Free roaming?

[isdrake]

I have noticed that a lot of people let their Tegu free roam the room/apartment/house.

I guess that only a small part of these people live in an environment that is suitable for Tegus. For these people I guess it's safe to just open to door and let them out. But for the rest of us it's not that easily.

I thought we could use this thread to give each other tips about making our homes safe and pleasant for Tegus.

Where do you live? What kind(s) of Tegus do you have?
Do you let your Tegu(s) free roam? What do you do to improve the climate in your home?
How hot is it in the room your Tegu is allowed to roam? What is the humidity in that place?

Simply explain what you had to do to make the climate in your home suitable for Tegus.

 

[reptastic]

i have nero who is a black and white tegu and i allow her to free-roam. nero is currently 46" long and the room is 12X10.5.I keep other reptiles in the room(caged of course)i set the free part of the room up to accomodate nero. i have a basking spot with a heat lamp nd a uvb lamp.the hardest part of allowing my tegu to free roam is keeping the humidity up, so i use a large room humidifier and i mist nero daily. this keeps the humidity around 40-50%. the ambient temp in the room is usually 80 but can fluctuate between 75 and 90 depending on the time of day. i also use a small space heater to keep the temps from dropping during the winter months. since i have a free-roam tegu i always make sure the room is free of debree and all the cords from the tights are hidden as much as possible. this has worked well for me but eventually when i move nero will be going into a cage(enclosure) with free-roam occaisionally. hope this helps!

 

[isdrake]

Sound like you are working pretty hard to keep a good climate for your Tegus.

I have been making some measurement on the humidity and it ofter stays above 60% in the room we keep the Tegus. I was surprise that it was so high considering it's usually very dry inside in Sweden.

I think it's because of our 3 terrariums and quite a lot of plants. It will probably rise even more then we move the Tegus to a bigger terrarium. And I want a few more plats to to place on top of the enclosure, hehe.

 

[Jefroka]

Smallish tegus can be fast as lightning so I would caution anyone wanting to free roam a youngster in a large open space other than some enclosed environment such as a room.

When they get large enough, get them a harness and take them outside weather permitting.

I live in the far south it gets hot and very humid down here. I take Beauregard outside now every chance I get, feed him outside in the grass, he poops and then roams a bit and soaks up the sun's rays.


...Jefroka

 

[DaveDragon]

You can let a smaller Tegu free roam in your house as long as you use a harness. They typically get freaked out by the wide open area and will quickly look for a dark place to hide.

 

[Adam87]

i let my argentine b/w walk around on me and on my computer hes too small to let him walk my room i have a lot of small spaces he can get into but i let my iguana and my beardie roam free through out my room i usually have my space hearter on and it gets pretty hummid in my room in the summer i dont let them out much in the winter

 

[kryptonitebarz]

I let Bloo free roam/eat in the bathroom which gets pretty humid because of the radiator... Or I set up the dog fence in the living room and grab the clamp light and just watch tv while she basks... she lets me know when she is ready to go back in her cage by climbing out lmao.

 

[Toby_H]

My 40" Tegu free roams quite a bit...

I pulled the entertainment system out from the wall enough so she can fit behind it and I can retrieve her... all the cords have been raised up off th eflorr and out of reach...

My couch sits right on the floor and the coushins are sewn in (fortunately)...

She gets behind the fishtanks all the time. I'm somewhat concerned about all the cords but so far the only mishap is she sometimes rubs on the timers and turns the lights off.

I keep the bedroom door closed as there are a few things in there she might 'get lost in'.

The kitchen is my point of concern. It's too open of a floorplan to block it off and there are a few places she could get that I would hate to have to get her out of. So when I hear her claws hit the tile, I fetch her and bring her back to the living room...


It's rough letting them free roam when they are small, but when they are small it's easier to supply them with an enclosure that allows them space to "excercise". Or like Dave suggested, try a harness...

Once they get big there are far less places they will fit into... so it's easier...

 

[tupinambisfamiliaris]

I'll let mine roam in my sunroom when the weather is nice. It's a pretty big room and it stays hot and humid in the Southern summer weather. I put them back in the cage at night, though.

There's a pet store around here with two monster b&w's that free roam most of the time. They have lots of fish tanks, so it stays warm and humid all of the time. The tegus are both pushing 4 feet and are each 5 years old. I've even seen the two of them sunning themselves on the sidewalk of the shopping center in the summer. The owner's 2 kids keep lookout to prevent them from running off. One afternoon I was there buying mice. An elderly man walked up to the lizards on the sidewalk laughing. He asked me: "They almost look real, don't they?". I picked one up and showed him that it was a live animal and he couldn't believe it.

 

[Keith_w]

I've had Greg, my black and white, since august 2008 and hes up around 4 feet long. He free roams almost the entire time I'm home, and the only problem I ever have is that he likes pooping on soft things instead of the wooden floor. I also have a pretty large back yard that I let him roam around for hours at a time (supervised of course) . The first times I took him outside I used a harness, but I have found that he is much nicer and happier without it on. I"m sure I don't have the only stubborn tegu but he has always been nicer and more willing to come cuddle with my girlfriend when we just let him do what ever he wants.

 

[txrepgirl]

When we let our adult Tegus roam around in the house we feed them first. Then give them a bath. Most of the time they poop in the bath water. I rinse them of and then dry them off with a towel. After that I let them free roam around the house ( one story home ). When they are done roaming around they go to the basking area we have set up for them in the living room. They just walk up the dog steps and bask for a long time. Then I cuddle with them and put them back into their enclosures. I just let one Tegu free roam around at a time ( we have four adults ).

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[fireimp141]

Generally my 3ft b&w Tyson only free roams in the livingroom/bathroom/kitchen after his bath before he eats. I gotta watch him though cause he is super orenry and gets into everything and chases the cats too lol. And he eats their food =/

 

[CaseyUndead]

I only let my tegu roam around when i'm watching him. When i let him out to eat i usually let him roam around the reptile room. there are some cords and stuff around, so he'd probably find trouble to get into if i wasn't watching him. He sometimes tries to climb up the snake enclosures and stuff. Even if the room was tegu-proof, i have a feeling that he'd find SOMETHING to get into because he's just so curious about everything. He's like a kid with hyperactive ADHD a lot of the time :roll: