Well the time has finally come, and I am going to be a Tegu owner soon. Ive been researching monitors and tegus for about 4 months now, and finally bit the bullet. I placed my deposit with Varnyard Herps for a 2012 original B&W Tegu. Was going to go with an All American or Extreme Giant, but spending $350 on the animal alone just doesn't sit with me as well. Also, I currently have a bearded dragon, a Mississippi Map Turtle, and a colony of dubia roaches. Was looking for a bigger lizard to finish off my collection(for now anyways).
I just want to make sure I have everything planned out correctly, that way when I get him come June/July, I am 100% prepared. He will be living in a 75 gallon tank. I have a custom top made to fit inside the ledge of the rim, but it has hardware cloth instead of being solid. I plan on just putting a piece of plywood over it to seal the tank. For a substrate I will be using Zoo Med Eco Earth(I wanted to use Cypress mulch, but no stores local have any). Is 4-5" good for a hatchling? I also plan on having one or two "humid" hides with sphagnum moss. For UVB I plan on a 24" Reptisun 10.0, and for heat 2 or 3 65W Spotlight bulbs. I keep reading mixed info on basking spot temperatures. From what I gathered, 100-110* basking spot, 90* warm side, 80* cool side. Humidity in the high 80%'s. Everything seem good?
Diet, I plan on feeding a variety of ground turkey, eggs, dubia roaches, and the occasional fruit/rodent. I'm not particularly a fan of any other insects/feeders(took more two months to even touch one of my dubia), so what are some other good things to expand the variety a little more, since that seems to be the key.
Lastly, his final cage. I plan on 8x4x4, which I realize I will need before I truly know it. Front wall having an approx. 20" tall wall, then drop down plexiglass doors. Rest of it being solid wood. I want to install the mounted light fixtures inside(like I see on all the nicer cages), and ~1.5' of substrate. Two questions I've been stuck on about this part, is what kind of wood, and how do you wire those lights like everyone does. Any threads/websites that have How-To's? I found how to's for the cage and mostly everything else. But I always see people argue about melamine vs. DryLok'd plywood. Which will last longer? Money won't be an issue, since I plan on making this cage properly once and only once. But that doesn't mean I want to use Oak to build it haha.
Sorry for the long drawn out post, ADD+excitement never work out well
Pictures of the bearded dragon in case anyone was curious. He's from a local breeder, came with a good, yet sad, story. Mom died shortly after passing his and another clutch. His clutch only 6 survived, and the next clutch none. She was eggbound badly. His colors are also getting more intense by the day. Definitely my favorite animal so far.
Thanks
I just want to make sure I have everything planned out correctly, that way when I get him come June/July, I am 100% prepared. He will be living in a 75 gallon tank. I have a custom top made to fit inside the ledge of the rim, but it has hardware cloth instead of being solid. I plan on just putting a piece of plywood over it to seal the tank. For a substrate I will be using Zoo Med Eco Earth(I wanted to use Cypress mulch, but no stores local have any). Is 4-5" good for a hatchling? I also plan on having one or two "humid" hides with sphagnum moss. For UVB I plan on a 24" Reptisun 10.0, and for heat 2 or 3 65W Spotlight bulbs. I keep reading mixed info on basking spot temperatures. From what I gathered, 100-110* basking spot, 90* warm side, 80* cool side. Humidity in the high 80%'s. Everything seem good?
Diet, I plan on feeding a variety of ground turkey, eggs, dubia roaches, and the occasional fruit/rodent. I'm not particularly a fan of any other insects/feeders(took more two months to even touch one of my dubia), so what are some other good things to expand the variety a little more, since that seems to be the key.
Lastly, his final cage. I plan on 8x4x4, which I realize I will need before I truly know it. Front wall having an approx. 20" tall wall, then drop down plexiglass doors. Rest of it being solid wood. I want to install the mounted light fixtures inside(like I see on all the nicer cages), and ~1.5' of substrate. Two questions I've been stuck on about this part, is what kind of wood, and how do you wire those lights like everyone does. Any threads/websites that have How-To's? I found how to's for the cage and mostly everything else. But I always see people argue about melamine vs. DryLok'd plywood. Which will last longer? Money won't be an issue, since I plan on making this cage properly once and only once. But that doesn't mean I want to use Oak to build it haha.
Sorry for the long drawn out post, ADD+excitement never work out well
Pictures of the bearded dragon in case anyone was curious. He's from a local breeder, came with a good, yet sad, story. Mom died shortly after passing his and another clutch. His clutch only 6 survived, and the next clutch none. She was eggbound badly. His colors are also getting more intense by the day. Definitely my favorite animal so far.
Thanks
