Getting my new Tegu setup

[Mombo]

Hey! Just joined the forums. My wife and I have been wanting a Tegu for a long time now. We currently have a Blue Tongue Skink and a Crested Gecko. We are finally ready to step up to the big leagues haha.

We are hoping to get our Tegu next month and I am spending this month building an enclosure and getting the lights setup.

My plan is to build and 8ft x 4ft enclosure. I cant decide if I should do it 3ft tall or 4ft tall though.

I am planning on using the screw on basic ceramic light sockets and having those inside the enclosure.

I am also planning on using about 1 ft of substrate. I havent figured out what kind yet. Seems like Cypress mulch or top soil is popular to use? Peat moss, Spaghum moss? Is it good to do a mix of different things? How often do people switch out there substrate?

So with the bottom being full of 1ft of substrate that would mean it would be 3ft to the top if I did a 4ft tall enclosure. I feel like that might be to far away for the UVB tube bulb I plan on using. I guess of course his basking rock is going to be a pedestal so maybe its 1ft tall or so or I guess I could make it as tall as I want... Will they climb quite a bit if its a pile of rocks? So if it was 1 ft tall that would put him 2ft away from it. Would that be sufficient though considering he wont be on the basking rock all the time?

If it was 3ft tall then it would be 2ft from the top after substrate and the basking rock could be anywhere from 6-12inchs tall to get the right basking temp I guess.

What do yall think about the heights? What works best for yall? And what is the reasoning people go with 4ft over 3ft?

 

[Walter1]

Hey! Just joined the forums. My wife and I have been wanting a Tegu for a long time now. We currently have a Blue Tongue Skink and a Crested Gecko. We are finally ready to step up to the big leagues haha.

We are hoping to get our Tegu next month and I am spending this month building an enclosure and getting the lights setup.

My plan is to build and 8ft x 4ft enclosure. I cant decide if I should do it 3ft tall or 4ft tall though.

I am planning on using the screw on basic ceramic light sockets and having those inside the enclosure.

I am also planning on using about 1 ft of substrate. I havent figured out what kind yet. Seems like Cypress mulch or top soil is popular to use? Peat moss, Spaghum moss? Is it good to do a mix of different things? How often do people switch out there substrate?

So with the bottom being full of 1ft of substrate that would mean it would be 3ft to the top if I did a 4ft tall enclosure. I feel like that might be to far away for the UVB tube bulb I plan on using. I guess of course his basking rock is going to be a pedestal so maybe its 1ft tall or so or I guess I could make it as tall as I want... Will they climb quite a bit if its a pile of rocks? So if it was 1 ft tall that would put him 2ft away from it. Would that be sufficient though considering he wont be on the basking rock all the time?

If it was 3ft tall then it would be 2ft from the top after substrate and the basking rock could be anywhere from 6-12inchs tall to get the right basking temp I guess.

What do yall think about the heights? What works best for yall? And what is the reasoning people go with 4ft over 3ft?

Welcome to this forum, Mombo. A lot of good information and nice members, many of whom have constructed enclosures for their tegus. Check out the enclose forum, but I'm sure folks'll chime in. Very well constructed ones here.

A suggestion that I have is to have the enclosure on a base or stand as tou would a big aquarium. Will look sharp, you can store things below, and tegu will be happier to be near your level.

 

[Mombo]

My follow up question to the rest of my questions is this. I'm planning on doing a juvenile tegu. Is a full size 8 ft terrarium going to just be to massive for him? I know they have all the room in the world in the wild.

So I was thinking I could build a 4ft x 3ft x 2ft terrarium for him to start in and when he outgrows it I could move my blue tongue into it.

Also thanks for the stand suggestion. I am planning on making a stand for it. Not sure if I want to make it 2ft tall or 3ft tall. I was thinking 2ft because if I make the substrate 1ft deep then the sliding doors would be about 14inches up. So if the door was at 3 ish feet it would be close to waist height so if I need to lean in and get all the way to the back of the terrarium it would be a lot easier. At a 3ft stand it would make the entrance 4ft up which would probably make the window at eye level for anyone....so many options and questions.

 

[viejo]

I would just go with the recommended size for an adult 8' x 4' footprint unless you already have a suitable container to start him out in. They grow @ an astonishing rate! My ♂ Cholmondely (Chumlee ) is just a little over a year old & is 4'+!

 

[beardeddragon111]

Im currently using cypress because my tegu has an injury and its less intrusive. What I liked more is peat moss/sand. I used that instead of topsoil since its lighter and my cage is on a second story.

 

[Mombo]

Ok back to doing 8x4. How about height? What did y'all think about my observations there? Opinions?

After more and more reading in leaning towards top soil / peat moss / sand mixture. Maybe 1 part of each or should I do 40% peat 40% top soil 20% sand?

Also I've read that it's good to pull out and replace all the substrate once per year. Is that right? Then you turn and mix it once per week ish? Of course spot cleaning it whenever he poops.

