Is my Tegu too small?....

[Phlip5150]

I presently bought an Argentine Black and White Tegu from a Mom and Pop pet shop. They told me it was wild caught from Florida. They had it for about a year and claimed they got it at around 6 months old which would make it around a year and a half. It is 23 inches. Is that too small? It looks very healthy. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Phlip5150]

I bought an Argentine Black and White Tegu 5 days ago from a Mom and Pop pet shop that has great reviews. They claim it was wild caught from Florida and it was around 6 months old when they got it. They had it for about a year. It is only 23 inches long but looks really healthy. And help on this is truly appreciated.

 

[LizardStudent]

Not at all, their size vs age varies wildly. Although if you feed it well it will likely bulk up quickly

 

[Phlip5150]

Awesome I appreciate it!! I have trying to check the gender too but it may be too young.

 

[LizardStudent]

General rule is by six ish months you can try checking but of course it depends on size too. If you have a real good trained eye (which I personally do not), you can tell the gender from birth

 

[Phlip5150]

Yea so far there are no "marbles" next to the base of its tale.

 

[TheTeguNovice]

Size of Gu’s at that age may very dependent upon if the animal brumated or not. If your worried about it potentially being stunted IMO I don’t think that’s the case. If his feed response is good he should put on some growth in no time!

 

[Phlip5150]

Thank You!! I appreciate the feed back.

 

[onnie0047]

I presently bought an Argentine Black and White Tegu from a Mom and Pop pet shop. They told me it was wild caught from Florida. They had it for about a year and claimed they got it at around 6 months old which would make it around a year and a half. It is 23 inches. Is that too small? It looks very healthy. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Roadkill]

Within each clutch there are usually a few really fast growers, a few really slow growers, and the majority grow at a similar rate, so there is really not a "proper" size for a tegu of any particular age. Just because it may be small to your perception doesn't mean there's a health issue.

 

[IrieRogue]

I presently bought an Argentine Black and White Tegu from a Mom and Pop pet shop. They told me it was wild caught from Florida. They had it for about a year and claimed they got it at around 6 months old which would make it around a year and a half. It is 23 inches. Is that too small? It looks very healthy. Any help is appreciated.

It is on the smaller side, but this isn't necessarily alarming. I've seen some slow growers. Since they brumate, the growth rates vary vastly. Also, if it is female, she will likely grow more slowly and won't reach an abnormally large size. Looks like a healthy baby! It is also possible that they were off in age estimates. Just keep providing it with adequate lighting, humidity, substrate, diet, space, and love

 

[Debita]

Looks like a female beauty!! I'm starting to forget the early stages, but I'm pretty sure my wild caught B/W had jowls that were presenting by this time. It was obvious that he was a he - and my female wild caught could have been a sister to yours! Nice of the pet shop not to lie about wild caught.....kudos to them for that!