#107201

 Just bought a male 3’ 3 yrs old red tegu....

I just purchase a 3 foot 3 year old super tamed male red tegu from the reptile expo that was here in Charleston SC this weekend. I have a large enclosure 3’x6’x2’ with about a 8-10" of cypress mulch with a UV light above on one side and the other side has his large water dish with no light on. There is a 1 foot wide heating eliminate that runs along the back of the tank underneath the enclosure as well to provide additional heating. The inside air temperture is around 80 degrees on the dark side. His normal diet from the previous owner was ground turkey twice a week only. I fed him yesterday and he ate fine and I did add powdered vitamins/minerals to his turkey as well. I plan on working in some rich vitamin C filled fruits with the turkey at the next feeding in 3 days or so to keep sheds on target. He has been asleep since I put him down last night. My wife found him this morning with just his head buried in the mulch (on the lit side) and he just made some breathing noises, as to say I am sleeping go away, as she pet him on his back. I see now that it is better to leave him alone as he sleeps and to only take him out when he is awake. If I must awaken him for a special reason I will use my long hemostat with a winter glove attached at the end to make sure he is aware of my presents before I go in and take him out, this trick works great with my boas so I don’t get confused as prey when they are looking for food. My questions are: 1. Does he need a hid a box to retreat to, I forgot to ask the owner if he had one? 2. The cypress mulch is damp when purchased is this cool to use as is especially when combined with the large water disk it provides a nice humid environment as it has the front viewing glass nicely fogged up at the moment? 2. Is it all right to feed him in the enclosure and just remove the dish after he is finish eating if that is what he is accustomed to or should I have an alternate feeding site? He was housed in a 125 aquarium. I gave him a hour or so after he ate and took him out of the enclosure to clean up some dropped turkey and he was fine and let me pet him before I returned him back to rest after a long weekend of being petted and being out of his comfort zone. Thanks in advance and I am glad I found this site. I read all the post over the last 2-3 months so forgive me if I missed my answers in another post and for being so long winded I am just very excited and I want to do right by him. Boa

 #107280

 Just bought a male 3’ 3 yrs old red tegu....

he should def be getting rodents as well as fruits. get a humidity gauge from like a petco or whatever so you can see how humid it is. also you can get a temp gun at tempgun.com for $25 or like a indoor/outddor temp gun from radioshack. you want to make sure his basking spot is hot enough. the humidity gauge prob isn’t an absolute must, but the temp gun is real handy to see all the different areas. he should def have a hidebox and try to get the cypress or whatever your using kind of deep, enough so he can burrow in and cover himself. with the hidebox, spray it to keep it damp, but not totally soaked, and this will help with humidy. also, if you use like terrarium moss and fill the inside of the box and keep that damp that will keep humidity up and he can go in there when he wants. it will help with shedding. with feeding, you might be able to feed him in the cage, you might want to take him out to feed him. i got my blue tegu when he was like 2 and a half ft and he had a wicked feeding response i’m still working on, but you might not have to if he’s pretty calm. although he hasn’t really gotten rodents, right? thats prob what makes them go so nutty when its food time lol. def start feeding lots of fruits and rodents. so the uvb only goes on one side? i don’t know if thats good or bad, having a dark end, im not sure. although if he spend all his time on the dark end then he won’t be getting all the uvb he needs, hhmmm i don’t know someone else might. hope i helped a little. keep us updated on him, and some pics if u get any.

 #107356

 Just bought a male 3’ 3 yrs old red tegu....

LizardKing, Thanks and I will get him something to hide in and give him a variety of food. Boa

 #107374

 Just bought a male 3’ 3 yrs old red tegu....

I guess his diet explains why he is three feet only at three years old. As was said, get him on whole food items like rodents. Turkey is good as a treat once in a while.

 #107386

 Just bought a male 3’ 3 yrs old red tegu....

yea thats what i was thinking too. Boa- do you know if your tegu had any UVB lighting before you got him/her??? that would prob stunt the tegu’s growth too. my male blue tegu is a little over 3 ft now and less then 2 years old, he doesn’t even have his jowels yet. and i think it prob takes the blues longer to grow than the reds, just because the reds get bigger.