What tegu is right for me?

[Dragon ExoticsYT]

Alright, I am new to the whole tegu thing, I am getting a tegu of some sort (process of elimination) and I am happy with my choice.....But I need to know what tegu is right for me! I am extremely torn between a red tegu and an Argentine b&w. I am leaning more to the b&w but I also really like red tegus, the reason I lean to the b&w is because reds can have skin issues and I am not sure how to care for that. Blue tegus are ruled out because I am fully aware that they are just color mutations of the B&w. I am an experienced small-medium sized (example, Blue tongue skink) and I want to take it to the next level. (at first I was considering a Savannah monitor but was quickly ruled out) Please help!

 

[Walter1]

Alright, I am new to the whole tegu thing, I am getting a tegu of some sort (process of elimination) and I am happy with my choice.....But I need to know what tegu is right for me! I am extremely torn between a red tegu and an Argentine b&w. I am leaning more to the b&w but I also really like red tegus, the reason I lean to the b&w is because reds can have skin issues and I am not sure how to care for that. Blue tegus are ruled out because I am fully aware that they are just color mutations of the B&w. I am an experienced small-medium sized (example, Blue tongue skink) and I want to take it to the next level. (at first I was considering a Savannah monitor but was quickly ruled out) Please help!

I'm not familiar with skin issues associated with Red Tegus. Black and Whites sometimes have shedding difficulties, but good humidity and putting fish oil in the food take care of that. I have no experience at all with reds, but am very happy with my three black and whites. They are FL WC from Tegusonly.

Whichever species you choose, be VERY careful from whom you buy them. As with any "product", there are good, bad, and truly awful vendors.

 

[Dragon ExoticsYT]

I'm not familiar with skin issues associated with Red Tegus. Black and Whites sometimes have shedding difficulties, but good humidity and putting fish oil in the food take care of that. I have no experience at all with reds, but am very happy with my three black and whites. They are FL WC from Tegusonly.

Whichever species you choose, be VERY careful from whom you buy them. As with any "product", there are good, bad, and truly awful vendors.

What is a good place to buy them from, I was thinking LLLreptiles, underground reptiles, or just getting one from a expo

 

[Justin]

Tegus and Savannahs have fairly similar care requirements I'm curious why you quickly ruled them out? I will add that on hindsight I kind of wish I had gone with ackie monitors or maybe even green tree monitors. The main negative for me is enclosure size 4x8 feet is larger than it sounds plus it takes a lot of substrate to provide proper depth and I will admit mine is probably half what it should be. I'm not trying to dissuade you but if care requirements for a Savannah is what ruled them out I might would think on it a bit more.

 

[Walter1]

What is a good place to buy them from, I was thinking LLLreptiles, underground reptiles, or just getting one from a expo

I trust Tegusonly, Hector's Habitat, and Ken Foose of Exotic Pets Las Vegas.

 

[Justin]

I will recommend Laura who was/is an admin here her site is yourtegu.com I got mine from her. I will say though that her animals have gotten much better as far as contrast and high whites and she also has a facebook page.

 

[beardeddragon111]

Justin though I myself have never kept savannahs I know throught thorough there are some differences with savs and tegus that make savs much harder pets. Savannahs can (almost) never be found cb and always will need to be treated for parasites. They also require basking temps a good 20 degrees above tegus. The only substrate option for savs is a very deep, digable dirt, while tegus can be kept on coco fiber/cypress/peat moss/etc. They're care is kind of similar, but savs are definetly much more difficult to keep in captivity.

 

[Walter1]

Justin though I myself have never kept savannahs I know throught thorough there are some differences with savs and tegus that make savs much harder pets. Savannahs can (almost) never be found cb and always will need to be treated for parasites. They also require basking temps a good 20 degrees above tegus. The only substrate option for savs is a very deep, digable dirt, while tegus can be kept on coco fiber/cypress/peat moss/etc. They're care is kind of similar, but savs are definetly much more difficult to keep in captivity.

