Care Sheet for TegusAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 5.00 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 01/10/2007 |
Main Category: | Lizards |
Sub Category: | Tegus |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Zabuzaa |
Years Experience: | 5 to 10 Years |
Species: | Argentine black and white tegu |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | somewhat similar to the red tegu, differing in size and color of course. |
Sexing and Characteristics: | Males will have 2 spurs on the sides of the vent. They feel like tiny pebbles under the skin. Mature males will also develop massive jowls, and will get larger than females. The females also tend to be more streamlined. |
Mostly Active During: | Day |
Substrate and Water Needs: | Provide a substrate that can hold humidity well, and will hold a burrow. cypress mulch works well. Please don’t use newspaper. They won’t be able to dig and they will not be happy. Provide a large water bowl that is difficult to tip, these animals will destroy the cage, you don’t want it to flood. Spray often to maintain adequate humidity. |
Lighting and UVB: | Provide UVB. People may disagree on whether to use this or not, but it is useful for the long term health of your lizard. It can’t hurt. Provide a basking area of 105-125 for them, they like the basking temps cooler than most monitors do. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | Keep an ambient temp of 75-95 throughout the entire cage, unless hibernating. When hibernating, keep it in the high fifties or 60s. Keep the enclosure humid, 60-80 percent would be great. If kept too dry, shedding problems may occur. |
Heating and Equipment: | For best results, use good old 40 watt halogen floodlights inside the cage, close to the basking spot. Use a nighttime bulb or ceramic heat emitters at night. A UTH might be used to provide heat, but bulbs are better for this species considering it will dig to the bottom of the tank very often and will be underground a lot. |
Caging Provided: | 40-55 gallons for a baby is IDEAL. Keep in mind that these animals grow very fast, and you will need to update the size soon. 8x4x3 are good dimensions for an adult male. Since females are smaller, smaller cages might be used for them. A 10x5x3 would be good for 2-3. |
Diet: | Omnivorous |
Description of Diet: | People often overlook that Argentine tegus and red tegus need fruit in their diet. Fruit is especially needed for reds. In the wild, argie b and ws eat much more fruit and vegetable than people give them in captivity. strawberries, kiwi, blueberries, grapes, and bananas are favorites. Provide a diet of mostly insects for babies, too much meat at this age is unhealthy. Pinkies are Ok....but contain very little nutrients compared to adults. Upgrade to bigger mice as soon as possible. Feed crickets, superworms|mealworms, roaches, waxworms, silkworms, raw ground turkey (if you must, this is not a staple) mice, and the occasional egg (if you must). NO CANNED DOG OR CAT FOOD!!!!! that canned stuff is horrible, never feed it to monitors or tegus. Tegus seem to refuse veggies, but if you are lucky and yours will eat some, don’t hesitate to feed it some. |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | Miner-all indoor formula is my first choice, but reptivite vitamins and calcium powder is my 2nd choice. Give calcium on all invertebrate prey, and vitamins 1-2 times a week. ESPECIALLY if you didn’t take my advice and are not using UVB. |
Maintenance: | Fairly simple, just spot clean everyday, they will often defecate in their water dish, so just clean that. Spray 2-3 times a day. |
Some Words on this Species: | A great animal, beautiful, fun to keep, and the closest to "dog-tame" as the large lizards can get. almost all of these will tame down very well. Keep in mind that red tegus and argentine tegus will hibernate for up to 7 months out of the year. but please remember that these animals can get to 5.6 feet, so a bite would not be a pleasant experience! And if you can not afford to feed, light, and cage such a large animal, get an ackie. Other than that, these are, in my opinion, the best large lizard you can own. |
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