My New Baby Tegu!! (and a few questions)

[Aardbark]

I just got my new baby tegu today from Wildwood Reptiles in Florida. She arrived safe and healthy. Shes about 3-4 weeks old.

I placed her in her baby cage, she is very alert and active. Within the first 12 hours of having her, shes pooped twice and ate like 15 crickets. Shes been going around her cage, trying to climb out, or trying to dig out. Lots of digging.

Right now I have her in a 15 gallon aquarium, with about 5 inches of top soil / play sand mix 60%-40% (I plan to add some peat moss when stores restock it). She has a basking rock, water bowl, and hide. I mist the cage so it stays at about 80% humidity. The basking spot get to about 115F and the cool side stays at about 85F.

She spent most of the day, wandering around the cage, and digging holes.

I have a few questions:

Are the temps good? I use a temp gun to measure the surface temp of the basking spot, and it stays at 115F. But I also have a thermometer in there on both the hot and cool sides, and on the hot one it reads 110F and the cool side was 85-88F. Are these good for her? She barely used the basking rock at all, instead laying down somewhere in the middle of the cage. I even raised the lamp up, so that the basking spot went down to 110F, but she still didnt use it. Is the cool side cool enough? During the day it stays at around 85-88F, and right now at night the temp is 79F. Is that ok?

Is this acceptable baby behavior? I have read on many forums that its normal for a new baby to go into their hide, or burrow and not come out for days. My tegu didnt even use her hide, she went inside and immediately came back out. She dug a bunch of holes in the dirt, but she didnt actually bury herself. And right now, shes sleeping right out in the open on the surface. Is this all ok?

I just want to make sure my baby is getting the best care I can give her. Thank you for your help.

 

[Debita]

I think your temps are too hot. For a baby that size, you could easily go down to 100dg for the hot/bask area, and reduce your cool side to 70dg. Only adults are recommended 115dg. She may stop eating over time. I'd def reduce it. You'll be increasing it over a years time to bring it up to the temps you're doing now. Her activity sounds good to me. Active, and eating is always a thumbs up!

Your container will be too small soon, if not already. It's too small to achieve the temps you need to get to. They grow amazingly fast - usually surprising their new owners.

 

[Aardbark]

I think your temps are too hot. For a baby that size, you could easily go down to 100dg for the hot/bask area, and reduce your cool side to 70dg. Only adults are recommended 115dg. She may stop eating over time. I'd def reduce it. You'll be increasing it over a years time to bring it up to the temps you're doing now. Her activity sounds good to me. Active, and eating is always a thumbs up!

Your container will be too small soon, if not already. It's too small to achieve the temps you need to get to. They grow amazingly fast - usually surprising their new owners.

I did raise the bulb some so the temp is a bit lower and I see her basking a lot more. She is super active all day long, and already almost through a full shed cycle. She eats like 15 medium sized crickets a day, its hard to keep up with how mush she devours, she eats everything. Since posting, she dug a hide under her basking rock and goes to sleep every night under there. I added supports to it so it wont collapse.

I already have an adult enclosure ready for her, so when she is big enough she will be moving into that.