B & W Tegu To-do List Advice?

[xundermikesskinx]

Hello, tegu talk members. My name is Mike & I just joined today, anticipating the addition of a new little baby tegu in my home. I just want to take a second and say hi to all of of you, because you all seem so friendly and welcoming!

I have been putting together a to-do, or rather, a to-get list for the setup of my new baby's home:

- 55 Gallon aquarium
- Zoo Med reptisun 10.0 UVB (TUBE)
- Powersun 100watt UVB (good for basking)
- Water bowl
- Hides
- Basking rock (slate rock?)
- substrate (eco earth)
- Day/night timer (12 hour intervals?)
- accu-rite 00891a1 Indoor/outdoor Thermometer/hygrometer
- Heat gun (which do you guys recommend??)
- Fooooodd!!!
- Pinky mice (once a week)
- chicken/beef hearts & livers
- ground turkey/boiled egg
- mangoes, berries, melon (if he will take it!)
- crickets (are they a good source of nutrition?)
- vitamin/calcium dust (which brand is recommended?)

If you guys have any advice, additions, insight, or even corrections to my list, please please please...feel free to offer it up!!!
I've been stocking up on info for a while now, but nothing beats good old-fashioned advice from those who are eperienced!!!
Lastly, thank you for being the friendly, reptile-loving people you are!!!

---Mike

 

[Steven.]

Welcome my friend. You should get a zoomed powersun. It puts out uva and uvb. Other than that great list. What kinda tegu are you getting?...

sent from my phone to your eyes

 

[xundermikesskinx]

Welcome my friend. You should get a zoomed powersun. It puts out uva and uvb. Other than that great list. What kinda tegu are you getting?...

sent from my phone to your eyes

Thanks for the welcome Steve.
im getting an oh so beautiful Argentine B & W.
Do you recommend 100w or 160w?
And should I combine it with a 10.0 tube?

Thanks so much for your help Steve!!

 

[Murkve]

Get the 100 W for now, and see how it heats your basking spot. I'm betting that with a 55g and a nice, dark basking spot you'll hit at least 110.

Don't break the bank on pet store merchandise would be my advice. Top Soil and Sand mixed work just as well as Eco Earth, and most bags are all natural with no chemicals or pesticides. Also, I wouldn't invest in plant matter too much until your baby gets bigger. As they grow, mix it in bit by bit with the turkey. They'll develop a taste for it.

 

[nessanicolle]

I would even try fuzzies if it's capable of eating it, pinkies are almost all cartilage and don't offer very much calcium as far bones go.

-Don't forget to get a good calcium supplement too!

Best of luck! -Vanessa

 

[Logie_Bear]

-Don't forget to get a good calcium supplement too!

^^ This! I would reccomend the ReptiCal w/o D3. I got mine from pangeareptile.com a long with a little temp gun that works great.

Also, I would definately reccomend a 40gal breeder over a 55 gal for your baby (unless you already have the 55 lying around). 55gal aquariums are more designed for fish, so have a narrow floor space. The 40gal would last your baby longer before you have to upgrade to a new home.

Oh, and I also have my set up with a MVB basking bulb and reptisun tube combo. I figure a little extra UVB can't hurt.

 

[bmx3000max]

Just my opinon to help you out
- 55 Gallon aquarium(will out grow fast)
- Zoo Med reptisun 10.0 UVB (TUBE) dont really need in a 55 gallon if you already have a murcery vapor bulb that puts out uvb.
-
Powersun 100watt UVB (good for basking)(yes but make sure it give you right temps, i had to go get a 160 cause i didnt know my 100 wasnt hot enuf since thier in my basment so definatly check temps and make sure the bulb you get isnt a dud were it gives off heat and light but no uvb wich is crusial you can see the problem i had and read it in my thread
-
Water bowl (good)
- Hides (one hot side/cold side)
- Basking rock (slate rock?)(good no heat rocks)
- substrate (eco earth)fine
- Day/night timer (12 hour intervals?) (Thats what i do, do times you can manage, i do 10/10

- accu-rite 00891a1 Indoor/outdoor Thermometer/hygrometer(sure)
- Heat gun (which do you guys recommend??)(very handy and good to have, should get one
- Fooooodd!!!
- Pinky mice (once a week)
- chicken/beef hearts & livers
- ground turkey/boiled egg
- mangoes, berries, melon (if he will take it!)
- crickets (are they a good source of nutrition?) just feed with variety
- vitamin/calcium dust (which brand is recommended?) Zoo med, without d3 all others are mostly oystrr sheels but dont over use the calcium or itl get sick

But youl find your own way that works for you etc.

 

[xundermikesskinx]

Get the 100 W for now, and see how it heats your basking spot. I'm betting that with a 55g and a nice, dark basking spot you'll hit at least 110.

Don't break the bank on pet store merchandise would be my advice. Top Soil and Sand mixed work just as well as Eco Earth, and most bags are all natural with no chemicals or pesticides. Also, I wouldn't invest in plant matter too much until your baby gets bigger. As they grow, mix it in bit by bit with the turkey. They'll develop a taste for it.

Thanks so much for those helpful tips!

 

[Neeko]

I don't think it was mentioned, but If your guys lil and you want an easy way to stockpile food... I freeze large batches of Turkey, liver, fish, oil mash in ice cube trays and pop em in to zip lock bags and into the freezer. Like 10 trays arcade time. Pull some out and thaw in the freezer at night night for the next day. Easy, less times to the store and efficient.

---

Also If your able and legal to do so, it very easy to start a dubia Roach colony to feed from. I save so much money feeding my own stock vs crickets from a pet store. A uvb detector, a device measure uvb would be good to check your light but are pretty expensive. Read so many reviews on brand of uvb lights lasting from 3-8 when they say they last for a year.

 

[bmx3000max]

Agreed...i got about 20 bags in my freezer of salmon,chicken breast,ground turkey and hard boiled eggs

 

[Murkve]

Get the 100 W for now, and see how it heats your basking spot. I'm betting that with a 55g and a nice, dark basking spot you'll hit at least 110.

Don't break the bank on pet store merchandise would be my advice. Top Soil and Sand mixed work just as well as Eco Earth, and most bags are all natural with no chemicals or pesticides. Also, I wouldn't invest in plant matter too much until your baby gets bigger. As they grow, mix it in bit by bit with the turkey. They'll develop a taste for it.

Thanks so much for those helpful tips!

No problem. I learned the hard way to use a dark basking spot. Because it absorbs heat better, you can achieve warmer temps in colder rooms. I tried a couple basking spot configurations: Bringing the rock closer, Bribging the light closer, Tin foil to reflect heat back in, etc. I felt pretty dumb when I finally put a darker rock in and hit 120F easily. Just make sure your MVB bulb is about 12-14" from the surface of the lizard, and ideally not filtering through any mesh. It seriously cuts the UV. Even at just 16" with no filtering, the amount of UVB available is minimal. If you're a Math kind of person, it has to do with the law of inverse squares. The amount of UVB given off is proportional to the inverse square of the distance.