First post Gold Teguixin

[myotis]

Hello Tegu Talk Community,
This is my first post and would just like to share my tegu, as they are exotic reptiles and every one is unique. I bought her online about 5 months or so ago. She was only about 12 inches (give or take) when she arrived. I say she because I can't feel any nodes around her vent but I wouldn't know what it felt like since i've never had a male lizard. Now she's about 27 inches.
She has always had a voracious appetite and eats every day. We feed her ground turkey and fuzzy mice and I try to incorporate fruits by feeding her a wide variation of berries and fruit but I haven't found anything she likes all the time.
I just transferred her into her new vivarium which is a 6x2x2 foot melamine tank with some plexiglass doors. I have the lights mounted inside. I use a 100w Zoo Med Repti Basking Spot Lamp and an Exo Terra 13w Repti Glo 5.0 UVB bulb. I have a plexi glass cut out on the bottom of the vivarium that i attached an Under tank heater, and glued repti carpet to the top so she can't rest directly on top of it. I also use a Zoo Med Repti Fogger to keep the humidity between 60 and 80%. I use a cypress mulch substrate and have added some grape vine branches for her to climb.

Any comments and suggestions would be nice, I just want what's best for the tegu.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Welcome to the site, thanks for coming and Congratultions on the new tegu. From the pic it looks like a very nice Golden tegu. Was it a hatchling when you got it and it's about 5 mths old now or your not sure? Unless you have it probed only time will tell whether its a male or female. The spurs are just 2 little bb's or buttons on each side of the tail just below the cloaca, some times you can feel them better than you can see'em.

For now the only thing I see about the enclosure would be to raise the basking spot so that it's closer to the bulb. Either by adding more mulch, another hide or just something higher for it to lay on.

These pics will give you a better idea of the spurs, there's one on each side and it kind of makes it look like a happy face.

 

[myotis]

Yes we recieved her as a captive born hatchling. She grows so fast. I definitely don't see any bbs like that and can't feel them, but thank you for the pictures. Very informational.
Funny you say that, because we are looking for a slate rock hideout to put in that spot. I'm having a hard time finding something that will keep heat in so that the rock underneath and the hide will be warm. Most stuff im finding at pet stores is some kind of plaster. So may have to go hiking in the mountains. I live in arizona so temps get pretty warm and i plan to walk her when the seasons permit.
There's a storm front coming in and causing freezing temps outside and making it harder to heat inside so I can't get a bearing as to the actual temp inside the cage. I have two digital thermometers each about 2ft from the sides. And they're at 80* F . The floor beneath the basking spot is about 105* gradually increasing as the distance is decreased.
Any ideas on increasing the inside ambient air temperature about 5 degress would be much appreciated. I thought the UTH would help but there's about 5" of substrate so it doesn't do much for raising air temperature. Maybe adding another 100w basking bulb? And should I add it to the hot half or heat up the cold half a little? Thanks for the help. I'll upload a video today and share it with ya all. Thanks again!

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Besides buying an expensive hide from a pet shop a lot of people just go to hardware stores and grab a few of their slates. Of course they have a better variety and its much cheaper.

80*s is fine for the cool side but if you want it warmer try a 150w bulb. Instead of adding another one and having 3 bulbs in there. the 150 would also raise the basking temps. A few back ups for the digital thermometers you can get are temp gun, ambient air or stem thermometer (forgot the actual name but I'll post pics).

The temp gun is just a surface temp reader so you have to move the substrate to read temps in a hide. The stem thermometer can be use for both (ambient and internal temps) with out moving anything and or disturbing the Gu much if it's sleeping.

Stem Thermometer
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This one is just for ambient air temps.
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For both the Stem and Ambient thermometers you just have to suspend them inside the enclosure for about 5 mins or so. Just make sure they're not touching anything. For surface temps the best way to go is the Temp gun any thing else,.. the stem thermometer.

Weather wise here it's decently warm its just the wind that's making it cold outside :roll: and keeping the heat going inside.

 

[myotis]

Thanks for the feedback. I've got two of those reptile probe type thermometer that are hanging in the cage and I own a infra red temperature gun as well. I think I'll use some leftover marble tile and fashion her a basking / hide spot. The far left ( cold side ) near the water tub is 73* which is pretty cold and her warmer side is 80* with a basking of 105* . I'll try a 150 w bulb but I'm not sure if it will raise the ambient air temperature of her cold side as well. And what's the max temp for a basking spot? Like 120* F ?

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

73* for the cold side is fine, I just wouldn't let it go below 70 and ideally I like my basking spot to be about 109* - 111* ish. I think some people tend to forget that its artificial light, that emits a lot of heat and its hardly ever more than 2 feet away. More than reachable for any tegu. It easily hits 120 here in the summer time and Dino (B&W) loved it, he warmed up quickly and would go about his business. When he was done he would move to the shade or scratched at the back door to come in.

