Tegu or Savanna Monitor

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My two cents: Don't get a Red Tegu BEFORE an Arg. B&W Tegu. From what I understand Red Tegus can take a bit more work to tame down and are marginally more prone to general health problems (like bad sheds) than Arg. B&W's.

Also be careful to discriminate between a Columbian and an Argentinian Tegu.
I bought a baby Tegu from Bobby Hill this past summer. The only time he has ever snapped or whipped at me was the second day I've had him, and that's because I woke him up early. Otherwise, even as a baby, he's been an absolute sweetheart. Even that same day a few hours later he was perfectly well behaved. When I would stick my hand into his cage he would climb and perch on it because he knew it was either time for food, a bath, or a chance to free roam around my room. He also didn't argue much when I put him back into the cage (although it was clear that he'd rather be out). I might just be very lucky though.

Unfortunately he's hibernating now, so I won't see him again until spring :(
Some people report that even very tame tegus, after coming out of hibernation, may forget who their owners are and will need to be "re-tamed" all over again. I'm a little worried about that...



...Oh, that's something else worth mentioning. Arg. B&W's, Reds, and Blues are all Probably going to hibernate in winter, even if its not cold outside. Monitors and Columbian Tegu's don't.
 
Interesting,I was'nt aware that any of the Tegu had the ability to hibernate.
 
i have both a savannah monitor and an argentine black and white tegu. its hard to decide but in the end i took my tegu to college and left the monitor at home. tegus in my opinion are way way smarter, more social, and have a better personality. but savannahs can be big teddy bears. i think you need to meet a few larger specimens of each and decide for yourself.
 
I have found tegus to be very smart also. After following a routine my female Argentine black and white tegu has learned on her own to crawl out her cage in the morning, eat, walk around my room for a while, poop on a spot of newspaper in the room, then crawl back on her cage on her own. She also recognizes which boundaries I don't want her to cross. I have never heard a case of an adult argentine black and white tegu biting someone but I have heard of adult savs biting someone. As mentioned when I got mines from Bobby Hill, she was so sweet from the beginning and adjusted well. When she was little she would often fall asleep on my arm. But as mentioned I think you will be happy with either.
 
I think I am going to get an Argentine B&W tegu. What would be a good enclosure size for an adult? I was thinking a 6x4x3 ( lxwxh). I want to start the enclosure before I get it.
 
IMO that would be suitable size for an adult as long as you give it plenty of time to freeroam outside of the cage. If you plan on just keeping him in the cage for most or all of the time then I'd go for something bigger.

I myself don't have an ADULT tegu yet though, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
 
I plan to let it out of the cage but I still want to have big enough enclouser for it have a good amount of space and be happy without taking it out. What size would you suggest?
 
i'd personally do it 8' long. I'm doing 8'l 4'w 3't for my savnannah monitor
 
Females top out at around 3ft so a 6x3 would be ok for them. Males on the other hand can get quite a bit bigger and grow to 4ft so 8x4 would be ideal. My female is in a 8x4 though. I would recommended at least a 3ft tall cage to allow room for a deep substrate. Tegus as well as savs love to dig.
 
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