Any guesses on approx age?

[Sold1ers1de]

I got my buddy here Hades, about 3 weeks ago from lllreptile.com and he's doing great. Didn't eat the first couple of days from what I thought was stress resultant of his new environment, turned out he was going through a shed and didn't want to eat...After he got done though, wow, can he eat!

Now, this is my first 'gu and I ordered a large from LLL (because I wanted to start with one that's already grown a bit) and was just wondering if any of the more experienced members on here can make an educated guess at his age (I say he because he has slight jowls, and I can feel his two pimple-like "buttons" near the base of his tail/vent...so I'm fairly certain Hades is a little dude.)

 

[Sold1ers1de]

And another pic

 

[TeguBuzz]

Size isn't always the surefire way to determine age. A tegu the size of Hades could be anywhere between 5-6 months old to even a year old. Regardless, looks like a great tegu, best of luck with him. What sort of setup have you got him in?

 

[Sold1ers1de]

I've got him in a 3x6x3 lidless enclosure that I made out of melamine. Got two infrared heat lamps on either side: warm side stay about 90ish with a basking spot of about 115-120F, cool side between 80-85. I don't currently have a temp laser gun, but rather use thermometers with a probe attached for a more accurate reading than a regular terrarium thermometer/tape. I also have his UVB on the warm side about 12 inches away from his basking spot. To keep his humidity up I use a repti fogger, which stays at about 70% humidity. During his shed id also mist 3x daily to up it to 80-90% humidity. His substrate is aspen, about 4 inches deep so he can burrow and hide when he wants, his actual hide is a unused cat litter box I flipped upside down and cut an entrance into. I keep that in the middle of his enclosure. I will definitely welcome any suggestions on alteration/modifications if any other 'gu lovers have em!

 

[TeguBuzz]

Sounds like a good set up. When you first said lidless the first thing that came to me was, how does he keep the humidity up? If your reptifogger is maintaining the enclosures humidity at 70%, then you're fine. The only thing I would worry about is your tegu somehow getting out, so just make sure it is completely escape-proof.

As far as bedding goes, I'd switch off of aspen and use a sand/soil mix or some sort of eco-earth/cypress mulch. I used a mix of cypress mulch and soil when I kept tegus as it holds burrows much better.

 

[Sold1ers1de]

I've tried looking everywhere up here man (upstate NY, near Syracuse) for cypress and could only find a "cypress blend," I didn't want to expose him to any pine or cedar, etc. and compromise his health, so I avoided it. Know of anywhere online that sells it?

 

[TeguBuzz]

You could buy it from Home Depot online, just make sure it's a pure cypress mulch blend. I've purchased from them before when they didn't have it in stock locally. Any online garden shops or something of the sort should have it - just find the most cost efficient one!