Hello Tegu keepers

[Orbot]

Hello to everyone. I live in Va and I keep tegus outside during the warm months here in Va.
I hope to learn more about tegus and will enjoy sharing information on these fascinating lizards .
I have 8 or so adult tegus and some years I also have juveniles .
I think tegus are awesome animals and are incredibly fun to watch as well.

 

[Walter1]

Welcome Orbot. Those are beautiful animals. Hope to learn more about them? Do you breed them?

 

[Orbot]

Thank you for the compliment.
I have bred them in the past . I usually do not breed them because the babies can be a handful to take care of.
This year I let a female and male stay in the same outdoor pen but I didn't have the cage space and was forced into keeping the pair together .
Yes I have around 30 babies from 35 eggs hatch about 3 weeks ago.
Will probably sell them on the wanted / for sale page on this site later in the year or early next year .

 

[Walter1]

Oh, wow.

Thank you for the compliment.
I have bred them in the past . I usually do not breed them because the babies can be a handful to take care of.
This year I let a female and male stay in the same outdoor pen but I didn't have the cage space and was forced into keeping the pair together .
Yes I have around 30 babies from 35 eggs hatch about 3 weeks ago.
Will probably sell them on the wanted / for sale page on this site later in the year or early next year .

Oh wow. So, the female laid, etc. with the male around?

 

[Orbot]

Usually adult males will not eat the eggs or neither will other adult females . I'm not sure if say a 'teen ager ' aged tegu would devour tegu eggs or not. Tegus ordinarily are not cannibals.
This also includes hatchlings . Tegus do not ordinarily devour hatchlings. Though I would not keep them together because accidents will occur and an aggressive hungry adult will accidentally kill and eat a hatchling or smaller tegu .
Also females get very aggressive and so she was brought inside my house to lay eggs. If she were left outside to lay eggs I would definitely have to seperate her from the male as their would be fights and tegus will fight and break one another's legs , bad cuts from bites etc.
Also another reason is the eggs if laid outside will always have the smell of "just laid eggs " in the nest area. So even if the eggs are removed from the outside enclosure away from the femAle and into an incubator that female will still act aggressive toward other tegus even though her eggs are no longer present in the nest.
And when I return the female outside I usually do not put her in the same pen . So I will flip flop her with another female .
So by doing it this way there is no fighting usually. I find even males and females do not always get along . Always have to watch them to see how they react to each other's presence before I can let them stay with another i.e. no tail wiggling or climbing on top another to show dominance .
If they show these symptoms then the new arrival has to be removed .

 

[Orbot]

Also if an adult accidentally kills a hatchling they will usually not eat it

 

[Walter1]

Also if an adult accidentally kills a hatchling they will usually not eat it

Thanks. This is very helpful. I live in S-C PA, and my 1.2 live together outside til cold, then sleep the winter away n the basement. They are WCs, probably around 2 now. This spring, the male courted heavily but no eggs from either. Can't be sure of actual mating but neck scars and courtship displays by the male for two weeks in June. I think maybe the females were not yet fully mature rather than stressed by the male as they get along very well. They are near 3' TL. Your post helps me to know what to expect. Thanks.

 

[Orbot]

Glad to help you out . I would think you're right and this coming year you should get some young .

 

[Walter1]

Glad to help you out . I would think you're right and this coming year you should get some young .

Thanks. I'll keep in touch on this.

 

[Orbot]

Gotcha . Like to hear what happens .
BTW I have found when a female is 30 inches she is old enough to lay fertile eggs .

 

[N8bub]

Those are some pretty little gus orbot! I saw in another thread more photos of them, would I be right in assuming that the mother and father are the adults in the thread? Who originally produced them? That big boy gnawing on your foot is a handsome lizard!

 

[Orbot]

The guy eating my leg was bought from agama international from Burt Langerwurf around the time of his death in 2010. He was a subadult lizard at the time.
That lizard has fathered several brood .
This years hatchlings are not his but they are related ( he would be grandfather ) .
The female pictured below is the mother ( daughter of male agama imternational lizard )
Her mother was one of "my " lizards that was born here.
The father pictured below was bought from someone whom bought the lizard from Bobby Hill of Varnyard . I believe it's s chacoan giant . He is probably 10 years old .
I noticed the nice colors on the tegu you are holding .
Where did you get that tegu and do you have more pictures ? It's very pretty .

 

[Orbot]

I got my original tegus from A international 20 years ago and have kept them outside here in Va .

 

[N8bub]

Figured they came from good stock, I almost bought a gu from bert back in the early 2000s. Was out of herps for a while , finally got the itch again, and I find out bert had passed and Bobby hill went off his rocker. So its pretty cool that your hatchlings are a blend of both! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in one of them if you could pick out a pretty little female. My wife would be pissed but hey, gotta rock the boat every once in a while
And the gu in my picture , is my boy boudreaux he's half blue and half chacoan got him from Hectorshabitat.com. he's got a lot of pics in the thread"here comes scaly boo boo".It's over in the tegu cross breed section of the forum, even though technically he's not really a hybrid.

 

[N8bub]

I really like the picture of grandpa, he's a toad!

 

[Walter1]

They're beautiful animals, and it's nice to have a good breeder and in the mid-Atlantic to boot.

 

[Orbot]

Figured they came from good stock, I almost bought a gu from bert back in the early 2000s. Was out of herps for a while , finally got the itch again, and I find out bert had passed and Bobby hill went off his rocker. So its pretty cool that your hatchlings are a blend of both! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in one of them if you could pick out a pretty little female. My wife would be pissed but hey, gotta rock the boat every once in a while
And the gu in my picture , is my boy boudreaux he's half blue and half chacoan got him from Hectorshabitat.com. he's got a lot of pics in the thread"here comes scaly boo boo".It's over in the tegu cross breed section of the forum, even though technically he's not really a hybrid.

Sure I can pick a girl out for you but I don't use probes . Kinda scared to use one . In the Spring I should be able to seperate the males from females by searching for preanal Spurs .
However I will keep you in mind if you can wait that long . If you find another tegu in the meantime that is ok with me if you buy it .
Some of these babies are probably already 15 or 16 inches long already. They are only about 4 or 5 weeks old .
What happened to Bobby Hill ?

 

[Orbot]

They're beautiful animals, and it's nice to have a good breeder and in the mid-Atlantic to boot.

Thanks and if your tegus breed I would be interested in one or a pair from you . I know you said they're wild caught . Be interesting to acquire a pair just a generation away from wild and genuine tegu genes !

 

[Walter1]

Thanks and if your tegus breed I would be interested in one or a pair from you . I know you said they're wild caught . Be interesting to acquire a pair just a generation away from wild and genuine tegu genes !

I'll be proud to.

 

[Orbot]

Thank you . I will definitely be eyeballing them