Hello my son rescued a tegu last night ( we have had bearded dragons and various small lizards before ) this is our first introduction to life with a tegu, and we are scrambling to learn what we can to care properly for this neglected lizard. The home it was rescued from had nothing for it but a cage and some lighting (that wasn’t even plugged in) it was very lethargic last night but has since started becoming more active and curious of there new home. I’ve order a fogger/mister . I have the substrate down with some shaphgum moss (it was so happy !) we have the basic diet. But we were wondering firstly what type of tegu is it . What sex is it (I believe it’s a girl) and help and advice is amazing and welcome. We currently have housing that is 5x3.5 ft
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Advice needed
- Thread starter Jen.C
- Start date
TeguMommy86
New Member
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- 2
That’s so nice of you and your son to rescue this poor baby! I will caution you from experience to be careful with a fogger. I felt like no matter how much I was misting, the substrate just seemed to dry out within an hour so I added a fogger and within 2 weeks my tegu got scale rot from the substrate staying too wet. Maybe if you have it turned down to a super low setting or on a timer it would be less likely to saturate the substrate?
I’m definitely not an expert, but your baby looks like mine did when she/he was younger and mine is an Argentine Black and White Tegu. The hands on yours looked a little red so I was originally thinking you may have a Super Red, but then I noticed it was shedding in the other picture so it was likely just the lighting/shed causing the coloring to look that way.
It’s probably too early to sex your tegu accurately. I myself have thought I had a female for a year and have just started noticing things that have made me think she is a he! Hard to tell until they’re sexually mature though (at around 3 years old).
I use RodentPro.com for sourcing the frozen mice for my girl/(boy?). Bluey loves them and has been digesting them just fine. When I first got her I had thought it was really just for the protein but later found out the calcium in the bones and D3 from the organs. I had hoped to simply supplement with calcium and d3 powder, but read that it’s very hard to get the right dose and that full prey is the easiest way to ensure they’re getting the right dose of each.
Again, I’m not an expert and don’t even play one on tv so take what I’ve said with a grain of salt, but I noticed this had gone unanswered for a couple weeks and wanted to make sure you had some sort of response!
(Attaching a picture of my 1.5 year old Tegu Bluey)
I’m definitely not an expert, but your baby looks like mine did when she/he was younger and mine is an Argentine Black and White Tegu. The hands on yours looked a little red so I was originally thinking you may have a Super Red, but then I noticed it was shedding in the other picture so it was likely just the lighting/shed causing the coloring to look that way.
It’s probably too early to sex your tegu accurately. I myself have thought I had a female for a year and have just started noticing things that have made me think she is a he! Hard to tell until they’re sexually mature though (at around 3 years old).
I use RodentPro.com for sourcing the frozen mice for my girl/(boy?). Bluey loves them and has been digesting them just fine. When I first got her I had thought it was really just for the protein but later found out the calcium in the bones and D3 from the organs. I had hoped to simply supplement with calcium and d3 powder, but read that it’s very hard to get the right dose and that full prey is the easiest way to ensure they’re getting the right dose of each.
Again, I’m not an expert and don’t even play one on tv so take what I’ve said with a grain of salt, but I noticed this had gone unanswered for a couple weeks and wanted to make sure you had some sort of response!
(Attaching a picture of my 1.5 year old Tegu Bluey)
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Thank you so much for your reply. And bluey is adorable. I have absolutely fallen in love with the tegus .We have been learning a lot. My Mister is definitely incredibly low. It mists 10 seconds every hour which doesn’t do much for the humidity but I’ve definitely noticed that my substrate is very very wet, so I have taken to compressing it a couple of days to Take some of the water out of it. As of right now I have coconut fiber for my substrate, but I think I am switching to organic topsoil and place and I’m just not sure how the combination works whether it’s mixed or sand first netting, and then substrate on top I am not entirely educated on it, so I’m reading up on it before I make any switches. It has helped with her shed however as she had shedding stuck on her back feet and tail that we’re not coming off, currently she’s doing amazing she’s still skittish to snuggle in our lap but she’s taken to target feeding great and , she knows when it’s feeding time I tap her plate with the tongs and she perks right up. She’s curious as anything when we take her out for outside time she’s all over the place just getting into trouble and knocking knickknacks off of the lower shelves And has recently been trying to get into my heating vents she’s eating more. She refuses to eat mealworms and Dubai roaches as well as crickets. My next go to is hornworms. She is, however, eating raw, turkey and raw chicken mashed up with vegetables and vitamins as long as I hide it very well inside the meat, and she allows us to snuggling pet her and rub up on her while she’s lounging in her enclosure. And I have made her a landing because I love to craft so I built her a landing for her to climb up on. Rest which she loves. She has a newer picture of her after eating and of course the landing that I’ve built.
