How big and different types.

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

How big should I expect a blue tegu to get?
And I'm confused about the different typesowder snow, platinum, etc.
Thanks!

 

[james.w]

Expect 4' and there is only one type, blue. The others are marketing ploys.

 

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

Around what time of year should I expect to see babies for sale?
Could you recommend any breeders?

 

[james.w]

June, check faunaclassifieds.com. they go fast when they are available.

 

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

With a varied diet that consists of only whole prey items and a high basking temp, how long do you think it will take a blue to reach adult length and how long until 3 feet?

 

[james.w]

I would say 6 months to a year to hit 3' and 1.5 - 2 years for adult length.

 

[Rhetoric]

Where are you located? They do sell very fast. I think it has to do with genetics and care, Guru was almost 3.5' by a year after staying up all winter. Some people claim blues do not brumate but for the time being they are T. merianae. Types such as platinum and powder are used to sell the animal. No different than Argentine red and Paraguayan red.

How are you going to be offering a varied diet by only offering whole prey? There are members on the forum who have tried offering a strictly whole prey diet, others are very against it. There was a period of time where I was offering whole prey multiple times a week but I would still feed other things. It got expensive fairly quickly, especially as my tegu started to fill out. I would not suggest power feeding whole prey to accelerate growth. This is the only thread I can find without doing some digging, there are others if you use the search bar up top.
http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=12821

 

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

I'm located in New Jersey. It looks like I'm going to buy from Ty or Underground Reptiles.

(All vertebrate animals will be F/T) A varied diet will consist of various whole fish(not just filets), mice/rats, chicks, roaches, worms, crayfish, and I'll goto asian markets to see if they have any prawns or frog legs.

I don't understand why people are against feeding whole prey, it's what they eat in the wild. Yes they do eat carrion but, that's not what most of their diet consists of. And when they do eat carrion they will consume some bone too.

I have no intention on power feeding or trying to accelerate growth, both are unnecessary as well as unhealthy.

 

[Rhetoric]

Ooooh ok. I read it as a varied diet but only of whole prey. Like rats, chicks, mice, hamster, maybe an anole, whatever else could be whole. I'm not against whole prey, I still offer it. I believe there are other things that can be added to help replicate a natural diet. My bad

 

[james.w]

Fruits and vegetables should be part of the diet as well.

 

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

Should I even bother to feed vegetables? Because from what I see in the wild the predominately eat fruit not veggies.

 

[james.w]

Where have you seen that? The studies I have seen have over 60% vegetable matter in their stomachs.

 

[solo_jolo]

while we are kind of on the subject, has anybody here had experience with buying a tegu from underground reptiles? i've seen a number of his videos and it seems like he's got some very nice animals.

 

[chelvis]

I bought one from them a few years back. I would buy from them again.

 

[TegusRawsome80]

I'd buy from other people before I'd buy from them. Something to do with the owner's past etc etc.

 

[chelvis]

I do prefer buying from breeders over stores.

 

[TegusRawsome80]

There was a good thread on Faunaclassifieds about them where some of the owner's past was revealed. I found it less than pleasant. If they had something I wanted I'd probably still buy from them but something about the thread I read really left a bad impression.

 

[TeguBuzz]

After reading about Rian Gittman's past, I was hesitant to purchase anything from them - but I did anyways, and things went very smoothly. I have purchased animals from them twice. They are pretty good. As far as tegus, blues specifically, I'd recommend Wil Combs or Ty Park.

The only thing I don't like too much about Underground is how they incorporate religion into their videos like no other. I watch their videos to see reptiles, I find the 20 minute segment they did last week focused too much on how evolution is not even possible and how creation is the way to go, and how if we believe in evolution, we will go to a different place while they go to "Heaven". All in all, they're reliable -IMO.