Tegu VS Monitor

[sykofrenic]

Either he never work with it; or he got a Columbian... a lot of petstores sell Columbians as Argentine.

i dont know the difference between a columbian and an argentine tegu, but my roomate is pretty incompetant, so it wouldnt surprise me if she doesnt know what it is.

 

[Kioka]

Since I am renting, and don't actually OWN the place... I decided to split the 3'-5' tall cage in half, then make the top half a sliding door, and the bottom half as a substrate holder since the majority of captive varanids need 12"-24" of substrate to burrow in if I read correctly?

I can squeeze 28" wide cages, but no bigger, through the doors so I have to work with a 2' limit. What I am going to do is thread some rods into 2"x4" planks in the top half of the cage and drill some holes in the 2"x4" plants in the bottom half of the cage for the threaded rod slide into. Not sure if I should make the threading on the outside or inside of the cage since I read monitors will dig away at a spot they suspect they can escape from. Myabe you guys can help a bit here.

This way, I can disassemble it if I ever find a place to own or if the landlord decides to discontinue my tenancy.

 

[CTU2fan]

V. doreanus or V. dumerili would be my picks. Rudicolis or prassinus if you were building it taller. With the herps you seem to like I don't think you'd be really into a tegu anyway (unless it was a Colombian). Reds and Arg's tend to be pretty mellow.

 

[Kioka]

Been looking up how to build the cages... and this method interest me.

Source: http://www.varanus.nl/forum1/viewtopic.php?id=1521

What I've used as a sealant which is particularly good for monitors is a two part epoxy: West Systems Epoxy. I lay it on the individual panels, laid flat, before I put the enclosure together. If you do it that way and use a spreader rather than a brush, a little goes a very long way. For lower sides and the bottom, which will come into direct contact with monitor claws, I've laid down a sheet of woven glass fibres (the material used for fibreglass, albeit with epoxy resin instead of polyester resin), poured the resin over the top and worked it flat with the spreader. It remains transparent, even with the glass fibres, so that the wood finish still shows through, but is incredibly tough. In the 5.5 years my adult lace monitors have been in their current enclosure they haven't yet managed to damage it.

Urgh... Columbian... I remember those little terrors. Fun, but something you want to mess with if you get bitten; highly infectous mouths. Owner had been feeding it carrions. IT STINKS.