# How do you keep your tegus occupied?



## dragonqueen4 (Feb 22, 2010)

Hey! :-D I feel as though my tegu is bored. 
He has a cage thats 6' long, 2 and 1/2 wide and 2 1/2 tall.. Its not huge, but its all I can do for now. He will eventually get a bigger cage. 
I have some fake plants, a few flat rocks and a piece of drift wood in there. His water dish is small, so I will probably get him one he can fit in too. He has one hide. I just put a 2nd smaller one in there. 
What kinds of things do you guys put in there to keep them busy? 
I'm going to add more dirt for him to dig in, but the pet store stuff is so expensive. I've tried hardware stores and can only find soil with fertilizers. 

Anyway, I just want some new ideas to help keep him occupied. 

Thanks

Leanne


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## White_Lotus (Feb 22, 2010)

well i for one have 2 of my tegus housed together now(just did it tonight) but before hand i would actually hide food around the cages occationally like a "hide and go eat" lol but if you wanna find the soil and what not go to Lowes! their whole gardening section is great(at least where i live). I'm hoping in the future to get my 10ft x 5ft x 4ft cage so i can house all 3 of my tegus together so there wont be much boredom. Also i enjoy taking my Gu's out and rearranging their stuff even if its just moving a log from one side of the tank to the other it just throws them completely off and they just run around the cage wondering what else is new lol keeps em on edge a bit!


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## dragonqueen4 (Feb 22, 2010)

I live in Newfoundland, so we don't have a Lowes here.. we have Kent.. thats where I usually go. I'll try somewhere else!
I noticed how curious he gets when I move stuff around in his tank lol I'll do it more often maybe. 
Hide and go eat.. thats cute!!


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## isdrake (Feb 23, 2010)

One thing that thinks work great are large pieces of bark. I'm not sure what you call them but does "cork bark" tell you anything?

Anyway here is some pictures of what I'm talking about. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.guldfisken.se/beta/catalog/terrarieinredningdekorationer-korkbark-c-61_74_595" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.guldfisken.se/beta/catalog/t ... -61_74_595</a><!-- m -->


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## Toby_H (Feb 23, 2010)

I buy "Organic Cypress Mulch" at a local landscaping company (locally owned, not chain). This has worked excellent for me as a substrate that is clean, non toxic, and easy for my Tegu to burrow in...

In the summer my girl lives on a 6' (1.8m) x 10' (3m) balcony/deck. She had her 4' (1.2m) x 2' (.6m) x 2' (.6m) cage with the door open, a small table, a dry towel (cleaned/replaced every few days) and various other items. She did a fair share of 'exploring' including climbing on top of her cage and onto the table. But besides sitting idle, basking and exploring/wondering she didn't really do much...

I do think there is value to having various items placed in their enclosure. If the Tegu can sit in one place and explore the entire enclosure without taking a step, they will likely lack exercise. Thus I see value in providing an "over there" that the Tegu cannot see without going "over there".


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## lazyjr52 (Feb 23, 2010)

Moving things around his cage will help. I take mine out once a day for baths and then some roaming around time. I do this in the afternoon. After he's done this I put him back in his cage and he usally takes a drink and bask a little before making his bed. :mrgreen:


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