psychotideman
New Member
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- 3
I've kept frogs, fish, & reptiles in the past (in fact, have some fish & a turtle right now) but I've never kept & cared for large lizards.
My girlfriend and I wanted to to obtain a blue tegu, but in our searches online we are coming up with some conflicting information. I figured it's in our best interest, not to mention the best interest of any pets we obtain, to ask those that have and are caring for tegus before we really get down to it.
1) Lifespan of a Blue Tegu in captivity : I have heard 2 years, I have heard 6 years, I have heard up to 12 years. I realize that this will differ from animal to animal and keeper to keeper, but assuming the animal is healthy and kept in good health, is there an average range I could expect?
2) Size (Length & Mass) : Again, conflicting reports. Generally, I have heard that male blue tegus can grow to ~1 meter in length and 12-27lbs, with females being shorter and lighter. Other reports I've read in magazines, books, and shudder the internet have listed the length up to 2 meters (I think they are confusing the blue with something else) and weight from 20-60lbs, full grown. While I tend to believe the ~1m & 12-27lb, it would be terrible to learn that the second was true and have to give the poor guy/gal up because we couldn't care for one so large.
3) Average Monthly Cost for Care : I'm having trouble finding any information on this. I know it would be foolish to assume everyone feeds their omnivorous friends the exact same meals every day, but if I could get a ballpark figure it would help immensely. I know that other factors figure into this aside from food (such as substrate, lighting, heating, etc) but I feel those costs might be easier to absorb without planning. If I am wrong in that assumption, please say so.
4) We plan on converting one of the rooms in her house to the tegu's needs. At first we were contemplating just making the room into a large tegu enclosure, but after watching videos and reading more on specific needs this does not seem as feasible (for instance, heating an entire 13'x10' room and keeping the humidity up in it) economically. So now our plan, pending comments from the experts and community, is to create an enclosed area/terrarium for the tegus to reside in most of the time, and have a larger 'play area' out for when we want to interact with them or give them exercise/etc. The room also has a huge walk-in closet that I think we could use for a separate feeding area. One of the benefits of this solution would be the option to have several separate enclosed terrariums for different tegus or other pets that we could have and house in the same room, if not together.
That's all I can think of at the moment, I know there was more on our list of questions.
- Psy
My girlfriend and I wanted to to obtain a blue tegu, but in our searches online we are coming up with some conflicting information. I figured it's in our best interest, not to mention the best interest of any pets we obtain, to ask those that have and are caring for tegus before we really get down to it.
1) Lifespan of a Blue Tegu in captivity : I have heard 2 years, I have heard 6 years, I have heard up to 12 years. I realize that this will differ from animal to animal and keeper to keeper, but assuming the animal is healthy and kept in good health, is there an average range I could expect?
2) Size (Length & Mass) : Again, conflicting reports. Generally, I have heard that male blue tegus can grow to ~1 meter in length and 12-27lbs, with females being shorter and lighter. Other reports I've read in magazines, books, and shudder the internet have listed the length up to 2 meters (I think they are confusing the blue with something else) and weight from 20-60lbs, full grown. While I tend to believe the ~1m & 12-27lb, it would be terrible to learn that the second was true and have to give the poor guy/gal up because we couldn't care for one so large.
3) Average Monthly Cost for Care : I'm having trouble finding any information on this. I know it would be foolish to assume everyone feeds their omnivorous friends the exact same meals every day, but if I could get a ballpark figure it would help immensely. I know that other factors figure into this aside from food (such as substrate, lighting, heating, etc) but I feel those costs might be easier to absorb without planning. If I am wrong in that assumption, please say so.
4) We plan on converting one of the rooms in her house to the tegu's needs. At first we were contemplating just making the room into a large tegu enclosure, but after watching videos and reading more on specific needs this does not seem as feasible (for instance, heating an entire 13'x10' room and keeping the humidity up in it) economically. So now our plan, pending comments from the experts and community, is to create an enclosed area/terrarium for the tegus to reside in most of the time, and have a larger 'play area' out for when we want to interact with them or give them exercise/etc. The room also has a huge walk-in closet that I think we could use for a separate feeding area. One of the benefits of this solution would be the option to have several separate enclosed terrariums for different tegus or other pets that we could have and house in the same room, if not together.
That's all I can think of at the moment, I know there was more on our list of questions.
- Psy
