INTRODUCTION / bit of a ?s on enclosure

[Strange_Evil]

Hey tegutalk forum !My name is Kaseem i'm extremley excited to now be apart of such a great tegu forum website with such great tegu owners/breeders ill try to be an active member and post frequently ! As of now i do not have a tegu. I will be getting a Argentine b&w tegu june or july 2011 (the wait is going to be killer ) . Im doing ton's of research though and was wondering if a 30 gallon (36" x 18" x 12")with a 160watt powersun mvb bulb would be good or should i use a 100watt power sun for the 30gallon or I might use a 55gallon for the hatchling so if i use the 160watt power sun mvb bulb in the 55gallon would that be ok for the hatchling? Please give me feed back on this both postive and if so negative i just want to make sure my enclosure is 100% right for the lil guy (hopefully) when i get him.
Also are the power sun mvb bulbs really good?I have not had one blow out but heard some people did.I would like your opinion on the power sun mvb bulbs though, thanks!

 

[Guest]

I would stay away from the 30 gallon if I could .. If you have a 55 gallon you could use that .. If you do not have a 55 you would be better off making an enclosure from plywood you will have to at some point any way as an adult tegu needs an enclosure 3x3x6 feet . I would recommend the 160 watt bulb .more UV and it would not be to much for a 55 gallon tank tho you should mak an enclosure 2x2x4 for your hatchling .. [my opinion] it would be good practice for the larger one ..I use power sun tho I don`t think any of them are worth a dam ...

 

[Strange_Evil]

Thanks for the input man i see what your saying but yeah i have a 55gallon so i will use the 55gallon with the 160watt thanks!

 

[Toby_H]

You will be amazed at how fast your Tegu grows...

A 30 gal will be too small to both with... The 55 gal will be okay for the first season but will not last long...

By "season" I mean from the time it is born until it's first winter.

Whether or not it hibernates will then depend on if the 55 gal will last through the winter. If it hibernates, it can sleep in the 55 gal but if it stays active all winter it will outgrow the 55 gal before spring.

My Tegu fully hibernated it's first winter... and by mid summer (his one year birthday) he had outgrown his 4' x 2' x 2' enclosure.

 

[Guest]

Yeah I can't imagine a 55 gallon lasting for too long. They grow like weeds. Keep an eye on craigslist, I found my 8'x4'x4' for 50 bucks (guy was moving out of state and didn't want to haul it). Since you have a while to wait I'm sure you can find something cool/useful. My tegu was about 10/11 inches when I got it in August and now at the end of november its pushing 27 inches. So far it hasn't shown any signs of slowing down.

 

[Strange_Evil]

Yeah i read how fast they can grow, which is really cool so ill start him off in a 55gallon and a month or two after that i will start to work on a permanent enclosure.So for now i will just think on the designs of it. thanks for the replies!