My Future Tegu

[Diablo]

Hello Everyone,

I decided to invest my time and money into getting a tegu. I have done sufficient research to know what I am getting myself into so know need for the whole "it is going to be big" speech that I have gotten from everyone reptile store ive been to. Anyways I have a couple questions specifically that research hasn't really clarified on.

For feeding a baby hatchling, every site I've looked at tells me what to feed it, but not how often. What I'm saying is, do I feed it once a day everyday, with the occasional small rodent every week? Or do I feed it more than once a day? I kind of figured it depended on the tegu, and I would just have to adjust to however much it wanted.

My last question is about the enclosure. Right now to keep it as a baby I have a glass tank (This is only temporary for while it is a hatchling). I plan to upgrade to a 6x3x3 in the future when it gets bigger, my only problem is how to go about this. I would prefer to keep it cheap as possible, but I still want it to look nice and be efficient. I was thinking about building a wooden enclosure with 2 glass windows in the front that slide. Has anyone done this or found some online that are cheap? Any input is appreciated.

Thanks!



EDIT: Forgot to mention I'm getting my tegu from varnyard stock, and should be getting it around the third week in july, I'm just getting the cage set up now.

 

[Kambrie]

I feed my tegu every other day.

And I can't really help you on the second question, because my tegu is still a baby and is in a 20 gal.

 

[Diablo]

I feed my tegu every other day.

And I can't really help you on the second question, because my tegu is still a baby and is in a 20 gal.

Do you feed it once during that day, or a couple times throughout the day? and yeah I have a 20 long tank as of right now to keep my baby in.

 

[tommyboy]

Once a day or every other day is fine. Let him/her eat as much as they want at each sitting.

 

[Kambrie]

I feed my tegu every other day.

And I can't really help you on the second question, because my tegu is still a baby and is in a 20 gal.

Do you feed it once during that day, or a couple times throughout the day? and yeah I have a 20 long tank as of right now to keep my baby in.

I feed her once, and I feed her as much as she wants to eat. She eats about 3 superworms, 6 crickets, some ground chicken and turkey, and sometimes a little bit of raw egg.

 

[HeatherN]

i wanted to make my large cage cheaply, but aesthetically pleasing as well. i took some of the old pieces of plywood i had, bought some more, and with no large-scale carpentry skills, i built a cage that size for under $200 with the same features you mentioned, as well as a support frame and removable platforms/shelf. and to clarify, i bought it all at home depot. it was a fun (and informative) experience, thats how i plan to make all my enclosures now!

as for the feeding, the common consensus for tegu owners SEEMS to be around once a day for as much as they want to eat in one sitting, some switch to every other day as an adult, but i see more variance with the adults.

I'm getting my new varnyard tegu too, from the extreme stock, and it will be my first tegu too! I'm really excited and have exhausted internet tegu resources, I'm pretty sure I've read most things twice! i can't wait for mine, I'm supposed to get mine around the same time, but haven't heard of my clutch hatching yet. but i digress! i can relate, good luck.

 

[A_Tegu_Named_Kabu]

I bought an old dresser 4.5x3 ft for 15 bucks.. tore off everything and bought a thing of plywood two cuts of plexy glass and a crap ton of screws... the whole job cost me about 150 not including the lights and bedding...

 

[Diablo]

Thanks for all the info, I'll look around online to see if I can find any already built for the same price and if not i'll definitely just go ahead and do it myself. Will the humidity inside the enclosure swell the wood?

 

[Kambrie]

If you seal it properly it won't

 

[JohnMatthew]

You really should feed babies/juveniles every day as much as they'll eat. Adults/subadults you can cut back to 2-3 feedings per week.

 

[HeatherN]

i sealed mine with 2 coats of polycrylic. its low fumes, dries quickly, and seems to hold up real well to liquid. hell, I've even spilled glasses of water on it. -.-

 

[larissalurid]

drylok is another paint people use to seal the wood as well. it will definitely be needed or the wood will rot and morph and just get ruined quickly.