New tegu (Mincks)

[Kai]

Hey I have a new columbian tegu named mincks!
Iv been wondering if humidity is something I should worry about, I have Eco earth and it's pretty moist itself and I plan on misting every day in the mornings. I'm just curious if I should get a humidity meter and go as far as sealing off the top part of the tank to keep in humidity. Mainly just trying to find what's best and learn from people who know what's best
Thanks

 

[Maro1]

If you are using Eco earth just make sure it is dark in color as opposed to its dry light brown color. That will keep the humidity up high enough.
Just curious how did you get the name Mincks?

 

[Kai]

If you are using Eco earth just make sure it is dark in color as opposed to its dry light brown color. That will keep the humidity up high enough.
Just curious how did you get the name Mincks?
[/quote

Alright thanks!! And I got the name from a friend who's name is mincks and he used it as his xbox name a while back and I thought hey why not call my new tegu that!!

 

[dragonmetalhead]

I use Eco Earth. Works great. As long as you mist thoroughly every day, you won't have humidity issues. It does get your tegu a little dusty, but it's great for burrowing and looks nice to boot. Can you put up some pics or your tegu please?

 

[Kai]

Ya the Eco earth looks nice and so far has been staying moist. And I'll get some pics up today one mincks wakes up! I know I just got him in all and I noticed he likes to sit on my shoulder when the suns out and after an hour he warms up and wants to search my whole room! But I have too keep stopping him from going somewhere I can't reach him at. Also when I feed him should I just put him in a decent size box and let him eat what I feed him?

 

[m3s4]

It's a good idea to keep humidity levels up around 45-55%. Too much humidity can lead to mold in the enclosure which you want to stay away from, and not enough humidity will result in bad sheds. In my personal tegu enclosure I keep it right around 55-60% throughout most of the year but I up that level when they're shedding.

Feeding him outside of the enclosure is a good idea while he's young so he doesn't become hand/food/feeding aggressive in his enclosure.

Misting is a viable option early on, but I would recommend getting a real humidifier from Home Depot, Target, Walmart etc..
For 25$ you can have a nice humidifier (not to be confused with mister) that does a nice job at maintaining your specific humidity level(s).

Be careful with Eco earth and similar products that can and eventually will, get into his nostrils, eyes, ears and/or mouth. It's a bummer when they get a piece of fiber stuck in their eye(s) and it's not easy to flush out. For this simple reason alone I avoid these and similar products, but that's just me.

Good luck!

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Congrats on the new addition and welcome to the site. I use Eco Earth as well, I keep it damp most of the time then add more water to bump up the humidity when they're in shed.

As long as he's comfortable with being outside of his enclosure, then you can feed him when he's out as well. In a separate container, with a plate or bowl on the floor,... doesn't matter. Maybe some paper towels or something under it because they can be messy eaters.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

I use puppy pads when I take Kodo out to eat, since he tends to pull the food out of the dish and smear it on my carpet. Also helps when he goes to the bathroom.

 

[Kai]

I tried to feed mincks in the bathtub which freaked him out pretty bad:\ so I picked him up and he ran right up my arm onto the top of my head where he stayed for a good hour, I gave up trying to grab him from there he would make a huffing noise if I tried to. Well he seems to be non-aggressive, so far no bites and besides a few situations where I pick him up he's a chill little guy! Well I'm looking into a humidifier and thanks for the advice I'm taking it all and using to my best judgement. Also should I let him eat crickets in the tank? He didn't eat in the tub so I dumped about one dozen...also the noise of the crickets kept me up all night! Should I use crickets? I just don't know what else is easy to give them that I can just drop in the cage if I'm at work or something

 

[m3s4]

lol - your description of the 'huffing' is funny because while not all Colombians "huff", the ones that do are pretty funny. My golden huffs at almost anything - he huffs at the other tegus, he huffs at me - I wouldn't be surprised if hearing his own huffing makes him huff even more...it's comical.

As for feeding, a better source of protein is this:

Lean turkey purchased from almost anywhere.

Take 2 raw eggs. Crack them and filter out the yolks - you only want the yolks as the stickier "white" part of the eggs are counter-productive and can cause problems when eaten in large quantities. A little research will tip you off to the biotin deficiencies this part of an egg can cause. Also - save the shells - they're to be mixed with the yolks and turkey.

So, by effectively filtering out 90% of the whites, we can now mix the 2 yolks with lean turkey. I suggest 6 tea-spoons of turkey, 2 yolks and 6oz. of water.

Put all the ingredients into a blender and mix until you have a nice slurry which should be pinkish in color and have the consistency of a shake.

This will make probably 3 servings for your little guy.

Pour some into a small 3" or 4" dish and place it in front of him.

I have a feeling this is all he'll want to eat for quite some time which is perfectly fine as long as you add calcium and vitamin supplements 2-3 times a week to the mix.

This is a derivative of the San Diego Zoo's slurry mix they use for their monitors, komodo dragons and tegus. It is an exclusive diet that according to documentation, they use year-round.

All the ingredients are the same, I have only changed the amounts of each to suit my tegus eating habits.

Hope this helps - my tegus absolutely love this food. It's easy to mix in their supplements and whatever isn't eaten can be refrigerated for a few days before spoiling. Oh and it doesn't make any noises that keep you up at night!

