New B/W Tegus

[themedic]

thanks for all the criticism, the basking temp right in the center of the beam sits at 100 degrees, as far as the coolside of the tank its much cooler around 75.

as far as humidity goes, the relative humidity is around 50% as in texas its almost always humid, i do know that the humidity in the lower levels under neath the mulch is much much higher, i woke the tegus up yesterday to flip the mulch over since it dries on top within a day or so plus I want them to get used to me
interacting with them and their cage. the mulch underneach is very moist not, moldy moist but i can assume humidity is about 100% under neath which is where they spend about 99% of there time right now due to hibernation.

I dont have a humidity guage, I'll probably place one 2 inches above the surface in the middle of the cage to give me an average of humidity its obviously going to be higher on the hot end because of evaporation.

but as far as temp goes they are in a good range i would assume after about 5 mins under the light they are very warm to the touch and are alot more active.

 

[themedic]

also, i can lower and swivel those lights, they can be lowered another 3-5 inches.

 

[Pikey]

it will be higher on the cool end where it's best to place the gauge you want it 65-80% in the air

 

[Infidel_03]

Jees....you guys really jumped this guys case. Everyone frustraqted your tegus are hibernating or what? Powersuns are good up to 6' for god's sakes Cool tegus medic.

 

[Pikey]

no just trying to help him out (i did not know they were good to 6' thats good to know)

& no none of my 4 tegus are hibernating

 

[themedic]

thanks indefel, yeah they are hibernating right now, but i have food waiting for them when they wake up. critisism is always good i felt i had to lower the lights anyways, but i didnt want it to be to warm for them i suppose they would just go to the cooler side if they were too hot though, they are smart enough to not get roasted haha

 

[txrepgirl]

I didn't mean to give him a hard time. Thanks for letting me know about the light.

 

[lazyjr52]

Jees....you guys really jumped this guys case. Everyone frustraqted your tegus are hibernating or what? Powersuns are good up to 6' for god's sakes Cool tegus medic.

No one was jumping on him, just giving friendly advice...

 

[TanMan57]

The only concearn I have is the screen, I had a screen on the front of my old cage and my tegu I had now would be the only one of my gu's to climb up it and I was always concearned he would get hurt. So just keep an eye on them when they wake up.

 

[themedic]

Yeah my father was like "They dont climb up those screens" and I was like "No, they shouldnt" I later find out they can climb really good but, if they do manage to be able to climb, then hold there weight while upside down then yeah they might be able to climb out, but hopefully this wont be the case, otherwise I'll have to build another cage that is shorter like maybe 2ft, or so cause this one i built 3ft, I was originally going to put a couple of pythons in there but I decided to get these lizards instead, ive owned every boa and python ever born lol, decided on getting a lizard species they are much more active lol

 

[themedic]

So its been about a month since I got my tegus.

Everything is going good, low maintenance since they are semi hibernating, coming out every now and then to bask, drink water, and eat.

I havent held them for a while since they are hibernating and today I woke them up so I could mist there cage a little and put some food in there, the male was acting very pissy he wouldnt let me get near him and would actually charge at me if I got close.

it was pretty crazy, they lunged at me so i thought twice about trying to pick them up, I just misted there cage and fed them and left them alone, im guessing they are just getting territorial with there "cage".

Plus having a male/female combo doesnt help as he is very protective over her.

Its not really a problem though. They are small and think I am a predator and although there aggression will not improve with age I am sure once I get into my house and allow them to roam around they will be a lot more comfortable and less aggressive.

This is a picture of my female, being territorial... lol

 

[themedic]

Well my male will not let me get close to him, when I get near the enclosure he runs to his hide and burrows, the female lets me take her out and hold her, she loves to crawl on my shoulder and sit there when I watch TV.

When I go to take her back the male is basking and when I go to open the cage he runs back and burrows.

hopefully he will cheer up.

 

[themedic]

Note - they are both eating everyday alot.

I feed them a hand full of dog food/chicken/tuna/egg mixture they love it and eat it all up, i put there food in there and its gone an hour later, i want to re-feed them but I dont think its necessary.

 

[TanMan57]

Note - they are both eating everyday alot.

I feed them a hand full of dog food/chicken/tuna/egg mixture they love it and eat it all up, i put there food in there and its gone an hour later, i want to re-feed them but I dont think its necessary.

Dog food and cat food is not good to feed tegu's despite what some people say it is full of preservatives and other chemicals that may be ok for mammals but not reptiles. If you read the back of the cans you can see all of the bad items that no animal should eat.

 

[First Time Tegu]

I would be careful with feeding them in their cage, they will eventually get more aggressive. They will associate your hand with food...only put it in their cage when you have no other option (if you cannot remove them).

 

[themedic]

They never actually see me put the food in their cage, they are pretty much always burrowed, I cant exactly pick up the male, the female is cool but if I could take the male out I would putt hem in a bin, the female shows no interest in me when i open the cage just looks at me and doesnt move, even when I get close to pet her she just sits there and doesnt move she is very mellow.

I would pick the male up if he would let me but he just runs away and goes under the mulch, I dont want to mess up his hide and try to pick him up.

There really is no way to feed them but in there cage, I mean the female will eat anywhere, im pretty sure even out of my hands but I havent tried that yet.

Anyone have suggestions on what to do with the male?

I want to feed them a strict diet of just meats, eggs, veggies and fish but right now dog food is what I have so that is what they eat, they really like it they smell it about 5 mins after i put it in and come out to eat.

 

[themedic]

So the male keeps lunging at me I just want to grab him and hold him but when I get close he lunges at me, i personally thing its halarious but if he continues to be like this I am thinking of just selling him, the female is great and lets me pick her up all the time. what to do.....

 

[themedic]

so my male wont let me get near he he still runs i am guessing he will chill out with time, im thinking maybe because they are housed outside they can smell like dogs/cats and they think i am going to eat them or something, the female is a doll i can pick her up anytime she doesnt even arch her back or anything, the male if i move my hands he just runs, i first wanted to sell him and just keep one but i dont want her to be alone.

hopefully in a couple of months he will chill out, i havent been able to grab him in about 45 days because he just runs away and they said if you chase a tegu around it just stresses him out. so ill just leave him alone does anyone have any simlar stories? should i still attempt to pick him up or just leave him alone untill he chills out?

 

[TEGU_JAKE]

i would wear a shirt for a day then throw it in the cage for a week or so then try to get him so he smellsd your scent. ive done this in the past and it worked great

 

[themedic]

Couple pics of the GU's growth.