Greetings to everyone and first let me say thanks in advance to anyone who can help me out. I'm very new to the world of reptiles. The only experience I had was owning a small iguana named Pugsly (named after Linda Hamilton's iguana in The Terminator). That was many years ago and haven't had another pet since. My roommates and I are very interested in getting a Black and White Tegu. We very much like the colors and the sturdy nature of them. I have been doing a lot of research and many people say they are highly intelligent and tameable which definately interests me (which is why I might choose a tegu over an australian water dragon). We live in a 3 bedroom apartment with cathedral ceilings (15 feet high) and are capable of building a 8ft long x 4ft wide x infininate inch high habitat without problems. In fact we have a temendous amount of head room and were planning on building custom climbing areas well above the room. We also have half a guest room available. There is a good Herpologist also about 3 miles away from us whom was able to tell me a little bit about some of the medical needs I will have to consider but I wanted to talk with owners about how Tegu are to take care of and who can tell me a little bit more about the feeding and habitat building process? I know about substrate from reading online but I know there must be more to it than just laying down Eucalyptus mulch and calling it a day *smile* I'd like to have as much information as possible before building this custom structure (We built all of our shelving and desks from scratch. We enjoy carpentry) and before I make a purchase. I'm looking forward to being a part of this forum and I definately am open to any and all suggestions. Please be patient with me and thank you again in advance for the help/advice. Elaine P.S. agamainternational.com recommends ZooMed Eco Earth for substrate or mulch. I am wondering if Eco Earth is ok and will it attract ants indoors?
Tegus' are very nice reptiles to keep, but are still quite a challenge. The height you can make your cage really isn't that important as they typically dont like climbing. I recommend making a rock formation out of flagstone. Like mine.http://thetegu.com/modules.php?set_albumNa...=view_album.php Make sure that you do as much research on them as possible before buying one though. About the Eco-earth and ants. I am not sure what attracts them. but I use mulch and I left som food in for him because he wasn't eating, and boom ant heaven. They nested in the bark and mass produced, causing one pissed off tegu who had to live in my bathroom for a week. I burried the ant traps with the plastic casing under the new mulch to prevet it from happening again. (yes its safe) You will also need lots of time to invest in your tegu, because they enjoy free roaming around te house. P.S. beware if it is dancing get out of the way or you will get crapped on. lol the funny poo dance
Good choice, but like he said, they require alot of attention and can be VERY messy. If you are going to get a b&w tegu, go with the argentine kind. I have a columbian and I love him to death, but argentines are far more tameable, cleaner, and less skiddish, but they also get alot bigger. Unfortuneatly you probably aren't going to get to build that cool custom climbing area above the room cause he won't use it. They are also very restless animals at times and aren't like many lizards who don't mind chilling out in his/her cage, tegus have this need to be out and about, so it's a great pet if you're home alot, and if you're not I would go with a savannah monitor who are just as easily tameable. I like tegus alot because they don't demand as much heat as many typical lizards, like savannahs, and I can let mine roam for hours without worrying about him getting cold. If you have access to a little bit of yard around your apt, make it a point to take him outside if you can for like an hour a day or so a couple times a week that will be really good for him and he'll love ya especially if you don't have a heat light with uvB in it. Also, make sure he doesn't eat apple seeds.
I work from home so I am home all the time. There's plenty of area for him to wander around the apartment no problem. I know they can get four feet long which is big but that includes the tail also right? How long does it take for them to reach such a size? I am definately worried about him outgrowing the apartment too quickly. Perhaps a tegu isn't the right way to go? I would like something sturdy that doesn't need so much temperature control. Thanks everyone for your help! Elaine
If you're worried about size and still want a tegu that has the same looks as a b&w tegu, go with the Blue Tegu. They have awesome personalities and are the tamest of the tegus AND they don't grow as big as an argentine b&w, they are sweethearts.
Is there a place online that sells Blue Tegu? I would want to get it from a good location. I noticed that agamainternational.com only carried the Black and White ones. I'd like to know more information about Blue Tegu. Would the requirements for housing and feeding be about the same?
