New here and need Tegu info & advice please!

[S&S_Dragons]

Hello everyone, we are new here we just joined and we are very interested in getting a baby Argentinian Black and White Tegu!
However we would like to get details and information from actual owners and breeders of these guys. :lol:

We are reptile breeders and wanting to get one for a personal pet as we don't have anything large, well not as large as the tegu will get for sure, we never plan to breed these huge things but I'd still love to own one.

I've heard alot good things about them but also some bad as well..

So please spill it, tell us your experiences with these guys, any details and useful info is also welcome, what would we be getting into?

Thanks for your time and have a great day!

Amanda And Heather
S&S Dragons

 

[JohnMatthew]

I've only owned my tegu(extreme giant from Varnyard) a little over a year and he's been a joy to keep. I made a few mistakes, mainly concerning lighting, but Bobby was on top of it. The same day I posted pics of my boy he got ahold of me and told me he was seeing early signs of MBD. Bobby set me on the right track and it's been smooth sailing ever since. If you do decide to get a tegu this is a good place to stay in touch with other tegu keepers. It never hurts to have people watching your back(post lots of pics), especially if keeping something you don't have experience with. Also something to keep in mind, they can grow extremely fast.. Boon has averaged about an inch a week when active(not counting the 6 months he spent in hibernation).

 

[S&S_Dragons]

Thank you very much for the reply and info.

I just now clicked the pay now on paypal we got a 4 week old black and white with a very green head lol. It will be here tomorrow!

I know all about having to have the right lights and UVB we have alot of other reptiles so we are good in that department.


Do they bite often, and when should I start to feed it pinkies?

"hibernation" is that a must and when will it start to do that? None of my reptiles hibernate!

 

[JohnMatthew]

Here's an excellent caresheet from Bobby's site:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.freewebs.com/twoteals/careandbreedingtegus.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.freewebs.com/twoteals/carean ... gtegus.htm</a><!-- m -->

This is a great foodlist puff put together:
<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.tegutalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1353" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1353</a><!-- l -->

As for hibernation, you don't really have to do anything, I was surprised.. You can try to persuade them one way or the other by minipulating temperatures but in the end the tegu does what they want.. My boy started slowing down pretty early last year when his cage temps were still low 80s on the cool side :shock: ..

 

[Anthony]

i agree with the above posts and if i were u id read every single thing written by bobby and any direct questions u have just ask him hes very helpful and full of knowledge... as far as biting i think if u get a tegu from bobby u dont have to worry about that mine is so tame and calm already only time i think shed bite is when she smells food on my finger.... this tegu is really my first pet i ever had and first reptile but i think i did good researching and choose the best reptile u can own ... to me there the best looking reptiles and one of smartest , friendliest lizards

 

[Beasty]

Welcome!
You came to the right place! Tegus ROCK!!!
I'm quite probably biased in my opinion as I have 5 at the moment.
Over the past 15+ years of keeping...you name it in reptiles, I have found that these critters are some of the smartest, best mannered, most tamable, prettiest animals I have found.
You won't be disappointed with getting one. Be ready to spend a bit of time with them as they like to explore and will likely drive you nuts until you let them out to play. :crazy
Other than that and females in guard mode after laying a clutch of eggs, I can't see a drawback.
So, getting only 1? Get a boy. They get big, stay chilled, no eggs. Nuff said!

 

[S&amp;S_Dragons]

Thanks guys.

Well as I said we just ordered one today and it is only 4 weeks old, a little early to be shipping them in my opinion but anyway they said they were too young to be sexed so I have no clue weather I'm getting a male or a female in the morning.

Oh and why are their head so green when they are born? And why don't it stay?

Well I'm glad to hear such great things about them!

And who is Bobby? Sorry I jut joined this site today lol!

 

[GraphiK]

Hey S&S, welcome to the site! Bobby is the owner of this site and one of the more prominent breeders of tegus, he is the breeder I got my beautiful little girl from. He is also able to sex hatchling tegus (It's not 100% but he seems to usually hit the mark).

