Tegu interspecies hyjinks

[Thelegendofcharlie]

So i was wondering how many of you in our beloved forum had other pets that your Tegu regularly interacted with. I see many people have dogs and cats and neither seem to mind the other - sometimes anyway... How about you guys?
Anyone have positive or negative experiences introducing (appropriately sized) pets to your Tegu. Does the age of either pet seem to make a diference in longterm synergy?
How about other reptiles? I cant recall ever hearing of a Tegu being friendly with another reptile with the exception of Tortoises. Does anyone have a Tegu that gets along with something like a Monitor, Caiman Lizard or Water Dragon or does another lizard always turn into Fight Club?
Would love to hear your stories and opinions on this.

 

[got10]

I had a savanah monitor that lived part time with my tegus . Then I realized it was NOT a wise idea

 

[TegusRawsome80]

It's not smart to mix species. Period. People do it and will argue it but it only takes that one time they don't get along...

 

[Thelegendofcharlie]

i wouldnt do it and wouldnt encourage it, nonetheless it has been done and im curious about those Tegus that have had longterm interspecies friendships that never resulted in either animal biting the others face off.

 

[AP27]

Mine frequently roams the house alongside my two cats and gets along just fine with one of my dogs, the other dog is too hyper and might try to eat him... Odin doesn't seem to have a problem with other lizards. He gets curious when one of the beardies comes up to his cage, but I've never let them interact without the protection of a sheet of glass between them. I don't think he'd care much, my beardie on the other hand would probably foolishly attack him. Even though Odin gets along fine with the cats and dog I still don't let them around each other unsupervised. Though he's pretty good buddies with my female cat. They always make a point to walk over and say hi to each other when they're out and can sometimes be found relaxing together.

 

[Diablo]

I will never let my dog near my lizard ever point blank. I'm actually worried about this a lot because my dog has killed countless ground hogs, cats, birds, turtles, pretty much anything that enters my yard that is foreign. She leaves my cat alone though because I think she knows she is a part of our family and my cat usually avoids my dog. When I get my tegu I think I will only introduce it to my cat when it gets bigger, I don't trust any dog anymore.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

In addition to the risk of having diseases jump the species barrier, your biggest issues mixing two different species of lizard is having one try to eat the other. When Kodo still lived at the museum, he met the water dragon once. I only did that because they were the same size, but even then I knew it was a calculated risk. They were both leashed, held by different people, and didn't come close enough to each other to come into physical contact (they were almost their body lengths apart). Fortunately, they both ignored each other. The beardie was afraid of Kodo, as whenever he would walk by her tank Jabbette would puff a bit and never take her eyes off him. I think she mistook him for a goanna.

 

[TheTeguGurl]

When my tegus are free roaming my house I never leave them by themselves for any reason. we have 4 little dogs that never bother them but I never want to take the chances. Even if they get along with another animals or pet it is a smart idea to never leave them alone for any reason even if you trust them 100% ANYTHING can happen..

 

[got10]

My situation was tons different from that , my home was underwater . Well the animal cages for the most part were during the tidal surge of Hurricane Irene up here on Long island .So it was either keep them in a cage together or leave em to drown . I opted to place together for temporary measure.
but still not a good idea to keep them together like the pet store thing

 

[TegusRawsome80]

Even with dogs and cats together with tegus all it takes is one moment of looking up and the dog or cat could be on it. Just find it odd that people risk it.

 

[chelvis]

Alright here comes the different opinion. My dogs and tegus often interact, in fact its almost every morning. I let my male tegu and caiman lizard out to free roam the living room while I am getting ready for the workday. I do this for two reasons, one both the lizards are up and waiting at the doors, two the living room is like a green house with loads of basking areas. The female tegus often sleep in. My dogs have been worked with constantly from g-pigs and chinchillas to horses, snakes etc. Both are amazing fostering dogs for when we have kittens, Fluke even lets kittens and g-pigs crawl all over him and bite on his ears and tails. That all being said, I am always in the room and often times the reptiles just bask and the dogs just beg for food.

Here is what happens when the tegu and the dogs want the same thing:
http://youtu.be/3MMns77sT2c

As for mixing species it can be done, look at zoos, but it has to be animals that are the same size and require roughly the same things. I am looking to house my caiman lizard and my blue tegu together in a large cage (an L that is 48 square feet). The reason this could work, and I am prepared that it might not, is they require similar lighting, humidity and space but like fish in a fish tank they require different levels. By having high perching areas I am giving the placid caiman lizard an area to get away form the tegu, by making the swimming pond too high for the tegus, it gives it an area to soak without worry and with multiple basking spots (some high and others low) it allows for the animals to minimize shared space. When asking some reptile keepers at the zoo how they go about doing this they say there are a few match ups that work: aquatic placid and terrestrial placid; arboreal placid and terrestrial placid, aggressive slow and placid fast. Now I would never consider a tegu placid but in the 6 years I have owned Bosco I have never seen him even eat aggressively, hence why I think it can work with him. The biggest rule of thumb with mixed enclosures is keep everyone well fed!

As for the diseases thing, It doesn't matter how clean you keep things they have already been exposed to most diseases that have come into your household. Reptiles can get very few zoonosies form people or mammalian pets, there are lots from other reptiles which is why all should be quarantined before being allowed in a reptile room.

I do currently let my tegus and caiman lizard interact and both seem to avoid each other. On rare occasions when the want to occupy the same space they seem not to mind too much:

I know this goes against conventional reptile keeping, but in the wild not every animal that tegus encountered were food or predator.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

That's a Christmas card photo you got there, Chelvis. Love it.

 

[chelvis]

lol thanks. Sadly I think my mom will still choice a photo of me at work :/

 

[bonedoc]

In my experience most reptiles ignore each other. If you are looking to cohabitat I would do it gradually and with supervision. My son's had a Black and white tegu and a red tegu and they would roam and soak/bath together. But ultimately...they were housed separately. Accidents can and do happen so we hose to not take a chance and only have them together when supervised. My black throat monitor roams regularly but only when we are home. Our dogs are afraid of him and stay away, as they are small and he is over 5' and over 30lbs. But even still I'd never leave him alone with others. We also have larde birds and they are housed separately as well. They are allowed to socially interact when we are home to supervise.
In my opinion, it has to be done carefully and with supervision but there is no standard, what works for one may not work for another. Anything with a mouth can bite...and given the right circumstances a docile reptile or any animal,can get aggressive.

 

[typherp]

Great post Chelvis....

Bottom-line....mixing species takes knowing the species and individual habits of the inter-mixed species.

 

[Thelegendofcharlie]

That's a Christmas card photo you got there, Chelvis. Love it.

Yes - and dont forget to have enough for everyone in the forum

 

[chelvis]

With 3,562 members I think I would go bankrupt from all the printing. Looks like I'm going with e-holiday cards this year, lol.

 

[Thelegendofcharlie]

OH sure - never mind the little people.
At least we know where we stand...

 

[chriswizz]

My blue tegus, free roam the house & garden daily with our adult green iguana, there all of a similar size, they have all very friendly with each other. Never had any situations arise what so ever. Saying that there never left alone. I wouldn't say it's any different than keeping dogs & cats together, some will get along & some won't.