NEW TO TEGU

[WHKRAZYK]

Hi everyone, I am new to tegu's and just recently acquired an ARG. RED TEGU. He is around 2 years old the owner said and I have him in a 75G aqaurium, with a reptisun 10.0 and a hot spot around 89F surfacse, 93F air temp. My question is, I gave him a water dish big enough to fit his whole body in, and well now he like lives in his water, he sleeps in it, wakes up eats, then goes back to sleep in the water, every now and then he adventures around the cage, but he pretty much stays in his water bowl, and I also have 9 inches of cypress mulch in there for him, so I woulda thought he would rather bury himslef then sleep in the water............thanks for the help everyone.........kyle

 

[DaveDragon]

With an air temp of 93 he's probably trying to cool off! (j/k) I'm assuming that's above the basking spot. The basking temp should be 95 to 110. What is the cool side temp. How close to the ReptiSun can he get? I've never had one that stayed in the water, they would walk through it once in a while and make a mess.

 

[WHKRAZYK]

his air temp in the cool side is 82, and he could prolly stick his toung to the UV if the lid wasnt there. I took him out today to get some fresh air outside(which he seemed to enjoy) and I had to wrestle with him to get him back inside, but now he has been very active, walking around the cage, digging, licking everything. The only time he has gone into his water bowl was to walk through it. Hopefully he will burrow tonight to go to sleep. Thanks for the reply........kyle

 

[Jer723]

if hes really that close i think that might be dangerous. im not sure but arent those bulbs supposed to be a ft. away from your tegu???? im not sure but i couldve sworn ive heard that somewhere dont know if its true or not.

 

[WHKRAZYK]

In order for him to reach it he would have to stand on his hind legs in the middle of the cage, and stick his toung through the lid, when he's standing on the ground on all 4's he's about a foot and maybe 2 or 3 inches, for a two year old tegu, he is really small, the guy said he kept him in too small of an enclosure so maybe he didnt grow as much as he should, but now I have him in a place he can run in a bit, and last night he finally slept outside of his water dish, but he didnt bury, he just slept like right beside the dish.

 

[Jer723]

well thats a good sign! maybe his water bowl is his place of security. how big is your hide?

 

[WHKRAZYK]

he has one of those half log hallowed out type of things its about 9 inches long 5 inches tall maybe 6 inches wide, I think the water bowl is his secure place, I dont move him from his water bowl for that very reason, but today when I got home from work, he was still out of his water bowl, so hopefully hes more comfortable on dry land now.

 

[Jer723]

you might want to get a bigger hide, ill give you a suggestion, i use a rodent hide house, it is huge, about 12 inches tall and about 12 inches wide and its a circle, it is great! so it has lots of space. and it is made out of like straw, so it is very easy to climb up onto. so i use it as a bask spot also. it is great, but he likes to poop on it and its quite hard to clean, but it was cheap, only 6 bucks at the local petstore.

 

[WHKRAZYK]

OK, THANKS, I will look for that tomorrow

 

[dragonqueen4]

Is it possible he is getting ready to shed, mine stays in his water bowl when he is shedding.. and is your humidity high enough for him?
he must be an awfully small 2 year old if he fits in a 75g... thats not much space at all.. did you measure him? i'd be interested in knowing how big he is!!

 

[ashesc212]

To clarify, the Reptisun tube should be 8-11 inches away from him. You wouldn't want it any closer or any farther away.

That's interesting about the water bowl thing.

What are you feeding your little guy to bulk him back up?

 

[WHKRAZYK]

he is about a lil less than 2 feet long with tail, im feeding him a mix of ground turkey, a lil beef, cantaloupe, strawberries, mustard greens, cod oil, ground dog food to thicken it up, and im prolly forgeting something, but I form it into balls, and freeze them, and give him 2 balls a day, if there is anything wrong, please tell me, I heard that recipe from a guy who says hes an experianced breeder, and I got the repti-sun down to 12 in. from him.

 

[dragonqueen4]

do you let them thaw out before you feed them to him?
also feed him superworms, mice.. one a week, chicken hearts, gizzards, an occasional hard boiled egg.

 

[WHKRAZYK]

I put the frozen meatballs in his cage when he falls asleep, so by the time he wakes up its completely thawed, I gave him a small f/t rat friday, and crickets wed., ill have to try the livers, eggs and stuff throughout the next couple weeks.........thanks dragonqueen4