So I am an idiot and bought a tegu at the local exotic pet store without thinking too much beforehand. I know I have the patience and capability to raise him but I need help if possible, I don't know how old my tegu is or how healthy it is. Length is approx 20inches, haven't gotten to measure. I have him in a 40gallon breeder now because the pet shop said it would be ok, and he has a few inches of reptichip substrate, deep enough to completely cover himself. I'm working on the design for an 8x5x3 enclosure, should have that done in a few weeks hopefully. He doesn't seem aggressive, but he is definitely scared and defensive at the moment, I haven't forced myself on him outside of just slowly showing my hands and softly petting his back when he isn't burrowed. I haven't seen him out of the burrow for 3 days but he has been moving around while I'm at work. So far he has only eaten some ground turkey and cantaloupe. I honestly have no idea what a good diet would look like, how much to feed him at once and how often to feed him. Any suggestions or references to a previous post would help a lot. I have done tons of research in the past few days so I'm not entirely clueless, but at this point I'm just trying to quickly adjust and get him into a life he's happy with. Doesn't seem aggressive, but when I took him out and let him free roam if I approached him without taking my take properly he did try to whip, but not bite. When I had to pick him up to get him back in the tank I made sure to sit in front of him for a bit first, slowly get him used to soft pets and then reached under his belly to pick him up, at which point there was no resistance and he didn't try to escape or move until i set his feet down in the tank. I know this post is a cluster of random things, but I'm just trying to know if I'm doing anything wrong other than buying unprepared at the moment!
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New Tegu Owner (Help requested)
- Thread starter MoccaTM
- Start date
Side note, I read somewhere that putting a dirty (preferably sweaty) shirt in the tank is good for them to get used to your scent and attribute it to security. So since tuesday he has always had one of my shirts in there that is clean outside of sweat from exercise. I think it's a good sign because he chooses to burrow with the shirt or directly under it every day?
ToadHallBetty
Member
- Messages
- 77
- Location
- Citronelle Alabama
Hi, what are your warm end, cool end and basking temperatures? Are you dusting his food with vitamins and calcium? UVB lighting? Sounds like you're doing a great job socializing him. It would be good idea to find a good exotic vet in your area, maybe touch bases with him/her in case you ever need a vet.
I don't know the exact temps or humidity atm, i have a dual lamp with a basking light and a uva/uvb light, calcium with d3 was spread on the turkey, I don't know which vitamins so no. As far as why i dont have temp/humidity stuff I just ran out of spending money until tomorrow when I get paid. I am misting his tank twice daily atm though
ToadHallBetty
Member
- Messages
- 77
- Location
- Citronelle Alabama
Colombian/Argentine Tegu Care
Thanks to Macgyver the Tegu, tegus are becoming increasingly popular. ReptiFile's tegu care guide has all the information you need to care for your new pet.
reptifiles.com
You'll get there. Lots of useful information at reptifiles( link above ) but don't let the shopping list freak you out, you don't need high end, name brand for everything. I do recommend the Arcadia UVB lights .Get a temperature gun, reptical calcium, (with and without D3,) reptivite vitamins. Check your hardware for dome lights with ceramic fixtures, heat bulbs...lots of useful stuff for much less money.
Get your tegu eating as many different foods as possible, especially greens and vegetables.
Best wishes
