Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[dantro]

Im after getting a Tegu, and my local rep shop have some Argentinian juvies in stock £150 each, dont know how good a price this is, but was just wondering about the basic setup for a youngster, substrate, heat, light, etc etc.
Any info would be a start.
P.s. at the mo i have a 4ft tank that at the mo houses a bearded dragon (just until sold), would this be ok for a juvie Tegu?
Cheers
Dan.
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Cheers
Dan
1.1.0 Ackies (10 eggs cooking) 4.9.6 Stenodactylus S. (22 eggs cooking)

[7109]

hey dan ive kept a tegu and i know a little about their basic setup. befor we start i hope you arent intending on putting him in a fish tank? if so i wouldnt recommend it. tegu's need a basking bulb a uv light the subtrate people use for tegu's are coco soil mixed with bark chips or just plain news paper. i may be wrong but i kept mine on coco n chips and he was fine. if i were you i wouldnt purchase a tegu from a shop because in my personal experiance animals from shops arent handled often and can be snappy and in this case argentine tegu's "can" be agressive. also befor you buy one be aware of the size they grow too and the size of space and time needed. unfortunatly i had to rehome my tegu as i couldnt pay for the space he needed now he isnt a he wich turned out to be a she and is now living with a friend i hope this helps and if any one would like to correct me feel free
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[Ally]

Don't underestimate shops!
Handle the tegus yourself - if you're not allowed or you're not happy with the temperament then don't buy, find somewhere/someone else...
They'll probably be young at that price, so skitty is ok, they calm down well, but aggressive is not.
Good luck!
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European Protected Species Licensing - Do you know enough?
http://www.prokeeperslobby.com/epsarticles.htm

[mark68]

I have no idea where you are going to get a juv. tegu from if it isn't a shop ! Nobody in the UK is breeding them, so they are all going to be imported from the same sources wherever you buy them from. If it is healthy then it will be nervous and possibly snappy. I think it is totally unreasonable to expect shops to have the time to handle all there stock all the time. How much do you want to pay for your crickets, when the shop has to charge more to employ more staff to do all this handling ? If it is a problem to you being aggressive a baby, then you should bare in mind it may have the same attitude when it is 4 ft. Think carefully before you buy.

Once it has a while to settle in to its new home you could start handling it gently with gloves if need be. With time they can become tame. I think dantro you need to tell us the full dimensions of the cage you have and tell us how big the tegus are.

[dantro]

Well first it is only a temp home for a while it is 4ft tank with full basking bulb and u.v. light setup, like i say its been housing a beardie and thats been fine, the Tegu im looking at is from my local shop and i know the owner well and have no probs handling before buying, i'm aware of the size they get to and have been researching a little, im an experienced reptile keeper, just never kept this species.
The tank is 4ft long 22" high and 20" deep, the juvie tegu is only 7-8 inches long.
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Cheers
Dan
1.1.0 Ackies (10 eggs cooking) 4.9.6 Stenodactylus S. (22 eggs cooking)

[Dan Bristow]

hi, i have a 3 1/2ft male blk and white tegu. its a fantastic animal. basic care-it'll need at least a 8x3x3 viv when full grown,which will be very quick if kept correctly. needs a basking temp of around 100-110 F with the rest being around 80F,dropping to 75F at night. keep under a 5-8% uv on for 12hrs a day. substrate should be cypress mulch/orchid bark and that should be sprayed daily to get the humidity up which is important as otherwise they may have problems shedding. make sure it has a suitable hide and you can either give it a large water bowl/tub which it will soak in and poo in or give it just a bowl it can drink out of and bath it twice a week for half an hour (this is quite good for building up trust and helping the taming process). most importantly dont base its diet around rodents as they can get addicted to them and only eat them and refuse everything else. give it a variety of insects and fresh fruits and greens daily when young,also a bit of turkey and fresh water fish can be added to the salad.give it rodents once or twice a week max. also whatever you feed it,do it so out of a bowl as they can get very food responsive so its best they associate the bowl with food and not you!! hope that helps. Dan

[dantro]

Yeah that helps .. thanks all ...
Just one more question will a juvie be ok in the tank i described in my last post? ... The one ive seen is only approx 7 inches long ...
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Cheers
Dan
1.1.0 Ackies (10 eggs cooking) 4.9.6 Stenodactylus S. (22 eggs cooking)

[mark68]

Have a look at the following
http://www.agamainternational.com/pages/tegus.html

They do not send tegus outside of the USA anymore by the way despite what it says on the website.

I would say the 4 ft viv is fine for the size you have seen, and I think Dan's advice above is spot on.

[dantro]

Cheers Mark i'll have a look, thanks!
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Cheers
Dan
1.1.0 Ackies (10 eggs cooking) 4.9.6 Stenodactylus S. (22 eggs cooking)