Tegus can be interesting captives since they can become quite socialized with little effort but I assume that is because they aren't the brightest bulb in the lizard string of lights. The fact that they can hibernate up to 6 months out of the year helps on the food bill but can be pretty boring.

There have been no exaggerations here concerning their feeding response. I still have a reddish mark and a numb big toe after a feeding accident that occurred 5 years ago with an Argentine B/W tegu, about a 3 footer. That animal shook the thawed rodent so hard that it went flying and he went for the closest warm flesh around which was my bare left foot. They can also levitate at least 4 feet off the ground for food.

I've kept both tegus and monitors for about 8 years now and tegus were once my second favorite close behind my Cyclura iguanas. I still like to keep them and use them in educational presentations but I'm really enjoying the dumerils monitor that I purchased a year ago. That animal may have taken over second place now.

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