Apartment Life in a 6x3x2?

[trashtuna]

Hello everyone so I'm pretty new to raising a tegu so please bare with me here! So first thing first, I will be living in an apartment this fall and due to the circumstances I cannot build a large 8x4x4 because I simply do not have that much space to spare. So alternatively I was wondering if I could get away with a smaller enclosure such as a 6x3x2 for my future tegu to retire in, and then set up a free roaming area? Also, I know I need to put in a fair amount of substrate in for digging, so my main concern is how far away should the basking light be from the tegu? I am very afraid I wont have enough height to prevent burns, which is why I was contemplating setting up a closet for the basking area..which would be accessible while he free roams. Will my future tegu survive adequately if there are no basking lights in his enclosure? Thank you for taking the time to read this and to answer any of my questions!
Much love

 

[Justin]

I would highly recommend rethinking getting a tegu as my guy is just over a year and 42" long. Even with an 8x4x3 enclosure it will probably be just enough. Knowing what I know now as to how much space an enclosure takes up I would recommend you look into an ackie monitor if space is at a premium. The enclosure size you listed would be perfect for one. You can find yellow ackies fairly easy.
Just my 2 cents.

As to your question about basking lights no. If you do not provide it along with uvb your pet would Die! Slowly! Most reptiles will require a basking light or some way to regulate temperature.

 

[trashtuna]

I would highly recommend rethinking getting a tegu as my guy is just over a year and 42" long. Even with an 8x4x3 enclosure it will probably be just enough. Knowing what I know now as to how much space an enclosure takes up I would recommend you look into an ackie monitor if space is at a premium. The enclosure size you listed would be perfect for one. You can find yellow ackies fairly easy.
Just my 2 cents.

As to your question about basking lights no. If you do not provide it along with uvb your pet would Die! Slowly! Most reptiles will require a basking light or some way to regulate temperature.

Hey thank you! I will never buy an animal I cant properly take of, so thank you for your input! I'll look into an ackie monitor!

 

[ballpythoncrazy]

I would actually suggest holding off on any larger sized lizard until you have a house. Most of the time, landlords will NOT be okay with animals that require such a large enclosure filled with dirt and can weight several hundred pounds, especially if your apartment is on an upper floor.

If you'd like to try and proceed make sure to ask about your pet before even getting an application to any apartments. You don't want to pay $30 to get the application only for the landlord to deny your pet. If you find a landlord that will allow your lizard to live in the apartment GET THE AGREEMENT IN WRITING. That way the landlord can't turn around on you a few months later and tell you you can't have it.
With an enclosure as large as the one you'll need, there's no way you'll be able to hide your pet from the landlord.

I'm talking from personal experience here. I tried to find an apartment complex that would let me have my snakes and they all said no. Eventually I moved into an apartment anyways and tried to keep my pets a secret. Somehow the landlord found out about them anyways and I was evicted.
I also had a friend who had a hard time finding an apartment with her bearded dragon, solely because it ate bugs.


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