First time tegu owner as of today

[Chris & Stitches]

Well, long story short,my name is Chris and I now have a B&W tegu.His name is stitches.but if you like a little more of the story, my dad and I used to have a pair of decent size Burmese pythons, (16ft and 14 ft) and we loved them, but I always joked about getting a tegu and my dad would lose it “they’re mean blah blah you’re gonna end up with stitches in the end” so over the past month me and my girlfriend, have been planning a paludarium and when I say planning I mean building and making/buying all kinds of things.im not rich either but I can spend a bit on what I feel like.anyways I went to a place today and he had this 18 inch baby black and white tegu....I have been looking at pictures and thinking about this guy in the back of my head for a long time, so I had about a 60 second chat with the GF, and we left with a tegu and a scrapped paludarium xD so anyways, on my way home I stopped and let my dad see the little guy, of course dad held him and got a little love before gladly sending me and my lizard home.but glad there is a forum where I can share what I learn and learn from others more importantly, hope to hear from people soon

 

[AlphaAlpha]

Hello, Welcome and good luck

 

[rantology]

That's a cute name, welcome to the forums! That's strange your dad was cool with burms but not tegus. My mother used to tell me I couldn't have a pet millipede because "they were stinky" .... some weird beliefs out there for sure. I wonder if he had tegus mixed up with some of the meaner monitor species? Anyway enjoy your lil' baby!

 

[Walter1]

Welcome. Your previous herp keeping experience will be helpful.

 

[Chris & Stitches]

my dad just still seems to think if you have a tegu or monitor, you’re going to get bit. We had both got bit by our pythons when they were under 10 feet or so.they just went through a very bipolar stage.mine was about 8 feet long and one time he didn’t bite me but cooled my neck and armpit and gave me a good compression for about a whole minute.i took him to the shower and he immediately let go (cold water trick for semi big snakes) that was way scarier than any monitor or tegu snapping at you I can assure.

 

[Chris & Stitches]

Also to update on stitches his favorite place is the hoodie pocket, I gave him a bath last night and two today, he swims very well but has not pooped yet.idk how often a baby (16 inches or so total) should be pooping.answers?
Also he ate 4 crickets yesterday and about 6-8 today and about three fair bites of scrambled eggs.he likes to watch mealworms but won’t touch them.hasnt touched tomato or cucumber either..anybody know what other foods a little guy will take?

 

[rantology]

Mine eats & poops pretty much every day. Though he may have an adjustment period with you... just keep an eye out. If he's readily eating that many crickets you should see poop pretty soon Also try some sweet fruits like blue/black berries, raspberries, mango or melon. My dude turned his nose up at collard greens but loves berries.

 

[Debita]

Welcome to the forum!! I have 2 B/W's, and their favorite foods are raw ground turkey, where they both get their calcium and any other supplements, chicken gizzards, salmon, and the favorite thawed mice. You could start your little guy on thawed pinkies. Hard for them to resist that. My female eats superworms and other bugs, but my male won't eat any. Different from one to the next - sort of like humans!!

Both of my Tegus enjoyed my hoodies! (little old for that now)

 

[Chris & Stitches]

I took a little waist pack and turned into a nest for him.he slept in there for about three hours while I did usual stuff around the house and just went to the tank.back to sleep.he has slept probably 24 out of the 30 hours I’ve had him...

 

[AlphaAlpha]

I took a little waist pack and turned into a nest for him.he slept in there for about three hours while I did usual stuff around the house and just went to the tank.back to sleep.he has slept probably 24 out of the 30 hours I’ve had him...

Its the end of winter and hes new to you, so he may hide even more or become skittish and hissssssy before things carry on so good.

 

[Godzilla Earth]

It's great here man, TONS of awesome people! I've been here for about a month now and I've learned so much! (exept how to spell right, man my spelling sucks...)

 

[Debita]

I took a little waist pack and turned into a nest for him.he slept in there for about three hours while I did usual stuff around the house and just went to the tank.back to sleep.he has slept probably 24 out of the 30 hours I’ve had him...

That's about as typical as anything else you'll ever hear about them. It seems strange at first, but I'd be worried if he wasn't hiding or trying to get away from all the new changes.

 

[Godzilla Earth]

That's about as typical as anything else you'll ever hear about them. It seems strange at first, but I'd be worried if he wasn't hiding or trying to get away from all the new changes.

Also just take your time and let him get used to the new enviroment. I'd say about a week is a good average for them calming down and getting used to it, but their all differant

 

[Chris & Stitches]

He is very calm I put a few vids on YouTube of him Chris Carine is my name on youtube(he was only in about a 5 gallon container where he came from so I don’t know how comfortable he was but he isn’t alarmed by loud noise or fast movements, reaching in from above, I’ve been trying to see what makes him do what, and he’s just not scared of people whatsoever.only thing that’s made him get a little uneasy was the bath today.but he was ok if I was holding him in the water

 

[Chris & Stitches]

This is him currently

 

[Debita]

Good daddy... he's trusting you and will soon realize how much better off he is now!

 

[Debita]

Funny how easy it is to bond with them, right?

 

[Chris & Stitches]

He is so much better than I could’ve ever asked for he isn’t too fond of my 3 or 7 year old but they are loud he just keeps locked on them and watches them when they are around but they pet him and he just sits there.i can tell he gets nervous though.

 

[Chris & Stitches]

How long has it taken for yours to reach what size debita?

 

[Chris & Stitches]

Also, anyone know how easy it is for tegus to get sick from weather being too cold? I never let any of my enclosures drop below 70-73 but I’d like to know what will hurt him because He seems to be a clinger and I’d like to take him with me when I go certain places