Hello from Jersey City, NJ

[Abner]

Hi everyone. My name is Abner and I'm planning to soon get a female Tegu. Currently I'm educating myself about Tegu's and exited to soon have one with me.

So far I have been reading online material and watching videos about Tegu's. I'm setting up a 20 gallon Tank I have (see attached picture) as her habitat for the first 6 months until I build a custom habitat for her.

• On the top left I have a 100W 110V Ceramic Infrared Heat Emitter that keeps the left side of the habitat at 100 degrees
• On the top middle I have my Solar-Glo High Intensity Self-Ballasted Uv/Heat Mercury Vapor Lamp, 125-Watt that seems to keep the middle at 95 degrees
• The right side I'm guessing its around 80 degrees
• The humidifier I have (sensor on right behind water) I have it setup to keep humidity at 70%
• The rectangle dish I have on the front right corner is to hope that the Tegu will poop there.

I have a few questions:

1. Any tips on how to potty train my tegu to use the dish to poop? Should I put some water on it?
2. The left side of the terrarium, the humidity is very low (30-45%), would that be OK been that the middle and left side of the terrarium humidity is at 70%?
3. When building the new the new habitat, is there any material that you would recommend or not recommend for the cage?

 

[Walter1]

Hi and welcome. You have proper equipment; however, even for a hatchling a 20 gal is not anywhere near the minimum size for an enclosure even for a few months. On this site you'll see all sorts of creative and superb designs.

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

A 20 gallon probably wouldn't even last a few weeks... I'd suggest building the enclosure soon and then purchasing a tegu or buying a 75 gallon. It should hold the tegu for at least 6 months, and possibly a few more months after that if needed.
75 gallons is what I started out with when I got my tegu at a month old in October, about 8 months have passed since that and she still can fit in there... although she definitely needs an upgrade since she's about 25-26 inches long and the enclosure is only 48x18x20.
Tegus grow fast... insanely fast sometimes. Mine went from about 10 inches to 20 inches in about a month of having her. Only slowed down because she went into burmation/hibernation.

Other than that everything else sounds good.

I'd offer to help with material if I could but I can't. At least not yet since I myself am still deciding on what to do with my tegus 8x4x4 enclosure that needs to be built or bought. Most likely building rather than buying after lots of research and discussing.

 

[AlphaAlpha]

Hi and Welcome.....Bigger tank needed....everyting else looks and sound great though

 

[Abner]

Thank you Walter1, VenusAndSaturn, and AlphaAlpha for your comments. I will go ahead and purchase material at home depot this weekend to build a 48(L)x32(H)x36(D) using Melamine Panels. At the moment that is is the biggest space (4x3) I can use in the apartment to put the cage and be able to enter it to the apartment when build.

If I decide to keep the cage open once she grows and the house is Tegu proof, would I still need a bigger habitat?

 

[Walter1]

Probably not, BUT free-roaming is very tricky business in a human domicile. I personally advise against it, but keepers that free-roam their tegus might be willing to share their firsthand experience and advice.

 

[Skeep]

In addition to what the others have said, I would try to keep the humidity higher, especially when your tegu is a hatchling. She will be shedding constantly as she grows, and if the humidity is too low she might not be able to shed fast enough. My poor girl lost 2 claws in her first couple weeks because of this =( I find 90% on the cool side and about 50-60% on the warm side is best.

To keep my humidity up I had to cover up as much of the top as possible with plastic (making sure there is still enough air to breathe!). Maybe you can put plastic over top, as long as it can't come in contact with the lights.

I agree with Walter that free roaming doesn't seem to work out for people. I've never tried it myself, but either the tegu becomes unhealthy or there are other issues. Even if she can free roam regularly, she will need a decent sized space with proper humidity and temperatures to spend most of her time in. I would recommend making sure you can secure a larger space for an enclosure.

 

[Zyn]

My humidity levels vary but I keep multiple enclosed humid hides in his enclosure which he sleeps in nightly. His sheds come off near perfectly every time. He had one bad one when he came out of brumation. Like the others have said humidity is important but you can fine safe work arounds. Know your animal and it’s Individual needs and everything should workout. But a lot of know your animal comes with experience, and reptile experience in general. Never hesitate to ask any question, always better off safe than sorry.

