Together or separate

[Shaun]

I just bought an Argentine b&w male tegu from a guy who had a male and female about the same size 3ft. He housed them together in a 40 gallon. I know not the best enclosure. He is also selling the female. The female is more tame than the male. I'm housing my male in a 5x3x2 enclosure with around 5 inches of substrate consisting of peat moss organic topsoil and pure cypress mulch. The male rarely comes out and is not eating much I've had him 3 days so I attribute it to being in a new environment. He may have a bite mark but when I got him they were curled up together. I have 2 100 watt basking bulbs over the tank and an 18 inch 10.0 reptisun uvb inside the enclosure about a foot above the substrate. My question is do they form a bond with other tegus. Also should you House a male and female together. Is my enclosure to small for the both of them. Here are some pictures of my boy Mac. He is not tame at all so I will be working with him once he fits into his new digs. Also he's in shed. And there will be pictures of poss bite marks. I'm not sure though.

 

[Shaun]

Pictures aren't uploading not in the best service area coming soon

 

[Walter1]

Hi- Several topics here.

First, they can be kept in pairs or groups. Individual behavior varies and not all can be expected to get along.

Your male's hiding can be due to both to newness and to brumation.

If you get the female, you must have an enclosure much bigger than his current home.

Forced into tight enclosure may have sparked the fight.

Not to be confused with their preference for sleeping tightlywith one another.

 

[Shaun]

Yea he has a sore on his nose from attempting to get out of the 40 gallon. I can't really afford more room in my reptile room than his current tank for a while so looks like he will be single.

 

[Shaun]

Here's possible bite

 

[dpjm]

I would keep him single. Here's my main reason. If you keep a male and female together then they will mate and she will lay eggs. Females kept on there own most often do not lay eggs, though it does still happen occasionally. Egg laying takes a physical toll on a female and if she is not very fit, it might cause her to have health issues. In the more extreme case where she is unable to lay the eggs (called dystocia) she will die, and this is not an uncommon cause of death among female lizards in captivity. Death due to dystocia is usually fairly quick, so the keeper doesn't always have time to react quickly enough to help.

For this reason (and others, but this one is usually good enough), I most often recommend against keeping males and females together.

And as Walter pointed out, there is not enough space in the enclosure for two, it will cause fights.

 

[Shaun]

Thank you. I'm not going to get her I'm going to take my time ugh him.

 

[Walter1]

Thank you. I'm not going to get her I'm going to take my time ugh him.

Smart move!

 

[Shaun]

Yea so far he may be in brumation still he's in shed but hasn't started anywhere. I don't see him at all he's burrowed when I leave for work and when i get home from work
He is eating and I did clean urate out of his bedding. I haven't seen any poop. He could've buried it.
I'm feeding him ground turkey,collared greens, turnip greens, and a boiled egg broken up. He seems to only eat turkey and egg whites. But he's very grumpy. Hissing and what not. I was fixing his enclosure and disturbed him last night he was curious smelling my hand but I went to pet him and he runs and hisses. Doesn't attempt to bite.