New to tegus with a new tegu

[wannabelizardwhisperer]

Okay, so first off; I'm not new to herping, but I am new to exotic herps. I threw myself willingly into the world of Tegus when I found a little baby Columbian Gold at an expo a few days ago. I want to give this little guy the best life I can so he'll grow up to be more of an animal pal than a pet.

So after reading countless threads and caresheets on here, I decided to ask some questions that were either skimmed or not even asked.

-It's only been a few days and my tegu seems very accepting of my touch already. He begs to leave his cage and will either explore on his own or sleep on my chest when I bring him out. (I lack a UVB lamp, so I bring him out when he wakes up to bask in natural sunlight every day. He usually finds my heart and "sleeps" on it) Is this because he's just still a scared baby, or is this a good sign? He's only hissed once and it wasn't even at me.

-He rubs his face on his tank a lot (he doesn't do it often, but won't stop when he actually does), and it really really bothers me. I don't want him to hurt his face doing this. What causes this? I've read that it's their way of asking to come out, but I don't want to reinforce this behavoir.

-Every so often, he'll rub his back legs together when I have him out, and then just go back to whatever he was doing. What the hell is this all about? I've read other people ask this, but no one ever answers.

Those are just the specific ones. Any other tips for a newfound tegu lover would be great!

 

[Ratram]

That's pretty cool that he doesn't hiss at you and wants to come out on his own. Mine won't come out at all. He won't even let me pick him up witout a bunch of thrashing around. My Tegu does the rubbing of his face after he eats or when he's in shed. That's it. I can't tell you anything else. This guy is way different from my other reptiles so I'm learning as I go.

 

[Sway]

I've had my juvenile girl for almost a month. She's great once she's out of her enclosure. She climbs all over me and lets me pick her up. However, getting her out of the enclosure is a nightmare. She'll let me pet her and sometimes pick her up in the enclosure, but once I start to move to take her out she'll thrash like crazy.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

If it's doing more exploring or trying to get out than resting that can be a sign of husbandry issues, like being too warm (trying to find a cool spot) or too cold and trying to find a hot spot. What are you using to measure temps?
Face rubbing can be just and itch, trying to remove shed (something else) or just wiping it's mouth. I wouldn't worry about it unless you start to see discolored scales or anything like that.
The same goes for rubbing it's back legs together, sometimes it's just an itch or marking territory depending on age. But can also be a sign of the area being irritated which parasites can sometimes cause. I would check to make sure that it looks normal and have a fecal done, especially since Colombians are not captive bred in the States yet as far as I know all are imports. Also it never hurts to rule out parasites captive bred or not, it's better to catch it early if at all than later on when it becomes a bigger issue.

 

[wannabelizardwhisperer]

If it's doing more exploring or trying to get out than resting that can be a sign of husbandry issues, like being too warm (trying to find a cool spot) or too cold and trying to find a hot spot. What are you using to measure temps?
Face rubbing can be just and itch, trying to remove shed (something else) or just wiping it's mouth. I wouldn't worry about it unless you start to see discolored scales or anything like that.
The same goes for rubbing it's back legs together, sometimes it's just an itch or marking territory depending on age. But can also be a sign of the area being irritated which parasites can sometimes cause. I would check to make sure that it looks normal and have a fecal done, especially since Colombians are not captive bred in the States yet as far as I know all are imports. Also it never hurts to rule out parasites captive bred or not, it's better to catch it early if at all than later on when it becomes a bigger issue.

I use an IR temp gun to test the temps in the cage. Since the first post, I built a 2 layer ~40 gal enclosure for him that tests ~85-95F in the basking area and ~75-80F in the back area, and he seems to have stopped the rubbing. I think he was feeling insecure and trapped in the 10 gal I previously had him in, because now he acts much more like what I was expecting of such an intelligent creature.

Edit: After reading over your post again, I noticed you said something about resting. After the move to his new enclosure, he'll spend most of his time basking and sleeping now. Is this going to encourage lethargy, or is it healthy for a gold tegu? Generally, when he's out of his enclosure he's very very active and just wants to get into every little thing, but treats his house like a "chill zone" kind of thing.

 

[SamBobCat]

The basking spot should be around 105-115°F

 

[Deac77]

The basking spot should be around 105-115°F

Aim for 115-125 for babies and 125-140 for adults basking temps

 

[wannabelizardwhisperer]

The basking spot should be around 105-115°F

As of a few days ago, I lowered his light to allow it to reach 105-115°F in the basking area and now whenever he's not digging or exploring my room, he's either asleep or basking.

I meant to post this the other day, but my phone died mid-post. Lucky for me the post saved and I didn't have to re type it.

Aim for 115-125 for babies and 125-140 for adults basking temps

125-140°? Are you sure? That seems more like the temps for a savannah monitor, not a subtropical tegu. Then again, I've never taken care of either one until recently, and now I have full responsibilty for a tegu and I help my friend with his baby sav and nile monitors.

