# Trigger pulled...



## ophidia (Aug 5, 2016)

Well, I just clicked Submit Order for a (hopefully) female Chaco from Underground Reptiles. She's supposed to be delivered tomorrow. I've been reading and researching and lurking for months, and finally couldn't resist anymore.

Tomorrow's sure a long ways away


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## Walter1 (Aug 5, 2016)

ophidia said:


> Well, I just clicked Submit Order for a (hopefully) female Chaco from Underground Reptiles. She's supposed to be delivered tomorrow. I've been reading and researching and lurking for months, and finally couldn't resist anymore.
> 
> Tomorrow's sure a long ways away


I wish you the very best with your new pal. Maybe post a picture when he/she arrives?


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## ophidia (Aug 5, 2016)

You bet I will!


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## Hudson Valley (Aug 5, 2016)

All the best with your new addition!


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## ophidia (Aug 6, 2016)

Here she is! She's fat and healthy looking, but looks very stressed still. She's clearly going to outgrow her baby cage very rapidly. The mercury vapor heat/uvb bulb really messes up the color, but she still has quite a bit of green on her disproportionately large head.


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## ophidia (Aug 6, 2016)

I thawed a pinkie and handed it to her. She took it from my fingers and ate it right up. She didn't show any signs of fear at all to the big hand coming down from above. I temp gunned her first, and her body temp was 92.5. The basking spot next to and above her is 110*.

I think she'll work out just fine.

I she hadn't eaten it there are plenty of other's in this house who would be willing to eat a spare pinky .


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## Hudson Valley (Aug 6, 2016)

ophidia said:


> I thawed a pinkie and handed it to her. She took it from my fingers and ate it right up. She didn't show any signs of fear at all to the big hand coming down from above. I temp gunned her first, and her body temp was 92.5. The basking spot next to and above her is 110*.
> 
> I think she'll work out just fine.
> 
> I she hadn't eaten it there are plenty of other's in this house who would be willing to eat a spare pinky .


LOL. One benefit of having multiple reptiles is food does not go to waste.


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## ophidia (Aug 6, 2016)

Very true. I just discovered that she's amenable to dubia roaches as well.


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## ophidia (Aug 7, 2016)

Tonight, I handled her for about 20 minutes, and she was calm during most of it. Initially she darted across the couch a couple of times, but ultimately decided that I was far warmer than the couch, and settled in with me. I let her climb all over me, and she was a very good, inquisitive girl (assuming Underground Reptiles sexed her properly). After I put her back in her cage, I tossed in a small dubia roach, which she immediately attacked and pulled apart. Earlier today I tossed her some red runners, which she was able to catch, but her bites didn't incapacitate them much so she'd crunch them then they'd run off again. Hopefully she gets better with those-- I have way, WAY too many of those.

Time to start designing that cage. I suspect this well-insulated 30 gallon tank will not last long. The below pic was about 10 minutes in. She nudged herself under my hand, curled up, and closed her eyes. I'm not sure if she was comfortable or if she was trying to block me out, but her curling up makes me think that she wasn't too concerned. It's been a rough couple of days to be a baby.


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## Dee-Dee Idrais (Aug 8, 2016)

Well she is beautiful. What did you name her?


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## ophidia (Aug 8, 2016)

I haven't decided yet. Any suggestions? Also, she was 11" when I unboxed her Saturday... I noticed tonight that she looked bulkier, so I measured her again, and she's 12". Is that possible?


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## Walter1 (Aug 8, 2016)

Probably not, BUT they grow very very quickly when proerly kept. 3+ ft by first birthday. Whiteknuckle ride.


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## ophidia (Aug 8, 2016)

She's soaking in the tub while I switch out her cypress mulch for coco coir. I could just see her getting an impaction from that sharp, jagged wood, and that would be disastrous. I also insulated her tank with 1/2" pink foak insulation (on the outside of the glass) because it was too cool everywhere except right under the basking lamp. I even put some on the top over the part of the screen I put plexiglass under (with a round hole cut in it for her LED that lights the cool end). This is what I use on the 120 gallon 5' tank my little Timor monitor lives in, and it works great. Heat is from a 160 watt mercury vapor and a 100 watt ceramic heater, and it's 96 on the warm side, 84 on the cool side, and the basking spot is 130 or so (this is the monitor's cage, not the 30 gallon. Baked tegu?).

