# The Coliosis Clan



## Coliosis (Mar 19, 2013)

Hello! I wanted to start a thread where I can document information or ask questions about my (probable) female black and white Argentine tegu, and any future tegus I may have! I'll post some pics and all Belle's info so far.


What kind of tegu do you have? *Argentine black and white tegu*
How old is your tegu? *6-7 months*
How large is your tegu? *22" and about 500g (probably more, she was 470g last time I checked which was a week or so ago)*
What is the sex of your tegu? *Probable female*
How long have you had your tegu? *4 months*
Does your tegu brumate or hibernate? *Yes, slept for the first month and a half that we had her.*
What size enclosure do you have? *80" long x 26" high by 32" deep*
What kind of substrate is used? *Coco coir and coco fibre mixed*
What kind of UVB do you use (brand and coil vs bulb vs tube)? *36" Reptisun 10.0*
How old is your bulb? *3 months*
How far away is the UVB? *About 16" from light to substrate*
Do you use a separate bulb for heat? What is the wattage? *Yes, 50W halogen during the day, 150W CHE at night*
What are the temps (basking and cool side)? *109-112F basking spot, 80-90F throughout tank, 75-80F at night*
What do you use to measure the temps?* IR temp gun and thermometer with probe*
What is your humidity? What do you use to measure it? *70-90% after spraying, hygrometer*
What do you feed your tegu? *Ground turkey and chicken mixed, salmon, chicken liver, crickets, superworms, hornworms, pinkies, boiled or scrambled eggs, blueberries, strawberries, mango, papaya, collards and grapes so far.*
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? *Morning or afternoon, once a day*
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? *Yes, Zoomed calcium with D3 and rep cal multivitamins, but just bought Zoomed Reptivite. Calcium every feeding except pinkies, multivits 3x week. We also give cod liver oil when feeding ground turkey/chicken.*
Does your tegu have regular BM's? *Yes, daily and in the same spot *
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? *Yes. Went to the vet February 14 because we thought Belle was prolapsed, turned out to be swollen tissue around the vent (possibly caused by a prolapse though). Flushed her with fluids and she was given a preventative dose of dewormer. We took in a fecal test shortly after and they found Blastocystis and Entamoeba and it isn't known if these cause disease but Entamoeba invadens is deadly and just in case the lab was wrong and it was E. invadens we treated with an antibiotic for 5 days (Metronidazole 50mg/ml).*
Does your tegu share an enclosure with another tegu? *No, not yet anyways *























This is an old pic of Belle in her old tank, I'll try to post a newer one tomorrow! She is much bigger now!






I would love any comments or suggestions!


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## BatGirl1 (Mar 21, 2013)

I was told 12" from animal for uvb maximum absorption. ? This is what I did...
[attachment=6671]see how it's mounted on the back above the bask area plus has no shields so the rays can go any direction.


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## Coliosis (Mar 21, 2013)

Yeah good point! We're probably going to lower the UVB light a bit, take the shield off if we can and make Belle a basking platform, and that should make it a lot better! Thanks for the suggestion!

Here are some pictures of Belle from today:


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## BatGirl1 (Mar 21, 2013)

[attachment=6673]Awwww cute  niles has only been up 3 nights since october. :/ he's just now coming out of hibernation. (I hope! )


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## Coliosis (Mar 21, 2013)

BatGirl1 said:


> Awwww cute  niles has only been up 3 nights since october. :/ he's just now coming out of hibernation. (I hope! )



What a cutie  It sucks when they're sleeping! lol I hope he's coming out too, it's about that time I think! Our tegu didn't hibernate all that long, not sure why. She's growing like crazy now though, we're going to have to get a new scale because our current one only goes up to 500g and she has passed that quickly!!


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## chitodadon (Mar 21, 2013)

When godzilla wakes up amd gets his eeight up I will weigh and measure him

from Samsung Galaxy S3


Sorry wrong thread

from Samsung Galaxy S3


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## Coliosis (Apr 3, 2013)

Okay so here's what we did so Belle can get closer to the UVB:










We are thinking of putting a second basking spot up on the ledge as well, but we need to get a weaker bulb or something.

What do you think??


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## KritterKeeper (Apr 3, 2013)

Unless im missing something is that white rock the basking rock? If so i think it might be a good idea to switch it out for a piece of slate or something similar so she can lay flat out under the light..


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## Coliosis (Apr 4, 2013)

Yeah it is her basking area, the rock is a little farther back in the pic than what it normally is though (the light is normally aimed at the ground not at the rock). Belle seems to like to lay out flat right behind the rock when she basks, like she's hiding from us lol But I can definitely throw in a couple more tiles or something if you think that would be better? Maybe behind the rock? She seems to like the rock so I would like to keep it in there, plus I think it's good for her nails for when she climbs on it. Should I also put tiles up top on the ledge when I get a second basking spot up there?

Thanks!


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## KritterKeeper (Apr 4, 2013)

Yeah leaving the rock is fine esp if she likes to climb on it but i would def put a piece of slate under the light so she has an actual basking spot. Also I would put slate on the shelf if it was my cage but thats really up to you, ive seen it done with and without but i prefer to have slate under basking lights..


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## BatGirl1 (Apr 4, 2013)

Niles has piece of slate rock on the wooden shelf so the heat can absorb better. Wood won't do that as well. Let me see if i have a good ref pic... [attachment=6771]this slate is right under uvb tube and also flood is aimed at it for heat
Here i just took this pic for better ref. See the tube, the flood and the shelf w flat rock on it?  [attachment=6772]


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## Coliosis (Apr 4, 2013)

Okay so I moved those 2 tiles up onto the ledge and directed her basking light up there for now! I'm going to try to find a nice big flat rock for her though


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## Coliosis (Apr 10, 2013)

Enclosure update! We put in all new substrate so it's a little deeper everywhere now and we added two dracaena plants and a pothos! They'll probably be destroyed by Belle running over them eventually, but for now I think they look nice and they'll help keep the humidity up! Belle really seems to like her enclosure now


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## Jackie & Hellboy (Jan 14, 2015)

I know this thread is a few years old but you should situate the basking light directly over those pieces of slate and not at such an extreme angle like in the pics. the reason is that the basking spot is not evenly heated and only part of it is probably hot enough. Also I noticed that your basking temps are around 110? they really should be higher like in the 135 range. it may sound like an extreme temp but mine are on basking sites that hot and sometimes hotter and they will bask there for 20-30 minutes early in the day when they first wake up. and easy way would be to get another light fixture with another low wattage basking bulb which will add heat obviously but also will make the basking site larger heating your tegu all over evenly. other than that your setup and tegu look to be in tip top shape!


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