizard in a wood enclosure and I recognized it as a tegu. My friend has one, a sub-adult, and I've been interested in finding information on these guys. While I love my snakes, I would like to branch out and get a few different types of reptiles. I plan on getting a bearded dragon once my husband and I move and I was maybe considering a tegu as well.

So I was wondering if anyone could give me any information on these lizards.

Enclosure requirements for babies, juvies, sub-adults, adult females, and adult males?

Glass tanks or custom built enclosures?

What kind of hiding places, basking spots, plants, substrate are required or recommended?

Heating/Humidity requirements?

Special lighting?

Diet?

How much, how often?

Temperment/Taming?

Male or Female?

Any other information?

[wilomn]

Wolfyhound keeps and breeds and I'm sure she'll contribute when she sees this thread.

You might also go to www.tegutalk.com.

Bobby Hill is the biggest producer of Tegus in the USA and he's a good guy too.

[Jay_Bunny]

Thanks! I'll check out tegu talk. My husband is not that interested in lizards but I've always loved them. They were my first reptile (we had bearded dragons when I was young.) and I'd like to have them again.

[Michelle.C]

For neonate Tegus, I would suggest at least a 20 gallon. By the time they are a year or so old, you should probably have their permanent enclosure ready. Adults should be housed in a 6'x3'x'3 enclosure (minimum).

Custom Built, glass sucks. These are large lizards and require lots of room. A 55" animal weighing 15lbs isn't rare, by any means (especially for a male).

For substrate, I use a mix. They like high humidity, so, I use a soil and cypress mix. You can use pure cypress or pure soil, but the soil/cypress holds tunnels better. The substrate also needs to be quite deep, deep enough they can easily hide their entire body under it. I have mine at around 14".

They don't require any sort of plants, as a matter of fact, I'd suggest against live plants. They are likely to eat or tear them up.

Basking platforms can be rocks, tiles, etc. Anything that absorbs heat well works for them.

Neonates can be given a standard rock hide; as adult, you are more than likely going to have to give them a kitty litter pan (upsidedown) to hide in. Some keepers don't offer hides, but I would highly suggest it.

Humidity should be kept at around 60-70%, misting daily is recommended to make sure they shed properly. Losing a toe due to a piece of stuck shed isn't uncommon. So, when they do shed, do a toe and tail inspection, make sure all of the shed comes off.

Basking area should reach temperatures of 100-115.

They require UV lighting. I use a MVB (Mercury Vapor Bulb). It easily reaches the temperatures required and provides UV. They are a little expensive ($60), but last far longer than the UV tubes, and provide a much higher quality UV lighting.

As far as diet, if Tegus can fit it (or make it fit) in their mouth, they'll eat it. Most people feed turkey often, but I prefer whole vertebrate prey. That said, variety is the key. I feed chicks, mice, rats, eggs (cooked), beef liver, turkey, chicken liver, chicken gizzards, snails (cleaned and cooked), blueberries, strawberries, banana (rarely, only as a treat), blackberries, apples, grapes, roaches, mealworms, fish (salmon, tuna, etc), peaches, pears, mango, papaya, cantaloupe, honey dew melon, bell peppers, green beans, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, endive, dandelion greens, etc. They will generally skip the veggies and go for the fruit, meat, etc. but if you mix them together or wrap the veggies in meat, it will give them some veggies in their diet.

Baby, juvie Tegus should be fed daily. With adults, you can feed them every other day, but you can also continue to feed them daily. As long as you are careful with their diet, they won't become obese.

Temperament varies like any animal, that said, Tegus are generally easy to "tame". As long as you handle them gently and somewhat often, you'll win their trust and end up with a gentle giant on your hands. A step for furthering the trust is letting them start to come to you before picking them up. Hold out your hand and wait for them, once they come to you, gently picking them up (with both hands, make sure they are completely supported). Once I have them in hand, I generally have a saucer with a few fruits (apples or berries, etc) on it, but never meat. This is as a treat for them coming to you only. You don't want them to associate handling time as a source of bloody flesh.

On the subject of association, never feed in the enclosure, they will associate you reaching in their enclosure as food. Remove them from their enclosure and place them in a tub where their food is setting. This will also teach them that you picking them up leads to good things.

I would highly suggest not feeding live, this will lead to a very food aggressive Tegu.

On the subject of male vs. female, temperament is generally the same between the sexes. Male do get quite a bit larger than females though, so, it's up to you.

Lifespan is 15 plus years for a healthy Tegu.

Hope this helps.

