Just bought a BnW Tegu !

[tegutime94]

Hi guys, i recently bought a BnW tegu, i used to breed Bearded dragons and ball pythons a few years ago. I sold everything though and wanted a tegu for a long time. I did pick mine up from petco so i was iffy about it... he is around 6-8 months i was told. But i have seen him there for a few months getting dog food and decided to take him one day. He was always tame and normal, Anyways i bought him a bearded dragon kit, but coconut bedding soft for him instead of the sand they gave me, which the kit came with a UV bulb and a heat lamp which i have on seperate sides of the 20 gallon tank, aswell as some plant like material that sticks to the side of the wall, a water bowl and a rock hut for him to hide under. I am starting him on crickets tomorrow morning, and i was wondering a few questions which i am currently researching:

Night time lighting?

Feeding time? (i was thinking 9-10 AM)

Handling? (should you wake him up from sleeping?)
How often should i handle him to make sure he is tame.

Can you powerfeed tegus?

overall i think it is awesome and i cant wait for him to grow any input or advice would be awesome ! THanks!

-Trevor

 

[HPIZZLE]

Is it an argentine or a columbian? Coming from petco, i would imagine it to be a columbian so the care could be slightly different..

 

[tegutime94]

Is it an argentine or a columbian? Coming from petco, i would imagine it to be a columbian so the care could be slightly different..

It is a columbian tegu.

 

[KSTAR]

To Tegutime - i usually started them off with good gutload insects in the morning as hatchlings and then some nice heavy food for lunch and dinner....sometimes i was only able to give them breakfast and lunch cause of my schedule and cause they would go down since i had them on a schedule which was according to the sunlight outside...so mornings is light meals like insects dusted with calcium and multivitamin powder and i dust all they’re foods. then i fed them whole prey like rodents and chicks for adults on weekends or every 3 days or so to make sure they don’t suffer from impaction. talapia fish,ground turkey,raw egg with shell (here and there) which has calcium for them so its good every once in a while,scrambled egg,fruits if they take them....mine took grapes...raw chicken cutlet cut up,chicken legs or feet,liver,gizzards, and chicks as adults are good whole prey as well. i never gave them dog food and wont. i never gave them any canned foods....and they’re food is frozen and thawed out hours prior to feeding...once they become adults all the insect feeding goes out the window lol and you can just alternate with the foods you’ve already been giving them. any more questions just leave them here and ill help out

 

[tegutime94]

To Tegutime - i usually started them off with good gutload insects in the morning as hatchlings and then some nice heavy food for lunch and dinner....sometimes i was only able to give them breakfast and lunch cause of my schedule and cause they would go down since i had them on a schedule which was according to the sunlight outside...so mornings is light meals like insects dusted with calcium and multivitamin powder and i dust all they’re foods. then i fed them whole prey like rodents and chicks for adults on weekends or every 3 days or so to make sure they don’t suffer from impaction. talapia fish,ground turkey,raw egg with shell (here and there) which has calcium for them so its good every once in a while,scrambled egg,fruits if they take them....mine took grapes...raw chicken cutlet cut up,chicken legs or feet,liver,gizzards, and chicks as adults are good whole prey as well. i never gave them dog food and wont. i never gave them any canned foods....and they’re food is frozen and thawed out hours prior to feeding...once they become adults all the insect feeding goes out the window lol and you can just alternate with the foods you’ve already been giving them. any more questions just leave them here and ill help out

Petco said that there not to sure on the age except that it's around 6-8 months I'm feeding it crickets at the moment, he just got
Into his cage but hasn't eaten I'm the morning
I have the crickets in there own little cage and I didn't vitamin dust tem but I will. I am still waiting for him to eat I'm not
Sure when he will eat but he has been basking a lot.

 

[Josh]

Congrats on the new addition! Can you share some photos of him and his setup?

 

[tegutime94]

Congrats on the new addition! Can you share some photos of him and his setup?

Yes I will upload photos soon!

 

[larissalurid]

Make sure it's a full spectrum UVA AND UVB bulb he has, not just UVB!! I'm not sure what the package you got comes with so just want to make sure.

 

[tegutime94]

Make sure it's a full spectrum UVA AND UVB bulb he has, not just UVB!! I'm not sure what the package you got comes with so just want to make sure.

I do have both , hes been burrowing alot i assume thats normal i dont want to interupt him and dig him out.

 

[tegutime94]

Held him yesterday, he has not come out of his burrow since 12ish, lunch time, yesterday, I had yet do see him eat also... I chopped up grapes into 1/4s and no luck so I took the grapes out. I got fresh water and misted his cage. (been doing that everyday not sure if I should) anyone know what's going on? Thanks!

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Congrats on the new addition, he needs time to acclimate and settle in. During that time he may or may not eat. As long as they're healthy with enough fat reserves they can go long periods of time with out eating, when it's ready, it'll eat

 

[tegutime94]

Congrats on the new addition, he needs time to acclimate and settle in. During that time he may or may not eat. As long as they're healthy with enough fat reserves they can go long periods of time with out eating, when it's ready, it'll eat

Thank you ! I've been trying to bond handle an tame him but rarely does he come out my tank has UVA on one side and UVB heat lap on the other he was basking the other day under heat lamp now he burrows himself opposite side of tank.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

I don't know what kind of lights you have or if the UVA emits heat or not but there should be a hot and cool side to help them regulate their body temps. If your temps are too high it can cause them to hide more or try to escape, since they're trying to get away from it.

Depending on how much it was handled by the previous owner, hopefully it won't take it too long to start coming around.

 

[tegutime94]

Still borrowed ... Waiting for him to come out... Threw a freeze grapes in there ! He seems to come out at night.

 

[got10]

Hi guys, i recently bought a BnW tegu, i used to breed Bearded dragons and ball pythons a few years ago. I sold everything though and wanted a tegu for a long time. I did pick mine up from petco so i was iffy about it... he is around 6-8 months i was told. But i have seen him there for a few months getting dog food and decided to take him one day. He was always tame and normal, Anyways i bought him a bearded dragon kit, but coconut bedding soft for him instead of the sand they gave me, which the kit came with a UV bulb and a heat lamp which i have on seperate sides of the 20 gallon tank, aswell as some plant like material that sticks to the side of the wall, a water bowl and a rock hut for him to hide under. I am starting him on crickets tomorrow morning, and i was wondering a few questions which i am currently researching:

Night time lighting?

Feeding time? (i was thinking 9-10 AM)

Handling? (should you wake him up from sleeping?)
How often should i handle him to make sure he is tame.

Can you powerfeed tegus?

overall i think it is awesome and i cant wait for him to grow any input or advice would be awesome ! THanks!

-Trevor

Feeding early morning to give time to bask and digest food
Power feeding ?
Not a good idea that was a trick to get snakes up to size for breeding. You don't want your tegu to grow too fast they are going to explode as it is just with regular feedings . You are going to get a bigger cage soon , VERY soon.
andle every day for at the least til it gets used to it . about 15 minutes a day then increase it a bit at a time . Much like getting a pissed off beardie used to being handled
Invest in some roaches and do it fast because that cute little lizard will have quite an appetite and an attitude to match .
i know the info is a it disjointed but that is all i can give off the cuff