Good luck!

 

[Kai]

Haha ya he does little huffs either to amuse himself or when he's not happy. He also huffed when I showed him his reflection then he ran to the back of my neck to hide or something haha. Like I said I'm new to tegus and their very interesting behavior.

Also I'm going to whip some of that up tomorrow, he ate 7 crickets :0

I know baby tegus like to climb or at least what I hear, but is that apart of his affection towards me or is he just looking for a nice warm place to chill and check things out? He loves being on my neck and head it's really funny how quick he scales my arms and chest haha!

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Zoo Med has canned crickets that will mitigate the chirping factor. I haven't met a lizard yet who wouldn't eat tinned insects. And if you're worried about substrate ingestion, just use a dish.

 

[m3s4]

Haha ya he does little huffs either to amuse himself or when he's not happy. He also huffed when I showed him his reflection then he ran to the back of my neck to hide or something haha. Like I said I'm new to tegus and their very interesting behavior.

Also I'm going to whip some of that up tomorrow, he ate 7 crickets :0

I know baby tegus like to climb or at least what I hear, but is that apart of his affection towards me or is he just looking for a nice warm place to chill and check things out? He loves being on my neck and head it's really funny how quick he scales my arms and chest haha!

I would consider him hanging on your arm and wanting to be by your head a neck a form of affection because you are offering him a kind of safety. He feels safe on and around you and that's a great thing for you and he when trying to introduce them to this new, huge world around them. It's bonding, plain and simple.

I'd like to see him huffing at himself in the mirror - you should try and get that on video haha.

 

[laurarfl]

Can I add? I would supplement calcium with every lean turkey meal, especially for a young tegu. You want the meal to be 2 parts calcium to 1 part phosphorous. Lean boneless meats and most feeder insects are super high in phosphorous and have no calcium. The rate of supplementation is 1/2-1 tablespoon per pound of meat, so you can divide down according to how much you are preparing. My Colombians also enjoy fruits as they get older.

 

[m3s4]

Can I add? I would supplement calcium with every lean turkey meal, especially for a young tegu. You want the meal to be 2 parts calcium to 1 part phosphorous. Lean boneless meats and most feeder insects are super high in phosphorous and have no calcium. The rate of supplementation is 1/2-1 tablespoon per pound of meat, so you can divide down according to how much you are preparing. My Colombians also enjoy fruits as they get older.

Ahh yes very good points indeed and worth looking into for those who have not.

Calcium deficiency is a major problem for new tegu owners who know very little about UVB, the importance of it for vit. D3 & calcium metabolization as well as the proper cal/phos ratio which is indeed 2/1.

Great point that was over-looked in the thread until now, thanks Laura!

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Personally, I don't like to use vitamin supplementation if I don't have to. I try to make my reptiles' diets as nutritionally balanced as possible. Kodo's diet consists primarily of various whole prey items (rodents, chicks, quail, silversides) which allow him to get his calcium from their bones and the vitamins/minerals form the organs.To me, this seems the best way to replicate what a wild tegu who has no loving owner to give it supplements would eat. I am not bashing other peoples' methods, I am simply stating what I do.

 

[m3s4]

Personally, I don't like to use vitamin supplementation if I don't have to. I try to make my reptiles' diets as nutritionally balanced as possible. Kodo's diet consists primarily of various whole prey items (rodents, chicks, quail, silversides) which allow him to get his calcium from their bones and the vitamins/minerals form the organs.To me, this seems the best way to replicate what a wild tegu who has no loving owner to give it supplements would eat. I am not bashing other peoples' methods, I am simply stating what I do.

Great point, and one that is very valid as well. Supplementation is only necessary if the diet in question is low in a certain vitamin or mineral that is consistent with what a tegu's natural need for it is.

 

[Kai]

I have another question about mincks, so he's shedding right now and it's looking really clean on most parts. So I pocked him up, he did his normal arm to shoulder to head thing and I had to get his tank cleaned up so I put him down while I did it. After I was done I put him in a warm soak in the bath which idk if he liked, he sorta froze. Didn't move at all except for his breathing. I watch how fast he breaths to see if he's scared or not and is that a valid way to see if I'm scaring him? Also he is turning out to be quite the suicide jumper! Whenever on shoulder or head he seems to be searching for a place to jump sometimes and today he jumped off my head when I was sitting, onto my couch then pulled a flying lizard off onto the hardwood floor, honest to good I though he was going to die! Well I found him scared out of his mind in my closet covered in dust so I bathed him again and I feel like I'm back to stage 1. I put him on my bed where he just stayed and stared at me, I tried to feed him cheese! Piece of egg and some deli turkey(just a treat to show him I care) and he ignored it, just gave me the sideways head one eye stare! Idk if he's mad or just trying to get used to me? Is it his attitude since he's shedding or does my 6 foot height scare the S*** out of him:\ he also seems to calm down when I let hi
Taste my hand. But never crawls towards it yet unless he's on my lap, then he scales my body once again!

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Don't feed him cheese; reptiles can't digest lactose. If he's a a jumper you may want to A) limit his access to your head and/or B) invest in a leash. When Kodo was young he used to wear the leash every time I took him out until he got socialized. In terms of knowing if your tegu is scared, body language is an excellent indicator. The more you watch Mincks, the better you will be able to read him.