Keeping tegus on a budget, how to save money!

[Walter1]

We raise quail & often have extra adult males to give away, If your in the LA or San Fernando Valley area hit me up.

Excellent food.

 

[JoshD]

As are the eggs!

 

[Walter1]

As are the eggs!

Indeed.

 

[Saiph the Nercomancer]

What brand of top soil do you suggest? I know it would be organic, but what are all the other conditions? c:

 

[rats]

Ask at the grocery store and farmers market if they have any veggies/fruits that are "damaged" (bruised, broken etc.) that they would give you. Your tegu won't mind

 

[BucknerCrestExotics]

I order live chicks from Cackle Hatchery specifically the frypan special. The fry pan special is a surplus of male egg layers and if you order 100 it comes out to .50 per chick.

 

[TripleTegus]

I order live chicks from Cackle Hatchery specifically the frypan special. The fry pan special is a surplus of male egg layers and if you order 100 it comes out to .50 per chick.

Do you freeze the chicks yourself or do u keep them to feed alive?

 

[Dylan koch]

I buy my heat light fixtures from homedepot I just bought 2 300 watt onea they were 13$ each can't image how expensive reptile 300 watt capable heat lamp fixture would be!! That way of in future when my tegus get big enough to move them to their huge horse stall realistic setups

 

[BucknerCrestExotics]

Do you freeze the chicks yourself or do u keep them to feed alive?

We have a rabbit wrangler it humanely dispatches them by dislocating top of spine from skull. We feed them for a bit them dispatch and freeze whole

 

[Dylan koch]

Ya I highly recommend not live feeding it make your tegus more aggressive and if you were to get bit tends to be worse because then they always head shake

 

[rats]

I'f I need to travel for 3 days will my tegu be okay to be alone .? I love him so much I want to make sure he's safe!..?

Put the lights on a timer so they go on and off for 12 hours. Put extra water out. If you use a kitty litter box, change it before you leave (yes, they WILL use the box, if they get used to it when they're young).

I wonder if they'll eat dry cat food kibble?!

 

[Walter1]

They might. I'm just not sure if they should because it's so dry.

 

[Godzilla Earth]

maybe if you add water they might eat it

 

[ScaryAnimal1961]

Excellent advice, Kayla!

Every single thing I needed for little Scary's habitat was under half the cost at Lowes than at a pet store RW or online. The items are also better quality and last! Now my question. What is best to feed a year old Tegu? Any tips on getting him to eat fruit or veggies? Right now I sneak them in a ball of ground Turkey meat. Even when hungry enough to jump for my hand he turns up his nose at anything but insects or ground Turkey.

 

[piategu]

Feeding:

Take advantage of sales and order bulk online. Rodentpro often has $30 flat rate shipping specials and MiceDirect often has free shipping if you spend $125. Order a few months worth at a time, it is much cheaper than going to a pet store for your whole prey.

Asian markets have a wide variety of unusual foods available that you won't find at a typical grocery store and for very cheap. Snails, various whole fish and other seafood items, frog legs, etc

Craigslist and Feed store bulletin boards, ask for unwanted, rejected, or stillborn rabbit kits. Excess quail or chicken chicks.

Bugs! If you are offering bugs as part of their diet, a healthy roach colony will save you millions of trips to the pet store for crickets. yuck.

Farmers Markets, Co-Ops and road side fruit stands are cheaper than grocery store fruits and will most likely be organic too.

Heating:

Make sure your enclosures are sealed with no big screen vents.

If your enclosure is sitting on a hardwood floor, garage floor etc lift it up off the floor using cinder blocks or other building blocks. The cold of the floor will transfer to your cage so lifting it up will help retain heat.

Use multiple LOW watt bulbs to create a cluster rather than high watt bulbs to save on energy cost.

If the enclosure does not drop below 65-70 at night, don't worry about providing night heat. --- helps save on energy cost.

Humidity:

Make sure you have a well sealed enclosure and you may not even need any sort of humidifier.

If you wish to have a humidifier use one that is made for humans NOT one for reptiles. The ones for humans are cheaper and more efficient and reliable.

Decor and substrate:

Organic top soil bags from Walmart/Home Depot etc are under $2 a bag. MUCH more affordable and safer than expensive mulches or blocks of coco husk.

If you have a large enclosure to fill, find a "rock yard" or landscaping company that sells dirt/gravel/sand by the yard. A yard of topsoil will give you about 1ft in an 8ft enclosure for under $40.

or DIG YOUR OWN! Bio-active substrate, no cleaning, no changing out, and free.

Hides: junk yards/dumps or craigslist for 55gal plastic drums that you can cut in half and add a door way. or other large Rubbermaid storage tubs. Wine shipping boxes, etc

Cage Building:

Craigslist or dump for recycled wood and sliding windows to make doors.

Large shipping crates that furniture often comes in can be found on craigslist too

Florescent light fixtures for UVB bulbs, buy the fixture at your hardware store rather than pet store and it will be less than half the cost.


Written by: Kayla Goldberg

Such great information! So appreciated!