Thanks to everyone for their great advice. I guess I am having some second thoughts about the B&W Tegu because of some of the pictures I saw on Agama International. One in particular looks like it has some kind of possum in it's mouth and looks about the size of a german shepard. *smile* A 6 x 3 x 18 cage doesnt look like it would house something like that? Is the picture just confusing me? The recommended size of the cage seems to vary based on different care sheets. I've seen some that say 8 x 3 x 18 and some that say 6 x 3 x 18 ... Also I have been emailing Bert Langerweft of Agama about the size difference between B&W white tegu and Blue and he said that he doesn't even write about Blues in his books and that he seemed kind of suspicious of them. How much of a size difference are we talking as far as Blue versus B&W. I do have an apartment that is quite big but I think this picture (http://www.agamainternational.com/gallery_merianae/male_tegu4.jpg) really intimidated me. Sizes of B&W say about 4ft, are the Blues much smaller? Is it going to make much of a difference? I like the support that Agama International offers and they have been very friendly and helpful with all of my questions. The folks over at BlueTegu (St Pierre) haven't returned any emails or phone calls and don't seem interested in giving me any information at all which doesn't make me confident about purchasing from them certainly. But I would rather buy a hatchling from a breeder than try to buy something from someone online or in a pet store but there don't seem to be any places other than St Pierre and Agama. I really would greatly value any assistance. The size issue is a large issue for me because I don't have a house. I do want a Tegu because of the personality type and the ease of taming and. These factors are very important to me which is why I would go with something large. I guess I'm really wondering *how large is large* at this point? Thank you in advance. Elaine
I assure you it was not a possum in its mouth. If you allow a lot of free roam time then a 6x3 will work fine. You can also use the san diego zoo diet instead of mice if you get a hatchling or one that is already established on it. It is ground turkey, calcium powder, and fruit made into meatballs. its cheaper and not a mouse lol
McFresh Thank you for your response, I was beginning to wonder if I would get one at all. On some of the boards people seem to just ignore you when you say you don't have a lot of space. Like: "dont buy one if you don't have space". The issue isn't so much about space but just sheer size. I have plenty of space but I wonder if something as large as it looks in that picture might intimidate me in general. I am new to reptiles and while I can get a measuring tape out and measure off 4ft long, thats different from actually seeing something that big. Whatever it is in its mouth it has a long possum like tail and four legs so I was just wondering. It's also hard to get a good idea of size from a photo. I will be getting a hatchling so I will try that diet. Thank you for the suggestion.
if you are getting a red tegu. Then the mixture is 1lb ground turkey 2tbsp powder 8 ounces of either strawberry or mango chopped up. Then make like 2 inch balls out of it like meatballs and freeze them. just thaw them out as needed. You can experiment with other fruits as well. because well if you haven''t ever tried to cut up mango before, it takes a while to master it, they are a pain in the butt. This is meant to be a staple diet but not the entire diet. I use it very other feeding. I alternate the other feedings between boiled chicken (with skin, no bones) boiled eggs, high quality cat food, and bananas. with a hatchling you may also use insects and feeder worms. but i would work with this from the start. for B&W or blues use only 4 ounces of fruit.
Tegu's are realy tame if you want them to be.My tegu is starting to learn it's name and responds to me.Right now i let my tegu run loose in my room.I had a columbian tegu and thay are a lot meaner. The argentien tegu's are a lot nicer and defenitly calmer.My tegu eats wet dog food sliced apples and mango. I would not use sand because i tried and my tegu got an eye infection whenever i would put her eye medication on the sand wold stick to her eye.I would prefer mulch over any thing else.Other than that tegu's are a gooood choice.I'm going to start to breed them. Tico
Just do as much research them as much as you can till you buy one. Make sure the cage is long not tall. Also it need to be wide so it can turn around comfortably.Good luck
I just wanted to thank everyone on here for their advice and help. I'm almost ready to purchase my tegu. Very soon I have been told there will be some hatchlings available. I am almost finished building my custom enclosure but I have two questions now: 1. I know that tegu's need a burrow and that you can get some hiding areas for them to crawl in. But I was looking online at various ones and ... well ... aren't they kind of small? I mean my tegu will outgrow the ones you can buy after a while right? I mean mainly those are for when your tegu is small right? 2. I am very confused about substrate. I have seen people say to use all different kinds. Reptibark, BedABeast. Bert over at Agama International also says BedABeast or Eco Earth. I have also seen people sya they use dirt. I am looking into Coconut Bark Chips from Big Apple Herp (http://www.bigappleherp.com). Anyone ever used these? What do people recommend? Thanks in advance! Elaine
you are best off to make your own burrows and hides. i use flagstone for mine because you can just stack it up and make some caves and stuff, he seems to like it, and it is a good basking platform too.
Woot! Tegu coming! Thanks everyone for their great advice! I'm going to be receiving my tegu hatchling from Agama on the 21st of July. My custom enclosure will be finished by the end of the week and I'll post some pictures. I'm very excited! I wanted to know about feeding the little guy at first. Should I start with fruits mostly or should I also give him some ground turkey? Should the turkey be raw also? Like only raw meats should I feed him? Or should I cook everything? Also what is the best kind of calcium powder to get. I have seen so may different kinds online and I want to be sure to get what is best. Thanks in advance!
Is the enclosure ready? Do you have pictures yet? Do you have a name picked out? The 21st is only a week away!!
hehehe the enclosure is almost ready. I will post pictures when it is completed. I'm not sure on the name yet! *grin* I'm very excited to get him!!!
