tegu advice?

[wolfy-hound]

The huge cage has to be custom made, pretty much. I don't know of any appropriate enclosures available. They like to have deep substrate, so it's going to be HEAVY. They do need a high basking spot, but not to have the whole cage cooking either.

They eat. They eat and eat and eat some more. Compared to snakes, tegus are about ten times mroe work and eat about ten times more, in my opinion. They eat both fruits and meat(prey items). I haven't found mine to be too picky in the prey department, but the fruits, they can decide they ONLY like one or two types, regardless of how difficult it is for you to get those types year round.

They also go into hibernation for up to 6 months. So for part of the year, you end up with a cage of pet mulch. This cuts the care/food time/expense down. But it's rather boring to have a pet mulch pile.

They can get food aggressive, or become cranky for no apparent reason. They can be extremely destructive to their enclosures, including upending water bins, throwing dirt and mulch for amazing distances, tearing out decorations or even ripping the door loose or prying apart seams, if you haven't made certain the enclosure could hold an angry chimpanzee.

That said, I love them, out of all lizards I've had. They tend to be personable, tame well(unless you get a bad one, or traumatize one with inappropiate care/handling), and are inquisitive and intelligent.

They are a LOT more work, require a LOT more expense and space, and will make you tear out your hair on a regular basis. One way you can judge how easy/hard a reptile is to keep... start looking for anyone who has owned their tegu for longer than 4 years, and owns an adult tegu... not a hatchling, not a yearling... but one they've had for a LONG time. It's very common for people to buy a tegu or monitor, but much less common for them to KEEP them for years without getting tired of the work, losing them to inproper care, or losing them due to escapes... etc. Like the larger monitors, there's just not as many keepers working with them seriously. There's a lot of impulse buys, or people who think it'd be cool.... but if most are not keeping them for a long period of time, there's usually a reason.

Good luck, and kudos for doing your research beforehand!