ttwistit

Hello all,

I have been considering adding another pet to my at home zoo, and have been
thinking about getting a Tegu. I have been reading through the news groups
for a while, and it is my understanding that the tegu is a wonderful lizard
to have as a pet. We had an iguana a few years ago, but found that it was
too aggressive for me to tame. After it took a chunk out of my arm I sold
it back to the pet store. Well now I'm ready to give it another try with
another varity of lizard. (Never ever another Iguana) So I was wondering
if anybody could give me some advice, or answer some questions:

1. I need to know what kind of habitat this animal requires? (A glass fish
tank or a floor to ceiling wire cage)

2. What kind of food do they eat, and how do you provide water? (Water dish,
or continuous drip)

3. What kind of lighting do they need?

4. Do they really get as large as a small house cat?

5. Safe for young ****agers to handle?

6. Average life span.

7. In your opinions is this a high maintenance pet, or will it be content
just hanging out on a tree branch?

8. Do you prefer as pets the red ones or the black and white varity.

9. What type of substrate for the cage bottom?


I have two Labrador retrievers that run the roost here, would there running
through the house or the barking stress the little creature? What about the
air conditioner? The decision to get a tegu is something I want to weigh
carefully, as I don't want to bring an animal into the house that is not
suited to our family. I have had some experience with tarantulas as I
currently have two pink toes living very happily in their tank. They are
very low maintenance pets, and all my children's friends love to come over
to see them spinnig the webs.. Any and all advice is welcome..... Ever
answers to the questions that I forgot to ask...

Thanks in advance,
Dawn B.

metalreptile

My two cents worth would be..... forget the Tegu. While a tame Tegu, or
even a Monitor of some kind, is an impressive animal with a lot of
"oooh-ahhhh" value, some may never become "tame". You had a bad
experience with an Ig.....you don't want a Tegu clamped onto your arm or
hand either. Or on one of the ****s. Ever thought about a Bearded
Dragon? Good size, and usually awesome personalities. If you decide to
get a Tegu, best of luck to you & keep us updated! I'm sure someone much
more qualified than me will be along shortly to answer your Tegu
questions.

Good luck!
Roger

lukecampbell

Whole animals and fruit; and use a water dish


I use a rack of 4 90W halogen floodlamps for my monitors, tegus would
likely use something similar.


Bigger. Expect the Argentine B&W and the red tegus to reach maybe
double the weight of a big healthy tom.


So long as they are docile. There is, of course, no guarentee that any
particular animal will get docile, but the reds and Argentine B&Ws tend
to get quite calm around humans. Avoid the columbian B&Ws, as these
tend to be less tractable


Probably 10 to 20 years

The high maintenance part is building the enclosure. Once you've got
that, they are fairly easy to care for.

Going by my monitor experience, I'd say deep dirt (2 to 3 feet deep) to
allow them to dig their own burrow. Others with more tegu experience
may nix this idea, though.

Luke

--
To email me, take out the trash.

rev brian

If you want an easy to care for lizard. That is safe with young ****s.
Unless you want something big to impress people.
you might consider a Leopard gecko or giant leopard gecko. They are
nocturnal so they sleep during the day. I have 4 2 will walk into my hand if
i put it in their cage. The other 2 would rather be left alone. So you might
get one that doesn't like being handled. thats the same with any animal.
Blue tongue skinks might interest you also.

http://www.leopardgecko.com/giant.html

ttwistit

Thanks everybody for the great info, I beleave I find more knowledge here
then all of the pet stores in my area put together... It sounds like the
Tegu is not for us. I am going to look into the other lizards mentioned.
Maybe I'll just get another spider. I have great success with them, and
have never been bit...
Dawn

snakebuster

First thing to do: Count everybody's fingers.

later, the Snake Whisperer

Teach the Children
"Back to The Garden"

snakebuster

you might consider a Leopard gecko or giant leopard gecko.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It is a PROVEN FACT that mealworms CANNOT eat their way through a Giant
Leopard gecko.

later, the Snake Whisperer

Teach the Children
"Back to The Garden"

grainne gillespie

There are other smaller monitor-type lizards that would make more suitable
pets than tegus (as in, if they do bite you, it won't be as serious!).

Ackies would be the best for a first monitor. They don't get big and they
can be tamed and they're relatively docile.
Downside: They are expensive. Some breeders charge over $200 dollars for an
animal

Bearded dragons are brilliant pets. They're easy enough to tame. I've taken
adults out of their tanks in The Reptile Haven in Dublin and it's quite
content to sit on my shoulder whilst I admired the large boas regarding me
through the glass of their tanks.

Leopard geckos. Can become extremely tame as adults. The babies are more
nervous, but prefer to play "dodge the hand" when you try and pick them up
rather than stand their ground and bite the offending hand.


If you ever want to give iguanas another go, there are hundreds of iguanas
in reptile rescues that someone has gone to the bother of taming before
deciding "it's gotten too big for me, i better dump it at the local reptile
rescue".

How old was your iguana when you got it? If it "took a chunk out of your
arm" it must have been fairly large when you sent it back.

I've never taken on an older iguana. The largest an iguana was when I got it
was about two feet long from nose to tail.
When I pick up an ig I stroke it on the head. This ig would open its mouth
to bite when it saw my finger coming, but I was holding it firmly with my
other hand. I'd bring my finger as close to it's head as was possible
without going into range of its teeth.
I would then start to move my finger around it's head in a circle. Over the
top of the head, down past the side of it's face, under the jaw and then up
past the other side of it's face. The iguana would follow the movement of my
hand with it's mouth open trying to catch my finger, but I made sure to keep
my finger out of the range of it's mouth and the iguana would grow tired to
trying to bite and allow me to stroke him on the head.

He continued with the trying to bite me when I first tried to stroke his
head for a few days until he caved and allowed me to rub his head without
trying to bite.

Younger iguanas are more concerned with trying to wriggle their way free
from your grip than actually biting.
I just handled my little ig daily until he/she would allow me to reach into
the tank and pick it up without running from my hand.


The 27in iguana I have at the moment is relatively tame outside the cage. He
will allow me to stroke him and handle him without biting. He climbs onto
the floor to have a walk around and to explore his surroundings. Sometimes
when I go to pick him up when he jumps to the floor he will run from me, but
he doesn't protest too much when i pick him up.

Inside his tank is a different story. He's a young male and has gone through
two breeding seasons so far (he's going though his second so far). He is
territorial about his tank and if someone enters the room where his tank is
he will vigourously bob and shake his head in a territorial display at them.
He bobs even more vigourously if you open the tank and will try to bite if
you try to touch him. My father put his hand into the tank a few days ago
and Harvey lunged for his hand and bit him. It wasn't a serious bite, but he
did manage to draw blood.

Not all male iguanas are territorial about their tanks. Some are extremely
aggressive both inside and outside their enclosures and will attack peoples
legs.
Some people have reported that after having aggressive males neutered that
the male becomes a lot less aggressive.

I've also heard that some aggressive male iguanas are prescribed prozac, but
IMO this is taking things a tad too far