The head of baby tegus is green when they are born and gradually fades into the tegus natural color as they grow. The coloring is used as a camouflage in the wild, protecting them from predators that would happily have them as an appetizer. As adults the sheer size they achieve is more then enough to deter most of there natural predators.

Tegus are able to feed on pinky mice from the day they are born. Stock up now, they eat A LOT! If you have other questions, feel free to ask, this is a friendly community.

 

[S&amp;S_Dragons]

Thanks I'm glad to find such a friendly active place and one that's helpful..

Well then I'll have to get pic's tomorrow and see if Mr Bobby can tell me the sex of it..

Well we have mice breeders, but before I got them I already had 2 jumbo fancy rats as pets so I can't see myself feeding it rats but I am able to feed small pinkies to the other reptiles.

Now does this thing HAVE to eat rats when bigger or can we still feed it mice?

So then it would be ok to feed it pinkie rats too now or just mice?

 

[cornking4]

You can feed them tons of adult mice when they're full grown, but it's absolutely vital to vary their diet past just rodents. I feed my baby ground turkey, chicken, liver, gizzard, heart, dubia cockroaches, chicks, and 1 mouse a week. It's best to rotate the use of each because they tend to get bored with it all if you mix it together. Just be sure to vary it up to prevent malnutrition.

As previously noted, tegus are amazing! They love to be played with, and with literally begin to love you in a very small amount of time. In every sense, they're a puppy dog.

Be sure to check out bobbys article on taming. I can't post a link because I'm typing this from my iPhone... Just go to Forum>Taming Tegus>"Taming the Beast".
It'll give you a good idea of a technique to use to gain the little fella's trust.

 

[GOT_TEGUS]

S&S_Dragons welcome to tegu talk. I had a tegu in 1989 after this first GU fell in love with them. Teguphile lol now I have 20 GUs . they are amazing lizards docile reponsive intelligent. Ive told many people you get one and youll be hooked.

Good luck
JD

 

[GraphiK]

Sorry, I should have been more clear when I said bobby can sex hatchlings. I'm fairly certain he sexes them by probing, in which case a photograph wouldn't be sufficient for finding the gender of your tegu.

 

[S&amp;S_Dragons]

Ah cool, I see. Thanks, oh humm my mom had a cow today when I said I was getting it when she seen how large it was going to get she said no way that it would eat our very small dog. I told her no it would be ok when it got large and we had it out we'd put the dog outside.

So humm could that happen, ya think it would bother our dog, she is very very small?

 

[GraphiK]

If you are feeding the tegu prekilled food primarily, most feeding aggression should dissipate if it ever appears at all so it SHOULDN'T be a problem. Keep in mind though, animals smaller then the tegu are considered food to them, if your dog is extremely small (Like the size of a cornish hen) then I would say it would be best to keep the two separated or at the very least only take the tegu out once it is well fed. I'm not the expert here and there are plenty of users with much more in depth knowledge of the tegu behavior then I, take my advice with a grain of salt I'm going only on what I have found out through research of the animal, not first hand experience.

 

[Anthony]

if the dog is small enough for the tegu to eat never never put them togethet at least thats my opinion , be very careful not to let them together ... if the dog is big enough that the tegu cant eat it should be fine unless your dog atacks the tegu

 

[skippy]

my boy is half grown and he ignores my 3 dogs (which range in size, 5lbs, 10lbs and 40lbs) and the housemates cat with equal disdain. even if they try to enter his cage he just chills.

 

[S&amp;S_Dragons]

Yikes! Ok thanks will keep away from dog lol..

So I got the tiny thing today and was not expecting it to be so small hehe, so adorable and sweet thought for sure, and VERY pretty. I just love it so much already, totally exciting..

I opened the box, put it in the tank, reach up above it and got a pinkie, and the second it hit the bottom the Tegu nailed it. So I guess the little guy was pretty hungry.

Now I have to figure out how to add a photo lol..

Thanks alot for the help and tips guys!

So do you guys think, I got a nice looking healthy one?