[Jay_Bunny]

Thanks for all the info! Where can you get the MVBs? If the substrate needs to be deep, then a custom enclosure would need to be at least 4 feet tall, with at least a foot of it filled with substrate right? This would give them 3 feet of space above them.

[wolfy-hound]

Crissy hit just about everything. I like to use wood "retes" style stacks. I probably just misspelled that too, it's been a real bad day here.
The basic rule is keep 'em hot, and feed 'em lots.(stolen from proexotics).
With my tegus I would feed the chopped fruit first, and then in the evening, offer the meat items. That way they can fill up on fruit, then have the meat when they are already sated, and that seems to cut down on the "snatch and bite" response a lot.
The ground turkey is great for babies, and I also like insects for the babies. Crickets, small worms, etc. Tegus are pretty active, and will try to escape for hours, untilt hey finally go to nap. Babies are very adept at climbing corners even in aquariums, using the silicon sealant to "step up".
As adults, the bigger the enclosure the better. Since I can usually put mine outside(I live in florida) they have a outdoor 8 x8 ft pen, and that makes happy lizards. If you can swing a 8ft long cage, with at least a foot of substrate, you should see a happy lizard.
They will destroy the interior of the enclosure, digging up plants, dishes, hides, you name it. They'll drag or throw the hides around, and throw dirt everywhere. That's a happy tegu.

I love my tegus, they really are great pets, even if they do require a LOT in the way of enclosures, time, and food. Watch that they dont' get obese, and handle them gently often, and you'll be a tegu addict in no time.

[Jay_Bunny]

Since I will probably be starting out with a baby, what is a good ratio of plant to meat in their diet? How much should they get of each per day? Dusting? Are there any insects or plants I should avoid?

I told my husband today that I am seriously considering a tegu if we move into our own place and he was completely indifferent to the idea. He doesn't like lizards, except bearded dragons.

How long will it take a baby to grow up into an adult?

[Michelle.C]

Since I will probably be starting out with a baby, what is a good ratio of plant to meat in their diet? How much should they get of each per day? Dusting? Are there any insects or plants I should avoid?

I told my husband today that I am seriously considering a tegu if we move into our own place and he was completely indifferent to the idea. He doesn't like lizards, except bearded dragons.

How long will it take a baby to grow up into an adult?

http://www.reptileuv.com/ is a good place to pickup one of the best MVBs you can get.

My enclosure is 8'x4'x4'; it isn't vital that they have deep substrate, but they do benefit from it.

It's hard to say what ratio you should feed, it's all very dependent on the animal. I offer fruits and veggies in the morning and the meat around 2-3pm. That way they are really hungry and eat at least some of the fruits/veggies in the morning.

You can feed young Tegus as much as they will eat in a 30 or so minute period. Also, once you get them started (acclimated), they will never stop eating. I have never seen a appetite on any other animal that rivaled some Tegus.

It is important to dust with Calcium without D3 (twice a week), Calcium with D3 (once a week), and a reptile multivitamin (once a week). It's important to remember they can overdose on D3. If you feed whole vertebrate prey, you will have to dust less often; on the other hand, feeding Turkey, etc. often means you will have to dust a lot more often.

There are lots of plants you should avoid, and any WC insect should be avoided.

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtrem...Nutrition.html here is a nutrition chart for Bearded Dragons. It's similar to Tegus; only understand this, even Tegus who have been trained to eat more greens, fruits, etc. will rarely eat vegetables. Their diet should include vegetables (if they will eat it), but most will refuse them.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=88370 here is a list of foods you CAN offer your Tegu. It should be noted that some of the food items aren't ideal (superworms, earthworms, etc), but all the same, it's a good list.

They grow very fast, in two years you will most likely have a very large animal on your hand. That is if your Tegu doesn't go into brumation. I'd say they are pretty much full grown at 4 or so years.

Just remember, they are large animals and while people refer to them as gentle giants, they are a huge responsibility. It takes a lot of socialization, a lot of time, a lot of money, and a lot of space to keep a Tegu. That said, they are a joy to keep and in my opinion, more than worth it.

[Jay_Bunny]

Thanks for the info and links. I understand the responsibility. They are a large lizard and will require a lot of time and effort if I want a healthy, happy, tegu. It will probably be a while before I get one. My husband is ok with the idea, but I will need to be able to have the space for a large enclosure.

[SEPS Reptiles]

As long as your clued up on how to care for the Tegu, i personnally think they are great choice.
One othere thing that i think is very handy it that if your snake descides it doesnt want to feed or have a second feed but you have defrosted a mouse/rat already. the tegu become a great garbage disposal haha