New tegu owner looking for advise.

[Rescue.a.tegu]

Hi all. I just rescued a tegu about a week ago. The old owner wasn't able to give me much information about him (I am still brainstorming names..). When I went to pick him up he was in a 75 gallon, and he is about 30 inches long. The tank was filled with at least 4 inches of pack hard dirt that I literally had to scrap out, with some looser dirt on top. There's no way he cld have borrowed. He cld barely move around. The dirt was filled with super worms. He also had no lights. The previous owner only told me that she bought him in November 2020 and that he was a baby. I'm guessing he is about a year old. If anyone can shed light on how to tell a tegu age I wld appreciate it. From what I've read they grow at completely different rates. Of course I have no information on if he has ever went into brumation. I have since moved him into a 80x48x48 grow tent and he seems to be happy. I am still working on getting his temps and humidity correct, they are a little low right now but I ordered more lights that shld be here soon. I didn't have much of a heads up before I was asked to pick him up, so I had to get things together last minute. The good part is he is very docile, curious and alert. It seems like he was handled regularly. I have done research on tegus but wld love to hear any advice from someone experienced with tegus. So far I only got him to eat 2 mice and a little piece of beef and an egg. I've offered fish and chicken and some strawberries. He doesn't seem to be thrilled about food.. maybe he doesn't like for me to see him eat. If I leave the food he might nibble at it. I'm not sure if he is acting like that bc that's his personality (he's just shy) or is it bc his temps are not right or is it the stress of moving? Thank you all in advance for any advice u guys can give.

 

[Debita]

So - it sounds like a true rescue. Awesome that you're doing that! What comes to mind after reading your post is that he is docile for now, because of being poorly kept. We can hope that he was brumating, but you'll never know at this point. At 30", he needs a basking light to start, of 110 dg, to 115 dg right away. Tegus need to bask, to process their food. It will also liven him up a lot. Getting yourself a temp gun will be a very useful tool for you (they're cheap). He's going to need humidity, (use a mister to achieve about 70-80% humidity) so he doesn't have skin issues while shedding. He would do well with frozen/thawed mice (his natural prey - probably hoppers, or small adult mice) to get him onto a normal diet..... most of us dust them with calcium containing D3, I use Repti-Cal. That's super important. Most Tegus love ground turkey, which is usually offered in meatball sizes that he can grab for one bite. They can be filled with veggies and fruit pretty easily. I haven't used them yet, but there are several people that use Repti-Links and I think that would be a good start for you because they are designed for Tegus. Abundant fresh water at all times (refreshed every couple days). You need a good UVB light so he doesn't develop problems like Metabolic Bone Disease, which happens generally because of a problem assimilating calcium.

It's not as much as it seems, but each thing is important. Don't slack on any of the requirements. One last thing for now - get some Fish Oil from Costco that you can drizzle over his food. Helps with sheds, and just getting the fat content that they'd naturally get in the wild.

He sure is cute!! Looks like a male to me in your first pic, the second one - not too sure! Good luck!

 

[Rescue.a.tegu]

Thanks for responding. I have a bearded dragon, turtles and a gecko. I love reptiles and always wanted a tegu, they are just so cool and have cute personalities. Building enclosures is so fun. So, when a friend of mine called me about a tegu that needed a home asap I was thrilled and drove 2 hrs to get him. I did question whether it was really a male since the previous owner did not seem too knowledgeable. I do have a heat gun and calcium powder. I have a tube uvb that I'm putting up and a heat admitter bulb shld be here soon. Then he will have a heat build and an admitter. Right now his basking spot is at 92.. I know it needs to be the 120 range, I'm working on that. I also want to add a piece of slate or something bc right now its black foam. It was a nice idea but doesn't get hot. Lol. In that black box is a mix of play sand, sphagnum moss and soil and I made it damp.. I also spray him down with a spray bottle, he seems to enjoy that. I also have a new humidity reader coming. I did put a temporary one in there just to get a read and it was 75%. The tent holds humidity very well.

 

[Debita]

You're on your way - he's a lucky guy!