# Nervous



## MissJillian (Jun 20, 2011)

Alrighty, first off: introductions. 

My name is Jill (or Jillian. Call my what ever suits your fancy) and I just moved from Buffalo, New York, to the Seattle, Washington area on the 14th. If all goes well, I'll be moving into my new (pet friendly) apartment this Saturday. 

I have a down payment for a b&w female from Bobby, and I'm a little nervous considering she'll be my first ever tegu. I've been doing A LOT of research, but I feel like I won't ever get enough information, so please please please share your wisdom  Did you make any stupid mistakes with your first tegu that I can learn from? Tips, tricks, and advice are more than welcome. 

Thanks!


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## adam1120 (Jun 20, 2011)

Hi welcome tegutalk a lot of people now a lot of info on here .I thought was the only person wbo was like this lol looking forward on hearing the post other member are gunna post


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## james.w (Jun 20, 2011)

It is much easier to answer specific questions. Feel free to ask anything you are unsure of. Only problem I feel I caused was not keeping humidity high enough and keeping a close eye on his toes when shedding. The result was two lost toe nails. 

I forgot to say welcome and congrats.


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## MissJillian (Jun 20, 2011)

Thanks, and noted. 
One thing I would like to know, is how badly do they smell after relieving themselves and in general? How easy is it to keep them from smelling? I'll be having three housemates and I'm afraid a bad smell might be an issue.


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## james.w (Jun 20, 2011)

It can smell, I keep mine in my dining room and don't have any problems with smell. I clean as soon as I see his mess though. I was worried about this this past weekend being I was gone for 3 days. When I got back there was not even a noticeable stink. He had releived himself 4 times while I was gone as well. As long as you clean up as soon as possible, it shouldn't be a problem.


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## BlackendMetalDeathHead666 (Jun 20, 2011)

MissJillian said:


> Alrighty, first off: introductions.
> 
> My name is Jill (or Jillian. Call my what ever suits your fancy) and I just moved from Buffalo, New York, to the Seattle, Washington area on the 14th. If all goes well, I'll be moving into my new (pet friendly) apartment this Saturday.
> 
> ...



Im new here too  and I will soon be getting a Tegu as well for the first time ever!! though im considering getting a red high contrast male or regular red male..though im also considering a white male...it will be a Giant Argentine either way of course  although im not having any luck on getting info or knowlage on them either because every site i go to tells me somehting different same with every so called breeder's own website.  good luck


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## rrcoolj (Jun 20, 2011)

+1 on the watch humidity bit, it can be very hard to do depending on the enclosure. When they are young they are constantly growing and shedding so to prevent limb loss it is important to keep humidity up. My female lost one of her toe nails to a stuck shed when she was little.

Before I got my tegu I found myself stressing about 2 things mainly. First was her diet. I did feel a bit overwhelmed and felt I had to provide her with EVERYTHING but I found each person feeds their tegu different things and as long as you stick to some sort of variety everything will be fine. I also stressed out about her 8x4 cage but once I got into building it it wasn't that bad. I think once you get your tegu and get into the routine of things he/she will just become a member of the family.


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## james.w (Jun 20, 2011)

BlackendMetalDeathHead666, what kind of info are you looking for?


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## Piercedcub32 (Jun 20, 2011)

BlackenMetalDeathHead666, quite a name first off! ) As far as I know, Reds and Argentine B&Ws are different species of Tegu. Within the B&W, there is a different "Local" which is the Extreme Giant or Chacoan Giant(could be a different subspecies, but not enough is known about them in the wild or captivity for that matter though they come from a different part of Argentina) Bobby Hill (Vanyard), I believe is the only person in the USA that breeds Captive Born and Bred Extremes, and maybe the only person that breeds them all together. With in the species of the Red, there are normal reds, and high contrast reds, only referring to their depth/brightness of their color pattern. As far as I know, there is no such thing as a Giant Red. Hope this helps!
-Keith


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## Rhetoric (Jun 20, 2011)

Welcome! I've made my fair share of mistakes. It's kind of a learning process though. There are some care instructions that are general for all tegus but sometimes you have to learn on your own. Whats best for you and your tegu might not work for others and their tegus. Quick example, one of my tegus is fed inside his enclosure. He has never shown aggression over his cage or when it comes to meal times. My other 2 tegus are fed outside of the enclosure because they can be food aggressive and because its how they were fed before I got them.

The smell isn't too bad. It can really stink if they've taken a fresh poop but for the most part I don't think its that bad. I'm pretty good about cleaning it as soon as I notice it. It also helps that 2 of the tegus poop in their water dishes. It makes it really easy to clean up. The other tegu poops wherever so I have to change the substrate more often and spend a little more time hunting them down.

Humidity is a big one, one of my tegus only has 2 of its front fingers/toes. The rest were lost because the humidity wasn't high enough with its previous owner. I mist the enclosures daily and offer a large soaking dish, it seems to be working, none of my tegus have lost any toes or tail since I've had them.


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## MissJillian (Jun 20, 2011)

Thanks a lot, everyone. Hopefully the nerves will go away when I can get settled in and get her a nice place set up. 

Humidity shouldn't be a problem. I have an idea for attaching a hose to a small humidifier and somehow hooking it to a vent on the side of her enclosure. What do you think?

Maybe this just me being all "What if she doesn't like me? What if I'm a bad mom?" drama queen. Which is odd for me. Ahh I just want her to get here already!


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## james.w (Jun 20, 2011)

If you search humidifier, Robk has a good setup that I am using as well.


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## BlackendMetalDeathHead666 (Jun 20, 2011)

Piercedcub32 said:


> BlackenMetalDeathHead666, quite a name first off! ) As far as I know, Reds and Argentine B&Ws are different species of Tegu. Within the B&W, there is a different "Local" which is the Extreme Giant or Chacoan Giant(could be a different subspecies, but not enough is known about them in the wild or captivity for that matter though they come from a different part of Argentina) Bobby Hill (Vanyard), I believe is the only person in the USA that breeds Captive Born and Bred Extremes, and maybe the only person that breeds them all together. With in the species of the Red, there are normal reds, and high contrast reds, only referring to their depth/brightness of their color pattern. As far as I know, there is no such thing as a Giant Red. Hope this helps!
> -Keith



thank you very much sir!!! IM me some time  do explain your name though as well XD and thank you very much for the compilment and info


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## MissJillian (Jun 20, 2011)

james.w said:


> If you search humidifier, Robk has a good setup that I am using as well.



oh ho ho genius! I'll definitely keep his set up in mind when I try to tackle mine. Thank you, James.


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## JohnMatthew (Jun 20, 2011)

As for the smell of their waste, it can be bad but not if you clean. Spot clean every day, remove waste and if it's particularly smelly open a window for a bit and you should be good to go in no time. I think proper lighting is the most overlooked ingredient for growing a healthy tegu indoors.


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