# New Tegu owner



## Tegu1991 (Feb 22, 2011)

went to the reptile show this weekend and got a small (8in) Columbian B&W tegue for my birthday. He is already an awesome animal! For now he is in a 55g with a screen top covered with foil. I have the UVB tube along with a 100W UVA basking bulb. He has about 4 inches of eco earth to burrow in along with a cow skull and a large water dish to play in. The first day he was here he ate 2 roaches and since then he eats 6-8 daily. 2-4 in the morning then the rest at night. Basking spot is 100 and the cool side stays at about 75 on top of the eco earth. Pics to come soon.


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## Guest (Feb 22, 2011)

Welcome !!! 

Looking forward to your pictures .....


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## Tegu1991 (Feb 22, 2011)

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## slideaboot (Feb 22, 2011)

Welcome! Careful with that laptop!!! Tegus seem to know just where to poop and cause the most amount of damage...


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## myotis (Feb 22, 2011)

Nice lookin gu! Is it a black and gold? looks like it. I just took a video of mine. She's about 6 or 7 months old. So you can get an idea of how fast they grow. I'll upload it in a minute. Take some pics of your enclosure if ya could. Also once they get bigger they will understand the opening lid top and might start jumping. just my experience.


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## carlos123est (Feb 22, 2011)

nice looking tegu i am also new to tegus keep up the good work


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## Tegu1991 (Feb 22, 2011)

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to give you a good size of him when he sits on the cow skull it is about two inches longer than he is. In the pic he is burrowed under the water bowel so I didnt want to upset him. The person I got him from said he is a Black and White Columbian. Time will tell.


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## myotis (Feb 22, 2011)

Cool looks good. My vid is on my youtube channel now. He'll outgrow it in a few months so start planning a larger enclosure now. Columbians don't hibernate so they keep growin. I don't know the specifics of your uvb light but most work best within 12 in. of the tegu. Keep up the updates I'm diggin ur thread. And my tegu almost got my gf's laptop today haha! had to pull it off really quick. I think they like the heat they put off. 

Another thing is most people keep their water dishes on their cool side. Don't think it makes much difference tho. 'Cept mine likes to regulate that way. bask and then swim / run around to cool off.


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## Tegu1991 (Feb 22, 2011)

Aleady making plans for his bigger cage. Thinking 8ft L X 3ft W X 3ft H with a foot of soil for him to dig in. Also the door will open from the front. All of my cages i build open from the front. Less feeding response when you go to pick them up and I tend to be able to withdraw quicker if they try to bite. Awesome little guy already and I'm looking forward to him getting big.


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## Max713 (Feb 22, 2011)

Good looking little lizard, but there are a few issues with your enclosure.

-Your cool side is a little too cool, ambient air temp should be at a minimum of 80F, preferably closer to 85F

-Your basking spot temp is also too low, 110F would be much better, although offering a temp gradient would be best. I regularly find my Tegu at the 130F portion of his basking area. How are you measuring basking temps? To properly measure you need an infrared heat gun, as you need to be measuring the actual surface temperature, not the air temperature above the surface. Thermometers will NOT give you a correct basking temp reading

-I didn't see anything about humidity in your post, you should be maintaining a MINIMUM of 65%, preferably closer to 75%. This can be attained by daily misting, humid substrate, better sealed enclosure, etc.

-I see both your UVA and UVB bulbs or on top of the screen, believe it or not, going through the screen DRASTICALLY cuts down on the amount of necessary UVA/UVB actually reaching your Tegu, the bulb really needs a clear path to the Tegu

-I don't see a proper hide, to really feel comfortable your Tegu will need a permanent hide, that doesn't require he burrow. Also, there should be one hide you never disturb, or pull him out of. Kind of like your bedroom in your house. All for the sake of making your new Tegu comfortable and keeping stress levels down.


That's great that he's eating so well already! That shows that he is a healthy and active lizard ready to grow, I would just work on some of the husbandry issues I mentioned if you want him to stay that way.


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## Max713 (Feb 22, 2011)

That's great that you're already planning on a large enclosure, he will certainly need it eventually, although an 8'x3'x3' will be too large for a juvenile Tegu, it will leave them feeling vulnerable and uncomfortable in such a large space. A general rule is to keep the Tegu in a space around 2x as long as his body, and 1x as wide.
Also, Tegus don't necessarily need 12" of substrate, and finding a small Tegu in so much substrate will be a pain! A general rule for substrate depth is to have it twice as deep as your Tegu is thick.


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## Tegu1991 (Feb 22, 2011)

For the temps I have an infrared that i orderd online, it gives the min and max of the area. Went out and got a higher watt bulb today and the temps are rising tomorrow I will get another reading. As for humidity my boxer ate my gage so this friday I will be getting another one from walmart. I do know that it is moist enought for water droplets to form under the substrate on the glass and right above it. Also will be getting another UTH for the cool side to up the temp. For hides he has the cow skull and I will add another one on the cool side, tho he tends to burrow under the water dish the most. For his upgrade cage I can block off half of it like I did with my monitor when I had him until he gets big enough. I also will be using Drylock to seal the cage to keep humidity in.


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## Tegu1991 (Feb 23, 2011)

OK so I moved some things arond in his cage this morning. His water is at the cool end of the cage I brought the heat/UVA lamp into the cage for a higher basking area. The UVB light is also now in the cage being held with wire. The basking spot now has some old tiles for him to bask on and it gets 112, the skull is next to them and it stays around 95-100 so he has a few choices. The cool side is hitting 78 now too. His poo is looking great too!


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## Bubblz Calhoun (Feb 24, 2011)

_What do you mean by the lights are inside the cage,.. did you get a new cage or are they inside the tank?

If so that may be to close, provide access for them to escape and or get burnt._


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## Tegu1991 (Feb 24, 2011)

They are in the tank but yes she has plenty of room to get away from them. I have it hooked at one end of the cage. The UVA/basking lamp is about 10 inches above the basking spot and the same with the UVB light. The cow skull sits next to the basking spot to give another spot to bask at a lower temp. The water is at the far end for him to cool off even more if he wants.


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## Bubblz Calhoun (Feb 24, 2011)

_Tegus jump very well,..10 inches is nothing especially for babies. They can also balance on their tail using one side of the tank and or the corners. It takes very little time for them to figure out the top is the way out by watching you. They will test every side looking for a weakness. Once they find one they continue to go back to that same spot. 

The bulbs as well as the domes get very hot. If it got wedged in the corner or behind that dome trying to get out,.. it could be seriously burned. You may be better off leaving the lights outside the tank until you build the new enclosure. _


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