All true but you wouldn't know it by the dirt cheap prices for them. A tragedy I hope never happens to tegus.

 

[beardeddragon111]

All true but you wouldn't know it by the dirt cheap prices for them. A tragedy I hope never happens to tegus.

Sadly that's exactly what underground reptiles is trying to do to them. They said in one of their videos at the begging of the of the season they were trying to get reds down to 50$, and even albino down to 150$. IMO any monitor/tegu should cost 300-500$ as a way of making people look in to their care.

 

[Dragon ExoticsYT]

Tegus and Savannahs have fairly similar care requirements I'm curious why you quickly ruled them out? I will add that on hindsight I kind of wish I had gone with ackie monitors or maybe even green tree monitors. The main negative for me is enclosure size 4x8 feet is larger than it sounds plus it takes a lot of substrate to provide proper depth and I will admit mine is probably half what it should be. I'm not trying to dissuade you but if care requirements for a Savannah is what ruled them out I might would think on it a bit more.

I ruled them out because the humidity was very, VERY strict, they where also strictly carnivorous

 

[Justin]

Me personally I don't think an omnivore makes feeding easier as I have to spend more time preparing meals. As to the humidity requirements having a good substrate of the proper depth makes this far easier. If your substrate is kept with the proper moisture content it creates a buffer which allows for consistent and easily maintained humidity levels.

Since your set on a tegus though welcome to the club and if you have any questions there is lots of helpful information and people here.

 

[Dragon ExoticsYT]

Me personally I don't think an omnivore makes feeding easier as I have to spend more time preparing meals. As to the humidity requirements having a good substrate of the proper depth makes this far easier. If your substrate is kept with the proper moisture content it creates a buffer which allows for consistent and easily maintained humidity levels.

Since your set on a tegus though welcome to the club and if you have any questions there is lots of helpful information and people here.

Thank you sir, I will enjoy my new friend

 

[Mombo]

Love my guy from Tegusonly.com He is awesome. My wife is always getting him out for some cuddles.

 

[Dragon ExoticsYT]

Love my guy from Tegusonly.com He is awesome. My wife is always getting him out for some cuddles.

I shall look into this, I am looking for more of a pick up over than a delivery. I won't avoid delivery if that means better quality, but I prefer a pick up. I feel its easier on the reptile

 

[beardeddragon111]

I shall look into this, I am looking for more of a pick up over than a delivery. I won't avoid delivery if that means better quality, but I prefer a pick up. I feel its easier on the reptile

The shipping method online is honestly better than how it goes to actually get to dealers. If you want to avoid the process entirely, you'll have to find an actual breeder. I think they get over the process quickly and IMO it's easier to get a quality animal offline.

 

[dpjm]

I will put in my vote for buying from tegusonly.com. I haven't bought from Rodney myself but have heard good things form those who have.

The main reason for my support is that he is selling tegus that have been captured from southern Florida, where tegus are invasive and are causing declines of small animal populations. In particular, they are decimating the eggs of ground-nesting birds. So by buying these tegus, you are helping to clean up the issue (a bit - the problem is so out of hand that it probably is impossible to solve, but every little bit does help). This is by far the most responsible way to obtain a tegu at this time.

 

[Mombo]

Yup and keeping one more at a time from getting killed. Plus he has the black and white's with firebelly's.

 

[Walter1]

Yup and keeping one more at a time from getting killed. Plus he has the black and white's with firebelly's.

My personal favorite morph.

 

[Dragon ExoticsYT]

I agree with Mombo, firebellys are beautiful. Tommrow is my birthday, I am being paid and can purchase a tegu from tegusonly, I can afford a cage and am set. Thank you guys for the support!

 

[Walter1]

I agree with Mombo, firebellys are beautiful. Tommrow is my birthday, I am being paid and can purchase a tegu from tegusonly, I can afford a cage and am set. Thank you guys for the support!

You're very welcome. Introduce us to the new tegu after settled!