I wouldn’t free roam any animal, we have 5 dogs and they are in large kennels while were at work. But because I leave at 430 am and get home around 3pm they’re never in there for more than 4 hours
Thanks to our schedules. I take that back our Pitbull free roams but that’s because he’s kind of the protector of the house lol and the only one we trust not to destroy or get into anything.

The nice thing about a large enclosure is, that you have total control over that environment. Free roaming always comes with risk. I plan to in the future construct a large enclosure out of block in my basement but even then it’ll be totally enclosed unless I’m home. The reptile doesn’t want to hurt itself but in most situations it doesn’t know any better. “That Ball of fuzz looks tasty” the next thing you know your Tegus bowels are shredded from injesting carpet fibers.

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome!

 

[AlphaAlpha]

I don't totally free roam but whilst I'm in he is usually out ... I only open the door wide enough for him to go through comfortable and drape something down to block off the top ( viv has sliding doors) to keep the temps and humidity up in the viv....Alpha can go in and out as he pleases which he doesnt tend to do unless something spooks him and I'm in england where humidity is low.... He does take plenty of showers though...

 

[Abner]

Thank you everyone for your comments, they are very helpful.

 

[Abner]

So my Tegu arrived home today. She licked a few things and went to her hide and had not come out, she is hiding behind one of my shirts that I placed inside the hide.

Should I worry or just let her be? Should I feed her today? I was thinking of giving her a few crickets dusted in calcium later in the afternoon?

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[Walter1]

Typical new arrival behavior. If she can avoid crickets in her hide, a few of them hopping around for when she's ready to eat is a good idea.

 

[AlphaAlpha]

yes a feww crickets in sounds a good idea and may even tickle her tastebuds enough to venture out of her hide.

 

[Abner]

Thanks for your advice @Walter1 and @AlphaAlpha. I have video surveillance on the Tegu and she came out this morning that no one is home LOL. Anyway, I will give her a few crickets tonight.

Another question: Is tap water OK for a Tegu to drink? I placed two bowls with water, one was for her to drink (Natural Spring Water) and the other (different type of bowl with tap water) so that she will hopefully poop there. But she is drinking the wrong water (tap water).

 

[Zyn]

You can get water conditioner at most pet stores

 

[Skeep]

Thanks for your advice @Walter1 and @AlphaAlpha. I have video surveillance on the Tegu and she came out this morning that no one is home LOL. Anyway, I will give her a few crickets tonight.

Another question: Is tap water OK for a Tegu to drink? I placed two bowls with water, one was for her to drink (Natural Spring Water) and the other (different type of bowl with tap water) so that she will hopefully poop there. But she is drinking the wrong water (tap water).

Good looking tegu!

If the water is safe for you to drink then it should be safe for your tegu. I don't know if it's possible to train her to poop in a different water dish than she drinks from, but if you can then that'd be cool! Once you start taking her out for baths or exploring you can certainly train her to go in the bathtub or someplace on the floor, but that could be a ways off yet.

 

[Abner]

So I have purchased two Exo Terra Solar Glo of 125w. Each one of them keeps turning off. The dome that I used is the Fluker's Sun Dome that is specifically designed to accommodate larger longer bulbs. I have raised the dome above 18 inches thinking that it may be the safety mechanism of the bulb but is just getting annoying that it keeps doing that with both of the bulbs.

Has anyone experienced this and found a solution? I’m about to call them and ask for a refund if the issue continues


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[Abner]

OK, so today I purchased a 36x18x18 terrarium. This new terrarium gives me a few more months before I need to build the custom habitat. Anyways I wanted to mention (ref my previous comment) that the issue with the bulbs stopped with the new terrarium. It seems that the 20 gallon I had before was too small and caused the Exo Terra Solar Glob bulbs to shut down due to the heat. Just wanted to mention this in case anyone runs into that problem.

 

[Abner]

So I decided to add a few more inches of substrate and now again the "Solar-Glo High Intensity Self-Ballasted Uv/Heat Mercury Vapor Lamp, 125-Watt" is going on and off. Is there a Solar bulb anyone can recommend?