Tegu Growth Rate?

[Timothyprime]

Greetings everyone, first post!

This is my Tegu, there are many like it but this one is mine.

He is ~14 inches, 180 grams (as much of him i could get on the scale), and just about 5 months.

He looks large around his waist...is this ok? is it part of being a baby and growing fast?

Does he have any distinguishing features that look like a male or female?

I have been feeding him dubia, phoenix worms, hormworms, silkworms, chicken hearts, and a ground chicken puree with collared greens and occasional other greens.

Thank you in advance!

 

[WillowBuffalo]

Greetings everyone, first post!

This is my Tegu, there are many like it but this one is mine.

He is ~14 inches, 180 grams (as much of him i could get on the scale), and just about 5 months.

He looks large around his waist...is this ok? is it part of being a baby and growing fast?

Does he have any distinguishing features that look like a male or female?

I have been feeding him dubia, phoenix worms, hormworms, silkworms, chicken hearts, and a ground chicken puree with collared greens and occasional other greens.

Thank you in advance!

 

[WillowBuffalo]

Greetings everyone, first post!

This is my Tegu, there are many like it but this one is mine.

He is ~14 inches, 180 grams (as much of him i could get on the scale), and just about 5 months.

He looks large around his waist...is this ok? is it part of being a baby and growing fast?

Does he have any distinguishing features that look like a male or female?

I have been feeding him dubia, phoenix worms, hormworms, silkworms, chicken hearts, and a ground chicken puree with collared greens and occasional other greens.

Thank you in advance!

They look pretty healthy to me! Tegus grow insanely fast their first couple years…it’s hard to even comprehend. It is normal though, and their growth rate will eventually dramatically slow down. Based on the information that the super knowledgeable and experienced guy who I purchased my Tegu (Merlin) from, Tegus should normally have that loose skin flap on the sides of their bellies most of the time except after when they eat a really big meal in which case that skin flap will kind of fill in for a bit until they poop. It's just a general guideline but I think as long as they normally have that loose skin flap running along the sides of their body they aren't too overweight. Anyone is welcome to correct me if I'm wrong on this but I've been using this as a rough estimate/guide for a while now.
They're thick, chonky animals by nature…but there is definitely a balance between a healthy chonky boy and an unhealthy fatty Tegu.
At 5 months it’s way too soon to be able to tell the sex of your Tegu unless you have a vet give them a very uncomfortable and unnecessary probe but I would highly recommend against this. I totally get it though, I was pretty impatient to find out the sex of my Tegu for a long time as well but just have patience.

 

[Timothyprime]

Appreciate the response! I'm not so worried about their sex, I'm not going to put them through that procedure to find out.