Gonna have to get some plywood and fiberglass epoxy and start building a cage. I think this weekend won't be too soon.


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## Walter1 (Aug 8, 2016)

Its hide needs to be mid to upper 70s F.


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## ophidia (Aug 12, 2016)

She was 11" when I unboxed her, and she's 13.5" tonight. Wow. 7 days.


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## ophidia (Aug 17, 2016)

I can't see any green on her anymore. She's calmer and more relaxed every day during our handling sessions, and she doesn't try to run or back up anymore when I scoop her up. I then take her over to the couch and set her on my chest and throw a towel over her. She roots around under there for a while, then comes out and explores me. I know she's had enough when she starts to try to burrow under my butt or under a couch pillow.

The handling sessions last from five minutes to fifteen, depending on when she tells me she's had enough by trying to hide. I think things are going well. Other than the "Ima slap you!" pose on the second day, she's shown no other signs of fear aggression. I think she'll work out just fine.

She has two hides. One is heated 24/7, and she usually stays in this one. The other one is in the mid 70's during the day, around 70 at night. Well, she actually is buried in the substrate, but she buries herself under or near the hides .


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## Walter1 (Aug 18, 2016)

ophidia said:


> I can't see any green on her anymore. She's calmer and more relaxed every day during our handling sessions, and she doesn't try to run or back up anymore when I scoop her up. I then take her over to the couch and set her on my chest and throw a towel over her. She roots around under there for a while, then comes out and explores me. I know she's had enough when she starts to try to burrow under my butt or under a couch pillow.
> 
> The handling sessions last from five minutes to fifteen, depending on when she tells me she's had enough by trying to hide. I think things are going well. Other than the "Ima slap you!" pose on the second day, she's shown no other signs of fear aggression. I think she'll work out just fine.
> 
> She has two hides. One is heated 24/7, and she usually stays in this one. The other one is in the mid 70's during the day, around 70 at night. Well, she actually is buried in the substrate, but she buries herself under or near the hides .


Nice going. Good situation.


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## ophidia (Aug 23, 2016)

Over the weekend, I built her a cage. It's 24x24x48, made of white PVC sheeting, with a basement window for the front/door (flips down, and glass can be easily removed). I mounted two ceramic bulb holders on the top, though I'm only utilizing one at the moment (160 watt mercury vapor) and when she gets big enough to need cluster lighting I'll have 2 100 watt ones in there (likely not mercury vapor at that point). I also mounted a dual bulb T5 HO fixture in there, and am going to order Reptisun UVB 10.0 bulbs if I can't find them locally (or if they're prohibitively expensive locally). Ventilation is a baseboard heating vent on each end about 1/2 way up, and they can be opened and closed at need.

I expect her to grow out of this cage, but I should get a year or so out of it. At that point I'll build her forever cage and move my pair of Hogg Island/Nicaraguan cross boas into it.

She's really appearing to enjoy having all the new space to explore.

I'll post a pic of it later on. Right now I just have phone pics and the mercury vapor light really screws with the color balance on there (everything is green).


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## ophidia (Aug 24, 2016)

Here it is. I upgraded the UV lighting to 2 54 watt Reptisun 10.0 T5's, then have a 120 watt plant light for the heat/basking (the mercury vapor was overheating the enclosure).


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## beardeddragon111 (Aug 24, 2016)

Very nice looking cage.


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## ophidia (Aug 28, 2016)

Thanks! She measures 16 1/2" inches today. How can they grow that fast? She looks so different from the pics posted above. Here she's all layed out flat on her moss "OMG, I'm sooooo fat."


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## Walter1 (Aug 28, 2016)

ophidia said:


> Thanks! She measures 16 1/2" inches today. How can they grow that fast? She looks so different from the pics posted above. Here she's all layed out flat on her moss "OMG, I'm sooooo fat."View attachment 11114


Beautiful.