 

[beardeddragon111]

You only need a 3ft tall with 1ft of substrte and I havent found any benefit to extra hight.

If you dig dirt just straight from your backyard you dont need to replace it, other wise once a year is good. You can probably do every 18 months if you put in an excesive amount of microinhabitants to clean the tank.

 

[Mombo]

Assume I don't know what you mean by micro inhabitants and tell me about it. If you just mean bugs and what not I probably couldn't do much more then worms because my wife would be afraid of them escaping. I guess dubias from my colony. I doubt that is what you mean though.

1 year is fine though in reality.

 

[beardeddragon111]

Woodlice,springtails,Isopods are the most common ones used. These die quickly outside the enclosure. Dirt from outside has bacteria in it to help as well.

 

[Mombo]

Alright! Thanks for being here for all my questions so quickly!

So my next thing to figure out is my materials.

I was thinking about using melamine. But have been reading for long term it isn't ideal. Heat and moisture can be rough on it.

So I started looking at ply wood now. Seems like most people use dry lock to coat the interior to make it safe and sealed for the pets. When using dry lock do you need to seal all the edges with silicone? Do you do this before or after you dry lock it?

Are there other options then drylock? Anything better? Worth considering?

Or is melamine a better choice?

 

[beardeddragon111]

I used drylok and it's fantastic. I regret sealing the edges beforehand is the silicon I used was apparently non-paintable, and was VERY frustrating to deal with. I haven't used melamine but the drylok seems to be almost water proof.

 

[Mombo]

Alright last of my initial onslaught of questions.

Should I make a frame out of 2x2s and then use 1/4 inch plywood to do the whole thing or should I use thicker plywood like.. 3/4in and forego the frame? It's not going to have anything on top of it.

 

[beardeddragon111]

I'd build the frame for an 8x4. Also, 1/4" plywood won't hold well, use 3/4.

 

[Mombo]

Trying to figure out if I will need a heat source at night. What temps can they fluctuate to at night time? What is the best source of heat during the night? Ive seen those red night bulbs out there as well as CHEs.

Substrate wise are my thoughts of 1 to 1 to 1 top soil peat moss play sand pretty solid? Or should I go 2 parts on the peat moss? Should I be mixing in any Reptibark or anything like that? Should I try getting one of those bricks of coco husk stuff they sell?

For Drylock I noticed they have normal Drylock and Drylock Extreme. The Extreme says it lasts a bit longer and it dries smooth. Do most use normal Drylock for the rough feel? I imagine that helps with there nails when they scratch up on it.

 

[beardeddragon111]

For night time heat they're pretty cold tolerant for a reptile so unless it's going to the low 60's it shouldn't be a problem. The best heat source is a CHE as they can see red light. The 1 1 1 should work pretty well, and I'd skip the extra part on the peat moss. It doesn't hold a burrow as well as topsoil. If you want to, you can put a layer of cypress mulch on top to hold moisture but it's not necesarry. I haven't used drylok extreme so I don't really know how it us compared to normal drylock.

 

[Mombo]

Ok thanks. Haha I loaded this up right as you responded! Great timing. Since I am starting with a juvenile should I fill my enclosure with about 6 inches of substrate even though my enclosure will hold about 12 inches and then slowly add more as it grows?

 

[beardeddragon111]

Unless it's still pretty small, You could go ahead and put the substrate in. If he's in the 2-3 ft range I'd go for 12 inches because if much smaller they can be too hard to find. There was actually a thread not too long ago about somebody not being able to find their tegu in the substrate.

 

[Mombo]

He would be easier to find with 12 inches of substrate in?

Planning out my window right now. Trying to decide between glass and plexi right now. Seems like glass would be better as long as its around 1/4in or 5mm ish so its pretty strong. Other wise I imagine Tegus will scratch the hell out of plexiglass. Just not sure how much glass is haha.

I am thinking if I do a 8x4x3 for my enclosure I would have 1ft at the bottom that is just for holding in the substrate. Then maybe 4-6inch at the top that will kinda hide the light fixtures and what not at the top. So that would leave about 18-20 inches of space for the window. Is that big enough for the window? I guess that is why people do 4ft tall ones, so they can have bigger windows. Im thinking 20in wouldnt be bad. I wonder if 4in would be enough to hide the light fixtures well.

 

[beardeddragon111]

Sorry if my wording wasn't good what I meant was if by a juvenile, you mean in the 2-3 ft range, I'd gor for a 1 ft substrate. And if thy e tegu is any smaller he can be hard to find. As for the door, I didn't use glass or plaexi, I just used mesh. I will be switching to plaexi though because winter is on its way and humidity is becoming a struggle. My door is 15" high and 4 ft long, though I'd go a little bit longer for an 8x4. It is kind of a pain to reach way in the back so wit

 

[Mombo]

Ok. Anyone with experience on glass thickness? 3/16th or 1/4in needed? Standard glass work or does it need to be tempered?