Tegu Enclosure

[ladywhipple02]

We are currently in the process of building a larger indoor Tegu enclosure for the winter months. The room the enclosure will be kept in is pretty drafty (the entire house is hard to heat and cool due to it being EXTREMELY old... like turn of the century plantation style old) so I want to make something that's going to hold heat fairly well. With that in mind, this is what I've come up with, and I'd like opinions and thoughts.

I've purchased a large rubber stock tank - about 4 feet long and 2 foot deep. We are cutting a piece of plywood for the top to fit securely - each end of the top will have a screened "window" for airflow and also to place lights on. In the center of the top will be a hinged door for getting into the cage.

Planning on having cypress mulch bedding, a kane heating mat with rheostat (already purchased) as well as the necessary night lamp and Powersun lamp. I'm thinking I'll need the 160 watt Powersun bulb due to the size of the tub.

What is everyone's thoughts/suggestions on this?

I can send pics when we are a little further along.

[Darkbird]

Honestly, scrap everything your thinking and do a bit more research. With the exception of diet, theses guys have the same caging requirements as savanna monitors, large sealed environment with a good deep substrate for burrowing. You'll want to have at least 8×4×4, with around 2' of dirt, light fixtures inside the cage, and so on. I have seen suitable cages built using troughs, but you'll need a bigger one than you described.

[John1982]

Sounds like it'll work just fine. If it's an argentine it has a high probability of going into hibernation regardless of the temperatures you maintain. If, or even when, this happens be sure to turn the heat off so your GU doesn't burn through all it's reserves too quickly. These are very adaptable critters that handle cooler temperatures just fine. I've left mine outside when temperatures dropped below freezing and everything was fine. Their retreat just needs to be below the frost line.

[John1982]

Honestly, scrap everything your thinking and do a bit more research. With the exception of diet, theses guys have the same caging requirements as savanna monitors, large sealed environment with a good deep substrate for burrowing. You'll want to have at least 8×4×4, with around 2' of dirt, light fixtures inside the cage, and so on. I have seen suitable cages built using troughs, but you'll need a bigger one than you described.

I'm basically picturing a hibernation box with lighting options for days their GU wants to bask. My boy occasionally pops up on warmer days then goes back down for weeks, or even months. Argentines tend to spend the better half of the year sleeping underground.

[ladywhipple02]

He is an Argentine, and this is just for the cooler months.

The cage itself will be sealed - the top will be bolted to the actual tub. We can't leave him outside during the winter due to snow/frigid temps. We got below 0 multiple times last year.

[jclaiborne]

The last few pages show the cage I am almost done building...but this is a permanent cage not just for the winter months... http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...25#post2350925

[Miranda2]

I suggest you scrap the high heat Sun lamp and get two or even three lower wattage heat/uvb lamps. My biggest mistake with my tegu was using one lamp so he had to hunch up under it. If you have two or more lower heat lamps they can stretch out more and it doesnt get those super hot spots but more even heat over its entire body(ours was a solid four foot male).

We had a small room that our tegu occupied and we kept a big tub(6ft long) filled with dirt and a side entrance so he could go in and bury himself. It had a warm end and cool end(using under hide heat).
We also had a section with cinder blocks and heat/UVB lamps (the cinder blocks help radiate the heat). He would stretch out under that.

Seriously they dont have the same requirements as Savannah monitors(who need much higher heat and humidity).
Argentina is not a hot nor that humid of a country. But they do need a certain amount of humidity.

[JoshSloane]

I suggest you scrap the high heat Sun lamp and get two or even three lower wattage heat/uvb lamps. My biggest mistake with my tegu was using one lamp so he had to hunch up under it. If you have two or more lower heat lamps they can stretch out more and it doesnt get those super hot spots but more even heat over its entire body(ours was a solid four foot male).

We had a small room that our tegu occupied and we kept a big tub(6ft long) filled with dirt and a side entrance so he could go in and bury himself. It had a warm end and cool end(using under hide heat).
We also had a section with cinder blocks and heat/UVB lamps (the cinder blocks help radiate the heat). He would stretch out under that.

Seriously they dont have the same requirements as Savannah monitors(who need much higher heat and humidity).
Argentina is not a hot nor that humid of a country. But they do need a certain amount of humidity.

Tegus still need hot spots above 100 deg to digest properly and regulate temps. Having one lamp as a primary source of heat/UV with a MVB is just fine as long as the dome is big enough to disperse the heat.

[Darkbird]

Tegus still need hot spots above 100 deg to digest properly and regulate temps. Having one lamp as a primary source of heat/UV with a MVB is just fine as long as the dome is big enough to disperse the heat.

No, the dome has nothing to do with how the heat and light are dispersed when your using flood or spot type lamps. Its about the way the bulb is constructed and how far it is from the basking surface. And if the basking site doesn't cover the entire length of the lizard, minus the tail, then it is not big enough. But then again neither is sticking a potentially 4' lizard into a tub with a 4'×2' footprint.

[John1982]

It's not uncommon to hibernate tegus in much smaller containers. In my area, the general schedule for tegus is as follows. Around August they stop coming above ground regularly to bask, drink, eat. They might occasionally pop up to have a bit of water or soak up a little sun but that's about it until they're down for the count. They spend 99% of the next 7-8 months curled up in the same spot, in a spiral that's roughly 1 foot in diameter for adults.

I personally bring mine in when temperatures start to get below freezing and they go back out around our last freeze - usually a month before they start coming up to bask and drink a bit. During the cooler months of winter they have unlimited access to a small office room that's about 100 square feet but, again, spend 99% of the time curled up under a couch sleeping - only using about 1 foot of space. I keep fresh water available, it's utilized maybe 4-5 times during the season. I provide no supplemental lighting during the time spent indoors and offer no food. Temperatures in this room generally stay between 50-70 degrees during the cooler months.