ah ha! i finally have a tegu!!!

[Boagonetegu]

Alright people, i keep getting this forum popping up as im searching for more optimal ways to cater for the beast (well he will be one day hopefully). ive got loads of boas and ive researched this buy as it turns out theres research and then i found within 24hours i needed to do more)
i thought id ask a few questions and see what the opinions out there are.....
i bought this lad (well thats what im told he looks like but from what i can see theres no way to know that for awhile) 4 days ago. handling doesnt seem to be much of an issue when taking it slow ect but came across a few issues. he had shed stuck on his tail towards the end, i got some coconut oil and thats already sorted that. he was on a locust diet with calcium dusting only, but refused to eat, however turkey mince with a better calcium powder (not from oyster shells) has sorted this.
Any ideas on age? the guy who sold him said he had only had him 2 weeks but not much else.
Is a 6by2by2 viv to large for him yet, hes in it now and seems happy enough, i know it wont be big enough in the end but are they spooked but to larger enclosures like snakes?
being the size he is whats an appropriate amount of food for him to eat?
is vitamin d3 a load of twaddle? he gets high output uvb and im going to upgrade his basking bulb to a sun glow terra next week as i figure the move uvb the better so its not to replace uvb but does it benefit in any other way as im finding some really mixed reviews....
i have given him a ceramic bulb for night heat and the basking bulb for day (which the thermostat will engage the ceramic at teh same time if it cant keep the heat itself but has yet to do so. it seem ott, the previous guy just had a basking spot but does this not mess with nighttime sleep? could you use uvb strip light for uvb and then just the ceramic without the spotlight? some lizards can go to the heat without the light, but others need the light to do so but i cant find out what these guys are in this regard......
sorry its a long one but if anyone know the above or just some of it it would be useful....
thanks in advance,
richard.

 

[Gary]

Looks very young to me. A few weeks at most. No need for D3. They produce D3 from the right lighting. I would suggest a mega ray mercury bulb over a sun glow. It will ultimately need an 8 x 4 x 4 enclosure. I had no issue with a “spooked” tegu in a large cage (but I’ve never had that issue with a snake either which makes me question the practice).

 

[Walter1]

If argie, 5ish weeks to lose green. Under 2 mo.?

 

[Boagonetegu]

Good grief that's younger than I thought, yeah he's an Arg B&W, I'll have a look into that bulb and see if I can lay hands on one the snake bit tbh I have only seen a spooked boa when it's really young, usually they get out of it from 4 months, personally I use a 4*1.5*1.5 for mine from 3 months and don't get any issues then upgrade from there... Its when they get put in rubs past 3 months that annoys me but that's a long standing debate

 

[AlphaAlpha]

hello ..... yes it seams very young ...the viv size shouldn't be a problem but like you say you will need to go bigger in the future .... i personally don't see any problem with just using a uvb strip bulb and cermic heater for a basking spot as long as it doesn't look glumey in his viv..... good luck by the way and look forward to hearing more on your little fellow