On a side note, I live in North Texas; how successful would an outside enclosure/play house be for either of those three lizards? I have a feeling the monitors are going to grow like weeds and I want to raise my tegu with a healthy balance of naturalism and pampering.

 

[SamBobCat]

140 is WAY too hot for a tegu. It could burn their back and head

 

[Deac77]

As of a few days ago, I lowered his light to allow it to reach 105-115°F in the basking area and now whenever he's not digging or exploring my room, he's either asleep or basking.

I meant to post this the other day, but my phone died mid-post. Lucky for me the post saved and I didn't have to re type it.



125-140°? Are you sure? That seems more like the temps for a savannah monitor, not a subtropical tegu. Then again, I've never taken care of either one until recently, and now I have full responsibilty for a tegu and I help my friend with his baby sav and nile monitors.

On a side note, I live in North Texas; how successful would an outside enclosure/play house be for either of those three lizards? I have a feeling the monitors are going to grow like weeds and I want to raise my tegu with a healthy balance of naturalism and pampering.

Yes I'm sure, I'm in Lubbock Texas actually!

 

[Deac77]

140 is WAY too hot for a tegu. It could burn their back and head

Not at all. I'm talking about surface temps. You need up check your facts. The average temp in South America particularly the region tegus are from, is 90-95 degrees ambient. These temps were taken on a 90* day

Before you go around spreading bad info research. This temp study was done for one of my herpetology classes.

 

[wannabelizardwhisperer]

Not at all. I'm talking about surface temps. You need up check your facts. The average temp in South America particularly the region tegus are from, is 90-95 degrees ambient. These temps were taken on a 90* day

View attachment 8206

Before you go around spreading bad info research. This temp study was done for one of my herpetology classes.

Okay, I've adjusted his basking light step by step over the past couple of days with a similar temp gun to yours based on this thread, and your readings are almost identical to the readings that he seems happiest at. I'm learning as I go here, guys. Tegus are so much different than any other herp I've kept, so please forgive my ignorance and countless questions haha

Edit: How often is too often to feed him? I power fed him after bringing him home and I'm going to start feeding on Mon, Wed and Fri with a weekend fast. I feel like that's a healthy balance based on caresheets for tegus and my father's (a former rare fish breeder) advice.

 

[Deac77]

Okay, I've adjusted his basking light step by step over the past couple of days with a similar temp gun to yours based on this thread, and your readings are almost identical to the readings that he seems happiest at. I'm learning as I go here, guys. Tegus are so much different than any other herp I've kept, so please forgive my ignorance and countless questions haha

Edit: How often is too often to feed him? I power fed him after bringing him home and I'm going to start feeding on Mon, Wed and Fri with a weekend fast. I feel like that's a healthy balance based on caresheets for tegus and my father's (a former rare fish breeder) advice.

Please don't think I was telling you to check your facts, that was to SamBobCat, he gives bad info out quite often.

As for diet personally I think it depends on size. I feed daily till 2.5 foot and then go to the EXACT feeding schedule you mentioned. Except I do fruits and veggies in between meat days so like Tuesday Thursday are fruit days and mon-wed-fri are meat

 

[SamBobCat]

Sam= short for SAMANTHA thank you very much. My apologies if I give out wrong information "too often" but everything I know is based on an extensive amount of research and many, many different websites and forums. Do not be cross with me because I read some wrong facts on the internet.

 

[Deac77]

Sam= short for SAMANTHA thank you very much. My apologies if I give out wrong information "too often" but everything I know is based on an extensive amount of research and many, many different websites and forums. Do not be cross with me because I read some wrong facts on the internet.

I'm not cross with anyone. I simply get annoyed when someone screams I'm wrong and they have 0 evidence to back it up, and I have done studies over it.

 

[Deac77]

As for the info you've read, I don't blame or hold you accountable. It's sad that no one bothers to update any care sheets.

Had I been cross with you I'd make a point to correct you every chance I got. Instead of defending my info once

 

[SamBobCat]

Was I screaming? I don't think so. And thank you for your apology on calling me a boy. (Hint of sarcasm)

 

[SamBobCat]

And it's incredibly harsh that you would state "he gives bad info quite often" because now you're just knocking me down saying I tell people wrong information all the time.

 

[Deac77]

And it's incredibly harsh that you would state "he gives bad info quite often" because now you're just knocking me down saying I tell people wrong information all the time.

Once again there is no vendetta or "knocking" it's a trend I see far to often on here and get to many to police. You seem to post more than most just numbers.

As for the calling you a boy, I am sorry bout that just generalized it since I have no way of knowing it. But I won't retract my other statements. It's always good to look for new articles written within the last 2 years

 

[Josh]

Everyone needs to take it easy here. No more arguing. Not even know what studies everyone else has done. Not everyone has the exact same experience. Different things work for different people. The point is trying to help everyone keep a happy and healthy tegu. Please quit the bickering.