New arrival and a couple questions....

[OZZZ]

I have a chocoan coming from Tegu Terra on Wed and I set up the enclosure yesterday and have been doing temp runs to make sure everythings dialed in. Im running a powersun, a 12" piece of 11" Flexwatt, and an infrared bulb for night heat hooked up on individual thermostates.

I have a few questions I need some advice on though.

1) The animal is a few months old now and I have a 70 gallon aquarium I decided to use as a temporary enclosure until it gets a little bigger and acclimated at which time Ill construct the final adult enclosure and move him straight in.

Im starting to wonder if I should scrap the aquarium now and build something that opens from the side. Realizing Im going to have to work quite a bit on taming, and with the aquarium Im going to have to come at him from above every time... Im thinking I might be way better off to just buck up and build something now that has side doors so that I dont have to approach him from above. Not only that but its a 70 gallon tall too so that makes it even worse. Dimensions are 36"Lx18"Dx25"H.

What do you guys think? Will the aquarium work for a few months or will it be a real detriment to the taming process? If Im going to go for building a new enclosure I need to do it now because hes coming wed. If anyone could give me some input quickly I sure would appreciate it just because I have to do it... today really, if Im going to.

2) Also, Im thinking about starting a Dubia colony.

My only issue is that it will take several months before its up and running .. and by that time the 'gu will have grown that much more. Im wondering if I should even go for it. How long is it practical to have Dubias be part of a tegu's diet? How far into adulthood? I dont see to many people with 4' 'gu's saying they feed dubias so Im not sure it would be worth the time and effort to start a colony if hes going to outgrow them as a food source shortly after I get it up and running?

Any thoughts?

 

[HeatherN]

taming is a personal preference. coming at his from above may scare him at first, but get him more used to it in the long run. i came at mine from the side, and hes still nervous when anythings above him.

as for the dubia colony, i started mine maybe a month ago, and im feeding out of mine sustainably now, and he cant even eat more than maybe 3 adults in one sitting, so i feed medium nymphs. its all about how much you start with. i started with a combo of pregnant adults and tons of assorted nymphs. past the initial explosion of babies, its a pretty constant flow.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

I just want to emphasize "personal preference" some tegus don't do too well with live prey no matter what it is. So I would try a few first to see if it will like or even take to them before jumping into a colony.

The same goes for taming, it's up to you whether you want to work with the tank first or build the enclosure. In due time it will get use to you coming from above and even recognizing it as the way out. If the above thing is that much of an issue in the tank you can always try taking the top off, coming in from the opposite side the tegu is on and then approaching at it's level.

Like most things,.. above or not they all handle being approached differently "personal preference".

 

[OZZZ]

Thanks for the input. That was another question I had... if live feeder mice and rats are to be avoided.... why wouldnt the same principal apply to feeder insects? I thought the idea behind avoiding live prey was so they would calm down more. Then I see those same people feeding live insects.

I guess then my direct question is would feeding live insects inhibit the taming process? I realize individuals are different but as a general rule does it seem to cause problems?

 

[TegusRawsome80]

I honestly think the same people who frown upon feeding live mice feed live insects it's because feeding live doesn't change the taming process. I fed a relatively significant amount of live mice and insects to my first tegu when he was growing up and he had no food aggression issues and was completely dog tame. By far the tamest tegu I have ever met. I just didn't associate my hands with his food. I fed him solely off tongs since he was a baby. Essentially I think that the feeding live makes them aggressive and inhibits the taming process theory is false. You are right, live insects should have the same affect but yet doesn't. So I really think these people don't have proof behind the theory. I don't feed live anymore just because I have found that frozen is significantly cheaper these days, plus it is less brutal for the mice. I would NOT feed live rats as they pack quite the punch, but I have never had a mouse injure a tegu. Tegus have incredibly tough skin. However, I do not think it is better to feed live nor would I recommend it over frozen thawed.

 

[OZZZ]

Thanks for the input. ill probably set a colony up then. How large of an animal can still use them as a food source? Also, I just placed an order from hare today and have some frozen rodents from another source coming.

I would just assume use the aquarium for now since I have it. Once he grows out of it he'll hopefully be big enough to go into his final enclosure. I just wanted to see if it would cause any huge problems for me in the taming / trust development department. Doesn't sound like its a huge no no so ill probably just go with it and see how he does.

 

[HeatherN]

well, i think just like a person can make a meal out of cubes of cheese, a large animal can make a meal out of little insects, especially opportunists like tegus. i think it more has to do with the size of the colony: to take huge hits like that, its need to be large. also, it can be tedious to hand feed a ton of roaches.

 

[Rhetoric]

I tried roaches/crickets/worms for about a month before I gave up. My tegu loved them but it didn't seem too practical in the long run. I stuck with fish, poultry and rodents for the most part, he wasn't too interested in fruit until his first spring.
I did not handle him a whole lot at first. I would take him out of his enclosure (7.5x3.5x3.5 I think) here and there but for the most part I let him chill and get used to the surroundings.

 

[OZZZ]

I tried roaches/crickets/worms for about a month before I gave up. My tegu loved them but it didn't seem too practical in the long run. I stuck with fish, poultry and rodents for the most part, he wasn't too interested in fruit until his first spring.
I did not handle him a whole lot at first. I would take him out of his enclosure (7.5x3.5x3.5 I think) here and there but for the most part I let him chill and get used to the surroundings.

Rhetoricx ... could you elaborate on "fish, poultry, and rodents"

Im assuming whole fish as in sardines and the like. Rodents is self explanitary enough ... as far as poultry though ... just chicks you mean?

I ordered ground rabbit, duck, turkey and fish from hare today that Ill start him on. Ill add frozen thawed rodents to that .. but was wondering if Ild need to add insects to the mix.