B&W enclosure question

[Espg714]

Hello everyone quick question. I have a 3 month old B&W and im already planning the adult enclosure in room. The place were i want the enclosure is not quit 4 foot wide. I can get nearly 96 long and 4 high but the width is narrower. Is the width more important then the height like in an arboreal style? Will he climb?

Can this Tegu live in more of an arboreal enclosure? I could put on the one side a set of stilt legs for the bench area but there are drawers below i would like to utalize and would make it difficult to reach them.
Appreciate your feedback. Thanks

 

[Zyn]

They aren’t much for climbing but love falling

 

[Espg714]

Thanks for the reply. I see that lol.

A question. I was looking at the coloring and it looks brown or tan.
Will it change as he ages? More white?
It is fine ill accept whatever color he is im just curious.

 

[Shenanigaens]

Floor space is more important than height, babies love to climb- adults not so much. If you can’t get the full 4’ length bring the width out some. Honestly though a few inches isn’t going to make much of an impact.
What you can try doing is maybe building a second tier into it to make up for floor space?

his colors will change. Babies are much more camouflaged than adults.

 

[Debita]

He might be about to shed.

 

[Espg714]

Thanks all.
One more thing I noticed in a lot of videos of enclosures with adults in them. Not much depth to the substrate in some videos. Do adults dig less? Is it more important to just have the big hide?

 

[Debita]

I have a wooden hide that just fits him (he's 4ft now) in whatever direction he wants to settle. I'm convinced that my male doesn't bother to dig because he has a nice hide that he can enter into from 2 sides. LOTS of people do have gobs of substrate though. You'd need that if you don't give him a hide. The measurements of his hide are 19"WX29"LX10"H. The front entry is 10"X7". The side is a only slightly smaller if at all.

When I see how Rodney Irwin keeps his numerous amounts of animals - they are all under some kind of structure, not dug in.

 

[Angel Diaz]

I have a wooden hide that just fits him (he's 4ft now) in whatever direction he wants to settle. I'm convinced that my male doesn't bother to dig because he has a nice hide that he can enter into from 2 sides. LOTS of people do have gobs of substrate though. You'd need that if you don't give him a hide. The measurements of his hide are 19"WX29"LX10"H. The front entry is 10"X7". The side is a only slightly smaller if at all.

When I see how Rodney Irwin keeps his numerous amounts of animals - they are all under some kind of structure, not dug in.

I have a 29 months old b&w he is 4’ long he has a hide on the hot side & a hide on the cool side and 11”deep substrate and he digs all over the enclosure. He goes under the substrate in one side of the enclosure and comes out a few seconds later on the other side of the enclosure. They really love and enjoy a nice deep substrate. Basking temperature is between 115F by to120F . On hot side is between 86F to 88F & cool side between 75F to 77F. Humidity at between 75% to 80%. He seems to be very happy and always very active . Are my tempetures good?? Please lmk . Thank you Debita.

 

[Debita]

I have a 29 months old b&w he is 4’ long he has a hide on the hot side & a hide on the cool side and 11”deep substrate and he digs all over the enclosure. He goes under the substrate in one side of the enclosure and comes out a few seconds later on the other side of the enclosure. They really love and enjoy a nice deep substrate. Basking temperature is between 115F by to120F . On hot side is between 86F to 88F & cool side between 75F to 77F. Humidity at between 75% to 80%. He seems to be very happy and always very active . Are my tempetures good?? Please lmk . Thank you Debita.

Yes, I think your temps are about perfect. I might try to get that cool side a little lower toward 70 deg....but I know it's hard to do!

Just so I'm clear about the substrate issue - I'm not opposed to it, but I just don't think it's a requirement. Skully's wooden hide is much bigger than the ones in your pics, and I do have a small amount of substrate (about 2-3") in his enclosure, but he doesn't use it or dig in it at all. I'm sure my Skully would be digging to China if I didn't have that hide in there. I can't imagine a situation in their natural setting where they can always dig, instead of easily hide under a rock or tree. I also like not having to keep paying for that expensive stuff. I do make sure my humidity is at 80+ % because I live in AZ where the humidity is practically a negative number. lol

Skully is coming up on 4 yrs old. He's the same length as yours, but he's much beefier. I posted the size of his hide in this thread - it's a small bedroom. When my female (she was about 3 ft) was still alive, she fit in there with him, and neither one of them dug at the Repti-bark that was supplied.

I like your numbers, and I know how hard it is to tweak them. I'm struggling right now to get Skully to brumate - he just absolutely wants out all the time, but can't exactly eat much, so I'm hoping he's close....since it's DECEMBER!

 

[Angel Diaz]

I thank you for your advice about the cool side tempeture, will try to bring it closer to 70. Buddy’s enclousure is 7’x3’x3. He also wants out every time he sees me, now his getting ready for brumation he wont eat much and he comes out every 3or4 days. I adore him,he is such a awesome tegu and what i love the most is that he love interacting with me. He wants out every time he sees me. I let him free roam every day for about 20 minutes every day,never more than that because humidity in the house is on the 40% and I don’t want him to have shedding or kidneys issues. He be 3years old on July 8th just 8 days before my birthday,he was my birthday present from myself . Once again thank you for getting back at me. Have a bless weekend.

 

[Glostik Willy]

Hello everyone quick question. I have a 3 month old B&W and im already planning the adult enclosure in room. The place were i want the enclosure is not quit 4 foot wide. I can get nearly 96 long and 4 high but the width is narrower. Is the width more important then the height like in an arboreal style? Will he climb?

Can this Tegu live in more of an arboreal enclosure? I could put on the one side a set of stilt legs for the bench area but there are drawers below i would like to utalize and would make it difficult to reach them.
Appreciate your feedback. Thanks

2ft high is plenty in my opinion but that length and depth is awesome

 

[Debita]

Tegus are not arboreal. As an adult they climb very little. The 96 (8ft) is quoted to everyone because for one...these are big animals. (just short of 4ft, but not as small as 3ft, is not going to be a showstopper) For two - they're explorers. They like rooting around for their food and moving about. So - in my opinion, 8x4x4 is a minimum. That said, if you take him/her out a lot I think it eases the requirement, but it's always going to be - more is better.