Chance encounter

[Sheinrichs]

Hello, I just learned what a tegu is yesterday. The day before, my son woke me up asking what lizards we had that were poisonous. He apparently had gotten bit by a lizard he rolled over on while sleeping and it got him pretty good. I found the lizard and assumed by the forked tongue and looks it was a monitor. I took it to the arizona reptile center and was told I did not have a monitor but a tegu. I need to find out how old and how often and what they eat. His neck and arms are black, the throat is black and belly white, the rest is black and white leopard spotted. He is approx. 1 ft from nose to end of tail... very sweet and likes to take in the warmth of my hand. He. Can. JUMP! holy cow this little guy can fly.... anyway I have had snakes and iguanas most of my life, but never something like this. I've given him meal worms and crickets, which he loves as I assumed he would... so what advice does anyone have?
I will take ANY Advice I can get!
Thank you!

 

[DreamsOfTegus]

Wow! You found a tegu? Cool!

These guys are mostly carnivorous as babies. They like dubia cockroaches, mice, baby rats, and other smaller prey items. Once they get to be adults they eat an omnivorous diet- so fruits and veggies as well as your meat items.

Just like iguanas, they like to be bathed, and they require full spectrum UVB lighting to metabolize calcium in the body. Read around the site a bit, there's lots of good info.