How Low Can You Go - What's the lowest temp for your Tegu?

[carcharios]

I was curious what the lowest temps you have exposed your Tegu are. I have read that black and whites are the most cold tolerant and that reds are the least. I've also read that the night temps should remain in the 70's, which seems pretty high considering that other articles I've read say that parts of Argentina where they're found are considered almost temperate and get snow.

So out of curiosity, what is the lowest temps you're tegus have survived? My big female spends the summer in an outdoor enclosure, which went down to the mid 50's the other night. I did bring her in the next day since the temps went down into the mid 40's. Can you all post your experience on temps and your tegus? Would be much appreciated.

 

[VARNYARD]

I do not let mine go below 50*F, but Bert said in his studies that they could stand several nights in the mid 30s, however I would not risk it.

 

[carcharios]

Freida was fine after the night she spent in the mid 50's. She was actually really alert the next day and the high was only 65. Would be interesting to know their lower tolerance. I know that their relatives, the racerunner, which actually lives here in MD can tolerate temps in the 30's and maybe lower considering they hibernate here in the winter and I live in zone 7a.

 

[MIKE-ZILLA]

I keep mine outside too. I bring mine in below 50 degrees , but several times I left her out in the mid 40's. I keep her in all winter and put her out early april. by then she's already becoming active.

 

[carcharios]

Where are you located? Also, what substrate do you use in your tegu's den? I just use cyprus mulch but was thinking of adding some soil too for extra insulation.

 

[MIKE-ZILLA]

im near central n.c. not far from Raleigh. using soil is a good idea. I use mostly cypress,but added top soil when I built the cage. another thing you could do is cover PART of the cage with clear plastic during the early spring and fall to increase the daytime temperature and insulate the cage.

 

[cabral]

i live in uruguay, where tegus live in the wild,
the lowest temps in winter can sometimes reach 0Ã?â??Ã?°C or even -2Ã?â??Ã?°C

i have a tegu but i keep her inside all the year even in summer that get really hot and all the wild tegus are breeding and hatching.

 

[carcharios]

Now I feel like a wimp. I brought Frieda in last night and it was in the mid 50's and raining. I was on the fence about leaving her in or out but decided to err on the side of caution. In retrospect, I'm sure she would have been fine.

Cabral, why do you keep your tegu inside when the weather conditions are perfect to have her outside? Does she ever interract with the wild tegus when you do take her out for short periods - assuming you do this? I ask because I know they can pick up pheromones quite well.

I'd also love to know how deep the burrows are for those of the wild specimens. For example, I would gladly leave Freida out all winter IF she had access to a really deep burrow that would protect her from the cold. But with only a few inches of cyprus mulch in her hut, I know it would be a lost cause.

 

[cabral]

well, i live in punta del este a small city, i live in a place similar to suburbs in usa, wild tegus live in the country side. if i get a male im planning to make an outdoor enclosure for them, she is living inside because i was trying to get her big and this would be her 2Ã?â??Ã?° winter so she is about an year old.

burrows for tegus are deep sometimes, and sometimes they hide on other animals abandoned hides such as armadillos( tatus, mulitas, etc,) and also burrow under big rocks. the depth of burrows can be different.
these armadillos burrows sometimes go really deep 1m deep or even more, but tegus can be found also some inches under rocks.

 

[cabral]

well, i live in punta del este a small city, i live in a place similar to suburbs in usa, wild tegus live in the country side. if i get a male im planning to make an outdoor enclosure for them, she is living inside because i was trying to get her big and this would be her 2Ã?â??Ã?° winter so she is about an year old.

burrows for tegus are deep sometimes, and sometimes they hide on other animals abandoned hides such as armadillos( tatus, mulitas, etc,) and also burrow under big rocks. the depth of burrows can be different.
these armadillos burrows sometimes go really deep 1m deep or even more, but tegus can be found also some inches under rocks.

 

[carcharios]

Cabral,
Do you have tortoises in Uruguay? I say this because many in Florida fear that the escaped Tegus will consume their eggs and displace them from their burrows but I wanted to know how Tegus interracted with native tortoises - assuming you have tortoises of course.

 

[Blue Crab of PAIN!!!]

From what little marginal analysis I've done it seems like invasive tegu's can attack tortoise eggs and juveniles, but there's not much they can do against adults. Nile Monitors are a different story, they're a much bigger problem overall than a tegu can ever be.

On the plus side the big monitors seem to do a good job exterminating feral cats.

 

[cabral]

we dont have tortoises but we do have many turtles acuatic ones, such as the red ear turtles, which lay eggs in the land, and i dont know if tegus are common predators of them but its for certain that if they find them they will eat them because they loooooooooove eggs

 

[carcharios]

Cabral, do you have any pics of tegus in their native environment? Wouldl love to see some. Thanks so much for the info on their burrows, temps, etc. That kind of information is great to have.

 

[cabral]

i dont have any pictures of wild tegus yet
but i want to take some, it would be great,

they are verry common here, they live all over uruguay. in grasslands near water courses such as rivers or lagoons. in rocky hills, and in autoctonus forest....

just search for country side uruguay pictures or something like that and u will have pictures of their habitat

 

[Dstrait]

Anthropomorphic Anxiety
Blizzard our Female 4yr B/W lives in the back yard. She has an 24"x48" heated cottage with free access through a flap door. She sleeps in there a lot, but sometimes buries herself in leaves and stuff accumulated next to our fence. I've dug her up many times, and she is feels pretty cold. (She puts up with all kinds of my nonsense without hardly a huff.) She's done this again, its 62F with light rain. It makes me worry a bit, but I gotta remember that she knows how to be lizard.

 

[TegGirl108]

I would love to know too!

I live at 5,000' In Southern Oregon where summer temps average 85⁰ and winter temps average 20-50⁰. My b/w girl is 2 years old and about 25" long; she stays indoors but is in semi-brumation and always seeking a colder spot, so I turned her heat lamp off and she seems to like it very much.

The other day we were out playing in the living room, where my wood stove keeps it about 80⁰, and she was exploring as usual.

I turned my back for a minute and then couldn't find her after looking everywhere. She's been gone for 2 nights, and I just now found her under some cushions downstairs, where the rug floor temperature would have been in the 30s-40s both nights.

She's very flat and very cold - I'm hoping that I can warm her up Has anyone else had this experience? What did you do? Thanks so much! I'm heartbroken

 

[Stellalife1]

Where are you located? Also, what substrate do you use in your tegu's den? I just use cyprus mulch but was thinking of adding some soil too for extra insulation.

Try coconut coir.