 

[myotis]

Just went out and got a 150w Exo-Terra Solar Glo Spot Lamp Basking Light (neodymium w/e that does) . It's increased the temps enough i think. Left half reads 77.5 *F , right half reads 84.9 *F . I placed the digital probe thermometer beneath the basking light on the mulch and it reads 107.0 *F . I'm still planning on building her a raised platform to bask on which should raise the temps up to that 110 range. So far the ambient temperature seems to be nice with the 150w . Thanks for the suggestion.
Today she was having a fit or something, I put down the (plastic) spoon i use to clean out her fecal matter, and she started biting the handle for some reason. And she had a fit in my hands getting her back in the cage from her feeding tank.
She has never bit or tail whipped anyone but she is prone to hissing. Hates having her tail messed with. So far she's all talk and hasn't done anything but her hissing but her teeth are pretty noticeable so I'm weary. Could moving her into a new cage have caused a mood swing? I hate to regress any work we've done with her by scaring her or something, because now she hisses at me most of the time when i pet her, and I'm like her master ( the most interaction ).
Guess that's my punishment for getting a Columbian.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Glad everything worked out.

Why do you have 2 lights? I noticed this before but didn't mention it because some people use 2 for heating purposes on larger enclosures. But when you mention the new light it reminded me because that's just a UVA light. You would save money with one light that emits both UVA and UVB.

As for the mood swing,.. its to be expected with the stress of the move and having more space. Give her time to settle in and she'll come around.

 

[myotis]

One light is a UVA/UVB Repti glo bulb. and the other is just a basking lamp with UVA. It was just a cheaper option to go with at the local pet shop. The UVB/A Heating lamps run pretty expensive, but if I find a deal I might pick one up. I think you're talking about the Powersun bulb.

I'll post a couple pics from about a week ago. I'll get some updated ones when she's used to me handling her again.

 

[Guest]

awww what a cute tegu!

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

She's too cute :-D,... :roll: spending time on these sites makes me miss my Gus even more.

While comparing the pics you just posted to the first ones,.. she looks much bigger in the new cage pics.

Plus there are a few threads on different sites about the coiled bulbs causing eye issues, and not lasting as long, light or UVB wise. I can't remember if the coiled lights were all bad or if it had more to do with the distance. Because you can have the same issues with regular high wattage UVB bulbs.

Some thing to do with higher wattage bulbs, putting out more UVB in correlation with the distance between the light and the tegu. I need to read up on that and refresh my memory also.

You can google coiled bulbs and eye issues,.. it'll pop up.

 

[myotis]

Hello all, thanks for the comments. She appreciates it. I think you're referring to photokeratoconjuctivitus ( sorry the spelling, didnt look it up) . And I haven't seen any signs of that. Just double checked the Exo-Terra website and the bulb doesnt even exceed 200 mW/cm2, so I don't think she'll have any problems. I read a study about how companies were just upping the output without getting the right wavelengths and causing photokerato.... and they sent letters to the companies and I believe a majority of the companies corrected their phosphors in their bulb. However it said the Repti Glo 5.0 works up to a foot away, and it recommends the 10.0 for distances over 30cm or over a screen. Come to think of it , that light has been over a foot away and in front of a screen on the old tank and I didn't have any problems. the light is only 13 inches from the substrate now.

Today was much better behaved too. I just let her crawl up my arm, walked over to the feeding tank and she climbed down my arm into it. Tried some red banana,but she just licked it. Maybe i'll try mixing it in with the turkey. Then after many licks on my hand ( thought she was gonna have a bite) she climbed on and climbed off into her home. Then I sat there playing with her a little and massaged her tail. Usually hates it but didn't mind today.

Picture from today

 

[myotis]

Hey all,
Just thought I'd update. She's doin' real well. I think she's fully adapted to her new environment and doesn't huff anymore. We let her free roam, she had fun but shed skin everywhere. I was thinking she's getting a little on the heavier side (fatty) . She's about 30 inches now give or take an inch. Wow just counted and we've had her 5 months, and got her at like 10 inches.
So should I drop her feeding schedule to 5/7 days of the week or should I just feed her smaller portions? Never really heard this question.

Another thing, she has never had a killing instinct. I've tried dusting crickets even as a baby and she lets them crawl all over her. I just recently tried giving her a bath with a couple feeder fish. Didn't even bother her at all. I'm positive she saw them as I flicked the fish and enticed them to move quickly. Only way I've been able to get insects in her is by mixing in mealworms with her turkey. She loves turkey.
Anyways I want to know if there's a way to get her to umm chase stuff? Or re-train her the killing instinct. I feel like I'm making her helpless if she has no urge to kill. She'll shake dead mice back and forth likes she wants to kill them haha but won't go for anything actually live.

Check out my youtube channel if you want some videos. youtube.com/adrenier

 

[Guest]

Many tegus loose interest in [bugs] soon after leaving the hatchling stage ..

I personally wouldn`t try to teach your tegu to chase and kill as no good can come of it ..

I am sure he knows how and is just not hungry enough or maybe he likes turkey ..

If you insist in making him chase his food starve him and only offer live food ...

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

I think she looks fine where she is but I wouldn't let her get any heavier,.. fat wise. Just judging from her tail and rear legs in the video she has enough reserves.

As for feeding as they grew I cut back from every day to every 3 or 4 days depending on their last meal and if they where hungry or not. I gave up on feeding insects alone because after a certain size they were no longer interested. So I mixed it in with their fruit or meat and then stopped all together after a while.

From their point of view it may not be worth it to chase the little buggers when better food is brought to them on a regular basis. :-D So they become more of a nuisance than anything else.