6x3x3 enclosure?

[Dirkthejerk41]

Hi, Would you be able to house two tegus in the minimum recommend 6x3x3 or would it need to be much larger? I don't know if it makes a whole lot of a difference if theres another tegu in there. They would both be allowed much free roaming time.

 

[TeguBuzz]

It will not work. A 6x3x3 is the bare minimum for one adult tegu, it cannot house two tegus and I would strongly recommend building two separate enclosures.

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

Okay, also this is not very relevant to this post but regarding temperatures, it looks like on the cool side i have about 75-80, and about 85-90 on the hot side with a basking spot of 115-125, does that sound alright?

 

[Scott_k]

The temps sound fine, as far as for the 2 tegus living together I would go at least 12x6x3.

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

wow, lol no way I could get ahold of that

 

[mike97]

or build a 6x3x6 and split it?

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

I just don't really have the room for that. Probably won't get another tegu then, unless I get a big enclosure.

 

[mike97]

i would say a 10x5 should be ok for a pair. and i meand stack two 6x3's on top of each other

 

[laurarfl]

These are Colombians, correct?

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

I was actually wanting to get a red tegu to live with my colombian.

 

[Deac77]

oh no dont do that!

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

why not? If they are the same size what's the problem?

 

[KritterKeeper]

Well they wont always be the same size and more often than not it ends badly when people try to combine large reps other than for breeding purposes(and sometimes that ends badly too). Plus i believe ive read that columbians tend to be less tolerant of 'roommates'. If you cant properly house them both separately then please dont get the 2nd one.

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

I've read of tons of people doing it. But i hear ya. I have the enclosure ready but my colombian is only 18" now so im still gonna keep him in the 4x2x2 for now.

 

[laurarfl]

The two species have slightly different husbandry. Since the T teguixin is more equatorial, they stay consistent with temps and a 12hr light cycle. They also are not tolerant of cooler temps. If you have a S. rufescens and he slows in the winter, you are not going to want to keep him at warm temps. And at current size, my red is massive compared to my Colombians. He could never fit into a 6x3.

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

Would ya'll say a female argentine tegu could fit in a 6x3??

 

[Tannaros]

Would ya'll say a female argentine tegu could fit in a 6x3??

It depends on the individual to be honest. My tegu is abnormally small in general, and she could fit into a 6x3 cage without problem. I've also seen tegus that would heartily chortle at such an insigificant enclosure. As a general note - at the very least it will last you a good while before you'd need to consider upgrading to a larger area, assuming you get your tegu as a hatchling or just young.

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

what if i gave it hours of free roam time and the enclosure was essentially for basking and sleeping, would that suffice?

 

[Tannaros]

what if i gave it hours of free roam time and the enclosure was essentially for basking and sleeping, would that suffice?

It really depends on your tegu. You want a sleeping/rehydrating/basking/eating chamber to be comfortable. Essentially you need to ensure that your tegu could fully turn around without too much of an issue, and provides a good range of temperatures for them to choose from.

One thing you can do to make the cage work better is install sturdy shelves into the sides. This could serve a few purposes. Assuming your cage isn't limited on height (4-5' would be ideal) you could create multiple levels within the cage itself. This increases usable surface area for your tegu, in addition to allowing plenty of heat gradients and alternative basking spots.

I would caution you situate the cage decor in such a way that anything harder than the tegu is further from the shelves. Simply to reduce the chance of a fall and an injury. Tegus are very sturdy animals as a whole, and I've seen a number do interesting leaps with no overt damage to themselves.

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

Okay then I will definitely consider that, thank you!