I recently purchased an Argentinian B&W Tegu at the reptile show in Manchester, NH. He is doing great. Eating well, and burying himself quite well for most of the evening and night. Seems extremely tame so far. Only whipped his tail at me once because I think I frightened him. Otherwise, he loves to be held and loves to explore. I have a few questions about the Tegu's though. The vendor I purchased him from said that they believed him to be about 6 months of age. However, I have been reading online and have found that at 2 months of age, they should be about 16 inches in length, which is the exact length of the one I purchased. He also does still have a subtle green tint to him in the light. My guess is that he is just 2 months old. Is it possible that he just grows a bit slower than normal? I have also heard it is very hard to sex them until they are about one year old. Is this true? Wish I could tell now, as I am having a hard time naming him as is. LOL! That's all for now. I couldn't be happier with this animal. He is so great. I think my Beardie is getting jealous tho. Whenever I take the tegu out in the living room, it seems as though the Beardie is mad that he is in HIS living room on HIS couch. Didn't think that reptiles could get jealous. The Beardie likes to be held a lot more than usually since the Tegu came home. Thanks to anyone with any information. Amy
it is possible that he is growing slower, but at 6months i would imagine the green tint wouldnt be so noticeable. yes it is pretty hard to sex them at a young age, so either go to a vet and have him probed, or wait it out lol all animals can get jealous of each other if you cut the time spent with one to give it to another
Yea... we have been sure to give the Beardie just as much time as the rest. We don't want to neglect him at all. We love him too much. I think it was just more of a territorial thing. If anything we play with the Beardie more because the Tegu is buried for most of the day. He comes out to eat and bask from 10:00 - 2:00 and then goes back under for the night. Thanks
Great looking tegu. It looks about normal to me, as far as size goes. My Argentine B&W looked a lot like that at 5 months. Great animals. I'm still not sure of the sex of mine, & he's 2 years old. I don't know how to probe, but I refer to it as a he. At 2 years, he's still got a select few green scales, as well. I just switched him over to an 8' wide, 3' deep, 4' tall cage. With all that space, he's turned into a little monster, & the bites hurt. Anyway... good luck w/ your little lizard. IM or PM me sometime if you want to talk about tegus. My names are in my profile. -Prttyhtmchn
That is a handsome young tegu you have there! I have two Argentine B&W's that I purchased last year August directly from the breeder (Bert Langerwerf). They were both from the same clutch and at two months of age they weighed about 80 grams. Looking at them both now, I can only deduce that there is quite a bit of variability in rate of growth. The larger of the two(1200 grams) is almost twice the size of the smaller. Personality wise they are also quite different. The larger is much more aggressive with a very strong feeding response. The smaller eats well but is much more laid back. Watch the humidity of your enclosure. Under heat lamps the substrate can get quite dry and shed problems are not uncommon with these lizards. I use cypress mulch piled in the enclosure at a depth of 4 inches and have resorted to using a watering can (for flowers) to "water" the mulch on a daily basis. You want it to feel cool and slighly damp (not wet). Also they seemed to prefer mostly insect/meat diet for the first few months but try giving them fruit. It took a while but my bigger tegu now relishes red seedless grapes. The vitamin C in the fruit is supposed to be very important in helping them shed. Also use plenty calcium supplements. Growth, like your bearded dragons, can be rapid and they need the supplementation and UVB for proper bone growth. As a staple diet I take 97% fat free ground turkey, mix it with vitamins, calcium dust, some egg yolk, mashed potatoes, chopped grapes, a little bit of canned cat food for some stink, and then roll it flat into sheets that I put in zip lock freezer bags and freeze. To feed, I snap off a piece, thaw and feed. They both seem to like it. I, of course, supplement with fresh grapes, and once a week they each get three mice (large one takes adult mice and smaller one is still into fuzzy size). Have also fed them live baitshop minnows which they relish. And also give them superworms. When I first got them they both loved crickets but after a few months they completely ignore them. My sense is that they quickly develop a favorite food and can become picky. Things that definately get their attention is anything with egg yolk on it, or mice, either live or thawed. Yes, they are wonderful lizards. I handle them both on a regular basis and as they grow older they seem to have become even more docile. I have never been bitten which is kind of reassuring becuase it is quite scary to hear the bones crunch in a mouse when they bite down! I suppose it would really hurt. The big guy has hissed at me before but only when I disturb him from his slumber. Speaking of which, mine are both up early in the morning to bask, and by 2 oclock they are both buried again in the mulch. If I drop a mouse in the enclosure they erupt like submarines. It is surprising to see how quickly they can move when they have mouse in their sights! Enjoy your tegu. Mine will be going into an outdoor enclosure soon and hope to hibernate them this winter. George
Wow! Sounds like you have two wonderful tegus yourself. Thanks for all the info. You have been a great help. I want to make sure that I am doing everything right for my little guy. Still need a name tho. Having a real tough time with that. Thanks for the idea for freezing the food. Sounds much easier than preparing it everyday which is what we are doing now. We don't have our cypress mulch quite that deep, but I am thinking about adding a little bit more at some point tomorrow. It's so fun watching him bury himself in the afternoon. He twists and turns in all directions. Just wish he would stay out more so I could hold him longer. I wish I could build an outdoor enclosure for him. I know he would love it. However, the weather in New England is way too unpredictable, and cold for him. Thanks again for all the help.
Well your tegu need that very large cage. if you put anything with it I would go with another tegu. just to be safe
if it's an arg b&w, the only other tegu you could subsitute for another b&w is a red. Those are awesome animals. (but dont get a col. it only gets 3 ft)
Wrong wrong wrong!!!! you can not probe a tegu or any lizard for that matter.. it can cause serious damage.... The only way to sex a lizard is a blood test... DO NOT EVER PROBE A LIZARD!!!!!!!!!! Kristin
That's not true, you can too have a reptile professional probe a reptile and it not get hurt. You should never ever ever do it yourself, but someone who knows what they're doing is not going to hurt a reptile. It happens many many times and the animals are not hurt in anyway. However, it is wrong to get a young animal probed because that probably will hurt them. I would never get that done. But a physically mature animal is fine, though by that time you should be able to tell by the femoral pores and other physical signs that the lizard shows to tell the difference. So I would just wait it out. If all it is about is wondering and what to name it, not having any intentions of breeding, it shouldnt be that important to know the sex and get it probed that young on.
no i am not wrong you are. do not be so rude. probing is a way to sex a lizard and the only way it would cause damage is if someone inexperienced did it. again do not be so rude especially when you do not know what you are talking about
kliks right if done by a pro there is nothing wrong with probing a lizard, how do you think breeders can sell young sexed animals? they probe them... that was really rude, have some tact.
Thanks... He is doing much better now. He is taking medicine for his parasites, and he just started shedding for the second time in a month. Eats very well, and sleeps for about 22 hours a day. Not sure if that is healthy, but he seems happy, and he is growing fast. Through all the problems that I have had with him, I am really glad that I was able to bring him back to health. He seems a lot happier, and looks a lot better.
if he sleeps that much then he is a content little tegu and possibly fed a little too much. just cut back slightly on the food and he should start searching around his enclosure for something to eat.
