Tegu and future build

[dzjr1188]

Ok, I know a few members here have tegus so I figured I would try to get your thoughts on the matter. I am thinking about getting a argentine black and white tegu when I move in to my house back home. If I do I plan on building a cage/room 8'-10'x4'-6'x 7'. I want to try to keep some sort of live plants in it if I can make them tegu proof and find some that are nontoxic. If I can find some nice safe vines I would make a section with lattice(or whatever its called). If I can make the room/cage bigger I will, all comes down to how much room I can dedicate to it. Another thing I would like to do if room and floor allow is put in a shallow plastic pond(50-175g). But I would love to know what other tegu owners think or can tell me about what they have done.


Thanks for any ideas, have a greet day Dave.



Cheers.

 

[HPIZZLE]

you could build like a type of shelf to plant your plants on and have the vines drapping towards the ground. otherwise plants on "tegu level" will get destroyed by the tegu pretty easily. also, id wait on planning the pond until you know your tegu will really really use it. some love baths, some tolerate it.

 

[Toby_H]

In most enclosures, a Tegu will see a plant as something to play with and destry it. If you go with a very hardy plant and use a planter that protects enough of the main stalk, you may be able to keep something alive. As suggested this will be much easier with a hanging plant well placed high in the tank.

My Tegu lives in an 8' x 3' enclosure in the winter and in an outdoor 6' x 12' in the summer. I definitely deel the 8x3 is too small for a year round enclosure. He does use the full 6x12 area, though a bit smaller would still be enough.

My Tegu has had a few different water options and though he sometimes does like to soak in 4~5' deep water, anything bigger than a comfortable soaking dish is for making you happy, not the Tegu. I found it much much easier to go with a smaller water dish (18 gal tub with 12 gal water in it) and change it frequently (2~3 times per week) than to use larger filtered containers. I think the floor space would be better used as additional land than extra water.

 

[dzjr1188]

Hey thanks for your thoughts. I would like to get my hands on some drafting software here and then I can draft up my ideas and post some pics and see what you guys think.

Tegu has had a few different water options and though he sometimes does like to soak in 4~5' deep water, anything bigger than a comfortable soaking dish is for making you happy, not the Tegu. I found it much much easier to go with a smaller water dish (18 gal tub with 12 gal water in it) and change it frequently (2~3 times per week) than to use larger filtered containers. I think the floor space would be better used as additional land than extra water.

What are the dimensions of your water options?

 

[Toby_H]

I suggest using a typical rectangle tote as a water dish... the exact size will depend on the current size of your Tegu. The one I currently use for my Adult (50" @ 10 lb) Tegu is an estimated 30" x 20" @ 7" deep...

 

[rrcoolj]

Great advice by Toby_H

For my tegu I use a kitty litter pan. Small simple and easy to clean. My tegu is in an 8x4. She is a 36" female so not the beast that Toby_H has. Also as far as plants. It's not impossible but it's not really practical in most cases. If you did a lot pf planning than you might be able to keep certain plant species. You will see a lot of new owners try and do these elaborate setups for their animal but tegus have a tendency to be quite destructive and it can be hard to mimic that for a larger and full grown animal. Even my little female is a bull dozer and has no problem tearing things apart.

 

[dzjr1188]

So what would you put in the enclouser? I also read they are very sociable animals, so is it any good to get them in pairs or are they then less sociable towards people when you keep multiple ones?

 

[rrcoolj]

I wouldn't call them "social" in the sense that they need eachother but yes they tolerate eachother very well. They live fine by themselves tho. Really all they need in their cage is a deep substrate, a basking spot, a couple of hides, and a water dish. I do have some branches in my enclosure also which seems to be working well. You can really put anything in there just take into consideration that they are big and might destroy certain things.

 

[Toby_H]

As Reggie was saying, they are not "social", but they are also tolerant of one another IF (huge if) there are ample resources for both animals...

I suggest NOT housing two Tegus together unless doing so in a HUGE (6'x12') enclosure. While they do generally tolerate each other very well, the stronger animal will naturally take the best of everything. Therefore it is only "right" to keep a pair together if there are two of the best of everything. For example, if there is one basking spot and the stronger Tegu is enjoying it, if the lesser Tegu crawls on top of him to enjoy it, a territorial battle could easily break out. The same could be said of water, burrows or anything...


I would consider my Tegu 'social' in regards to getting attention from me, the owner. I often let my Tegu free roam in the house and while he will explore everywhere he has access to, he will also come to where I am sitting and 'visit' me frequently. Sometimes simply crawling over me and continueing on, sometimes stopping in my lap to hang out. Previously my father insisted he only stopped on my lap for the heat, until he was able to whitness it a couple of times himself and he admitted the Tegu was obvisouly stopping to 'visit'.

Also, if I go into his outdoor enclosure, almost every time he will come over to me. If I'm sitting or squating he will crawl into my lap and if I'm standing he will try to climb my leg (though he doesn't try to climb other things). I should also note this has nothing to do with a desire for food. If I stay in his outdoor enclosure while he eats, he will almost always leave the food dish (when finished eating) and come over to me...


Back to the enclsoure set up itself... I do suggest using something to break lines of sight from one area to another. In a big empty box a Tegu can easily survey his environment from any place in the enclosure. If there are areas he cannot see, he is likely to go over there to explore. This helps prevent them from becoming overly lazy.



A Tegu takes a lot of investment in both time and space. It's surely not the right animal for everyone. But, if you are willing to give them ample space and sufficient attention, they make amazing pets...

 

[rrcoolj]

^to add to that tegus seem extremely inquisitive and love to just look for and explore new places and things. I remember i put a big plastic tube in the middle of the floor while my tegu was fee-roaming and she spent like 15min just sniffing, climbing, and overall investigating it. They have almost a child like curiosity.