# Cannibalistic tegus???



## VARNYARD (Feb 4, 2008)

Are tegus cannibalistic? Here are some pictures of wild tegus with younger tegus. I am not saying that you can house the young tegus with older and bigger tegus. However, it looks like these little guys would have found a better place to be than this close to the adults. This could be the mothers of these animals, and still guarding them and the nest.

I will also add, in both pictures it looks like they are in the mouth of the burrow.


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## joshandjack (Feb 4, 2008)

very cool.
this would lead me to believe that they arnt cannibalisti. however, i wonder if they would prey on other (non-tegu) lizards in the wild.


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## VARNYARD (Feb 4, 2008)

joshandjack said:


> very cool.
> this would lead me to believe that they arnt cannibalisti. however, i wonder if they would prey on other (non-tegu) lizards in the wild.



Yes, they will and not even think twice. I know of a friend that had a whole colony of Australian water dragons that fell victim to an adult male black n white. I have also seen them prey on lizards in my yard here, as well as snakes.

I really think those two pictures are of brooding females and their young.


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## snakehandler (Feb 5, 2008)

I have seen a tegu eat a snake. but maybe they would regonize their own kind of they are big enough.


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## COWHER (Feb 5, 2008)

sweet pics bobby


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## playlboi (Feb 5, 2008)

well, when i put my big tegu and smaller tegus together, the big tegu doesn't mind it at all. the smaller ones would climb on its back and just lay there and she wouldn't do anything about it. she'd just lay there with them.


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## Mike (Feb 5, 2008)

Nice pics. I find that they are VERY fond of other reptiles (eating them, that is) and one of mine will dash as fast as it can for any sort of other reptile, faster than with mice. :shock:


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## VARNYARD (May 22, 2008)

I have had babies around my adults with no problems, however more work will need to be done to see if they will infact not try to eat other tegus.


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## CoexistExotics (May 22, 2008)

Well considering they are the most intelligent lizards in the world, it wouldnt surprise me that they will not hurt their own kind... However Bobby is right, it might just be a female and her young...


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## BOOSTFEEN (May 22, 2008)

great pics bobby but yea who knows that could be the mother and her young but even to that tegus are smart and will not eat their own young so maybe they can all live together as to other animalks who dont care and eat their own kind

i just love tegus


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## DZLife (May 22, 2008)

VARNYARD said:


> joshandjack said:
> 
> 
> > very cool.
> ...



I tested putting a chacoan yearling and a similarly sized beardie together (I had my hands as well as Mike's there in case the tegu or beardie attacked) and the kinda just looked at each other for a but, and then the tegu went over to the beardie, smelled her, and ended up just kind of sitting there with the beardie....maybe it was an anomaly, maybe it was size-related.....who knows.


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## tupinambis (May 22, 2008)

In the wild I've certainly seen adults go after and devour younger tegus.


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## VARNYARD (May 22, 2008)

tupinambis said:


> In the wild I've certainly seen adults go after and devour younger tegus.



If you say you have, then you have. I will say that I have had babies around my males with no problem at all, however I did not leave them alone together.

Bert claims that in his larger enclosures that he has had babies hatch in them from the lack of finding the nest. He also leaves the males and females together all the time. He says he has never seen the adults eat the young tegus. But this also might be because they are captive well fed animals, I really just don't know.

Or it might be because they know they are their young, as smart as tegus are I would not put it past them.


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## Mike (May 22, 2008)

As long as they are well fed, I wouldn't expect a tegu to eat its baby. they are very intelligent.


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## angelrose (May 22, 2008)

I don't want to think about it.


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## DZLife (May 22, 2008)

VARNYARD said:


> tupinambis said:
> 
> 
> > In the wild I've certainly seen adults go after and devour younger tegus.
> ...



My best guess is that in the wild, they are desperate enough for food to eat the young....they do not differentiate between lizard species. In captivity, they are provided with plenty of food, as well as interaction (in Bobby's case.) Maybe the fact that Bobby's are are in somewhat close proximity with the young ones on a regular basis makes them used to the presence of babies thus ridding them of any feeding response with put together with a young tegu.

Again, that was all speculation on my part.


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