Chameleon cage as a temporary cage for baby tegu?

[sophiahuling]

Hello, just want some advice on whether or not a chameleon cage is good for a baby tegu. I bought a reptibreeze 36*18*18 chameleons enclosure for him. I haven’t got him yet, and this will be my first tegu so I don’t really have any experience with them yet. I read online that this is a good sized cage for a baby tegu, and that they are more arboreal as babies so I thought an arboreal cage like this would be a good idea. Ar least for a month or so until I finish building a big 6*6 cage for him. Has anyone used a cage like this for a baby tegu? Any advice would me appreciated

 

[rantology]

In short: No, that would be a pretty poor enclosure for a Tegu. It's true they like to climb more as babies, but they are not arboreal by any means. So effectively that cage would only be 18x18 inches- that is not even enough to provide an adequate basking gradient. They also grow extremely quickly ... I would suggest at least a 3'x2'x2' or similar footprint to start off with for a baby, then upgrade to the adult enclosure at about 8-10 months old (or just start with the adult enclosure and skip the separate baby enclosure). Space aside, Chameleon enclosures are pure screen and won't be very good at holding humidity.... plus I'd be concerned about escape.

I highly recommend getting this book and giving it a read before going any further.

 

[bocacash]

If it is an all screen enclosure...your tegu will rip thru it like a buzz saw...not really even on purpose...just their claws are very sharp and they will scratch thru it. One of mine sliced thru a porch screen like a knife...he got caught between the plexi slider and the screen and was just trying to turn around ! NOT a good tegu enclosure !

 

[Walter1]

As you can see from above voices of keen experience, everything meaningful about a tegu enclosure is wrong with that chameleon enclosure. I encourage you to read over various relevant threads here. They will help you in making the best choices for both proper housing and care for your tegu. I am glad that you found this site!