Just bought a Columbian B&W Tegu, it's a baby around 7"-8." Right now I have it in a 55 gal that is 13Wx48LX20H, it seems to be comfortable. I have a bag of topsoil and about 4" of coconut husk substrate down right now, which also seems to be okay for him.
He has 2 pools, one big one and one small one on either side of the tank, both are under the heat lights. (I read this can help with the humidity, although I have seen no direct results of this.)
As far as heat goes, I have a 150W bulb on the hot side of the tank, and have temped his favorite branch basking spot at between 105-112 degrees. On the "cold" side of the tank it stays about 83-85 at substrate level. The cold side is heated by a 75W heat bulb. I have a flourescent UVB bulb that's 24" long and sits above the tank about 16" from the substrate, about 10" from his favorite basking spot. (I was told that those bulbs are good up to 20" of air space)
I do not yet have a very suitable "hide," but it has seemed very restless and keeps pawing at the substrate in front of the glass?? Not sure what that behavior means . . .
For humidity control I have a screen on the "hot" side, and plexi covering the "cold" side of the tank. I have my thermo about halfway up the tank and the ambient temp is always around 88-92 degrees. My humidity is usually between 40%-55%, so I try to mist often. I am trying to construct a timer regulated system that uses irrigation nozzles, so far I am getting frustrated and getting nowhere. Grrr!
He/She is shedding right now, and it's appetite is steadily increasing. Yesterday it ate 5 crickets and 2 small pieces of banana, today it ignored my mealworms in it's food bowl and ate 9 crickets within 2 hours. I am adding calcium to the crickets as well.
Anybody have any advice, I do have some pics of the tank I can post, and some pics of the tegu we named Cyan if anyone wants to see them. Any help is greatly appreciated. Especially if you know anything about irrigation systems!
He has 2 pools, one big one and one small one on either side of the tank, both are under the heat lights. (I read this can help with the humidity, although I have seen no direct results of this.)
As far as heat goes, I have a 150W bulb on the hot side of the tank, and have temped his favorite branch basking spot at between 105-112 degrees. On the "cold" side of the tank it stays about 83-85 at substrate level. The cold side is heated by a 75W heat bulb. I have a flourescent UVB bulb that's 24" long and sits above the tank about 16" from the substrate, about 10" from his favorite basking spot. (I was told that those bulbs are good up to 20" of air space)
I do not yet have a very suitable "hide," but it has seemed very restless and keeps pawing at the substrate in front of the glass?? Not sure what that behavior means . . .
For humidity control I have a screen on the "hot" side, and plexi covering the "cold" side of the tank. I have my thermo about halfway up the tank and the ambient temp is always around 88-92 degrees. My humidity is usually between 40%-55%, so I try to mist often. I am trying to construct a timer regulated system that uses irrigation nozzles, so far I am getting frustrated and getting nowhere. Grrr!
He/She is shedding right now, and it's appetite is steadily increasing. Yesterday it ate 5 crickets and 2 small pieces of banana, today it ignored my mealworms in it's food bowl and ate 9 crickets within 2 hours. I am adding calcium to the crickets as well.
Anybody have any advice, I do have some pics of the tank I can post, and some pics of the tegu we named Cyan if anyone wants to see them. Any help is greatly appreciated. Especially if you know anything about irrigation systems!