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## solo87 (Oct 5, 2016)

Nice cage! I just pulled the trigger last night! Picked up a male from Underground as well. Can't wait! I'm going to setup his enclosure today. I also need to start drawing up the plans for his new enclosure.


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## ophidia (Oct 12, 2016)

We're up to about 22" now and she's just a big, docile baby. She's also not scared of anything. At all. I hope your experience with yours is as good as the one I'm having with mine.


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## ophidia (Feb 25, 2017)

I just thought I'd post a little update on my "baby." She is now 32" and 2 lbs 15 oz. She's still very laid back, docile, and not scared of anything or anyone. My eight year old daughter LOVES her. A typical day for us now is as follows.

I get home from work at about 3, after picking my kid up from school. I take food out to thaw, lock up the cats, then open the cage. If Stella is up and under a hide, I scoop her up. Otherwise, if she's not up, I dig her up, plop her on the substrate, dust her off, and pick her up. She is absolutely not bothered by the excavation at all. I then take her to the couch and give her some scratches. A couple minutes later she goes PLOP onto the floor and ambles over to her heat lamp set up on the floor and warms up.

After she's warmed up and starts to get ambulatory, I put her food on a plate, and she eats. She then goes behind a chair and pees on a puppy pad, then behind the TV and poops on another puppy pad, then starts exploring, returning to the heat lamp occasionally for a recharge (seems to visit this when my temp gun says her body temp hits 92*). I keep an eye on her and pick her up or scratch her occasionally. When she's done being out, she'll hide under the couch or a chair, and I put her back into her cage. At this point, one of two things happens: 

1. She buries herself and is done for the day
2. She decides that she's not done for the day and starts scratching at the glass giving me the sad eyes.

In case of 1, I let the cats out. In case of 2, I take her out again and let her wander more until she hides again. I then put her back in her cage, and repeat until 1 is true. Then the cats are let out.

Of my three cats, two are Maine Coons, and the one who shows the most interest in her is a 22 lb horsebeast of a male. No chances will be taken.

Love this lizard. She's just the best. I've had a lot of herps and she's absolutely my favorite of all I've had.

Here's a pic of her basking fatly under her lamp about an inch and 4 oz ago.


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## Walter1 (Feb 25, 2017)

Ophidia- you have succeeded in meeting a tegu's no. 1 goal- a routine. And one you like to boot. She, and it is a she, is beautiful. I raise my glass to your "getting" your tegu. I do not want to keep cats but am intrigued by Maine Coons. One step away from a Lynx.


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## ophidia (Feb 25, 2017)

The biggest challenge has been how amazing she is at getting into the tightest, most inaccessible hiding places that she can find. She's finally big enough that she can't get under doors, under the stove, or under the fridge. I still have the TV stand blocked off (that took about 6 tries to figure out what she couldn't bust into) and the aquarium stand is also blocked off. That one was just recently conquered. Now when she's done she usually goes under the recliner chair, under a heating pad I put under there. It's not plugged in most of the time, but it has come in handy in certain circumstances.

Oh, the arms on my living room couch have also been neatly excised by a knife. I've also taken the speaker out of my subwoofer cabinet to check in there once, in case she got in through the bass port (was not in there). This was when the couch ended up having surgery.

I'm pretty much tegu-proofed now.

If you have animals, you can't have nice furniture.


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## Walter1 (Feb 25, 2017)

ophidia said:


> The biggest challenge has been how amazing she is at getting into the tightest, most inaccessible hiding places that she can find. She's finally big enough that she can't get under doors, under the stove, or under the fridge. I still have the TV stand blocked off (that took about 6 tries to figure out what she couldn't bust into) and the aquarium stand is also blocked off. That one was just recently conquered. Now when she's done she usually goes under the recliner chair, under a heating pad I put under there. It's not plugged in most of the time, but it has come in handy in certain circumstances.
> 
> Oh, the arms on my living room couch have also been neatly excised by a knife. I've also taken the speaker out of my subwoofer cabinet to check in there once, in case she got in through the bass port (was not in there). This was when the couch ended up having surgery.
> 
> ...


And that is why we can't have nice things.


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## ophidia (Feb 25, 2017)

Between the kid, the cats, and the tegu... yep. Why we can't have nice things.


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