I have a b&w columbian tegu. It is almost 4 1/2 ft. long and about 4 years old. He was rescued from under a house in NC and found in a small dog carrier with nothing but feces and dog food. He had metabolic bone desease. Had swollen knuckles and offcentered jaw. Now he is in a 125 gallon tank with 2 pieces of drift wood and about 200 lbs. of top soil. Do not use bark or wood chips only. they love to borrow. I have a home made cannopy over the top of the tank and 1 basking spot out of a single light fixture and a 300 watt clear bulb. This light bulb puts out almost 3000 lumens. I have discovered through keeping iguanas that any light bulb over 2500 lumens is strong enough to put out uv b rays. Which is vital for bone developement. That is what reverses the bone desease. I recommend that you feed it F/T day old chicks as soon as it is big enough to eat them. The chickens have a more dense bone structure and therefor more calcium. As far as I know ALL tegus hibernate. anywhere from 30 days to 5 months. You don't have to let them hibernate but they will still sleep extended days anyway. this does not hurt them. What I do is when it gets to be the end of fall, I boost the heat up with another basking light right next to the original one and do this until the beginning of spring. I am out of time right now but if you have anymore questions I will gladly respond to them.

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