Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my water dragon has passed away and im looking for a new lizard less prone to RI and stuff

how big do tegus get?
are they one of the more easy lizards to take care of? i no tht no lizards are easy to care for so dont critisize me for saying tht.

are they tame
how do they eat?
and is there a godo site on them

I wouldn't suggest getting a tegu as a first reptile but if you've kept reptiles before you might want to think about getting one. They tend to be tame only skittish when they're babies. They can get to 4' . Check out www.agamainternational.com for B&W and http://bluetegu.com/ for Blues and reds. Oh yeah and for the best info poke around and read posts here to get a good idea of what they're like.

a lot of your questions depend on the species. tegus in general can range from 18"-5'. Chilean Dwarf Tegu being the smallest and Argentine BW or Red being the largest. ill go thru all the species

Argentine Black and White Tegu- they range from 3½ft to 5ft. they need a large enclosure. Taz (my Arg BW) lives in a 8x4x4 cage. they can be housed in smaller than that. such as a 6x3x3.
i keep his humidity level at around 60-70% and i soak him about 5mins everyday. at a SPOT in the cage it is 135F and goes down to 70F. keep in mind i said spot. 6inches away its 110F. 1ft away its 90F. as babies they should eat mainly crickets and superworms. Taz now eats chicks and rats. he is EXTREMELY tame. he has ALWAYS been like this. he is awesome to have he was my first lizard and would recommend this species to anyone looking for a large "nice" lizard. though i searched for about 8months on the internet for everything i could find on them.

Argentine Red- they are pretty much the same to the Black and White Argentines. there are some differences in keeping and such though. they do eat more fruit, and they need higher humidity. and obviously from the name are Red, and not black and white. Males are a brick red and females are a brownish red.

Colombian/Gold Tegu- these are smaller ranging in sizes from 2'-3½'. in some cases 4'. they are typically more aggressive. though i believe they are this way because most are Wild Caught and not Captive Bred like the Argentines. if you decide on this species try your hardest for a CB and you will be much happier. they CAN be tamed as much as the Argentines. and they are strictly meat eaters.

Blue Tegu- they are more in size of a Colombian tegu, but typically have good attitudes as the Argentines do.

Chilean Dwarf Tegu- these range in size from 18"- 2½' they are very active and like it drier than the other tegus. they attitudes range from skittish/aggressive to very tame. they have some really cool markings.

now that does it for tegus u would normally see in the pet trade. there are other such as the Water Tegu etc etc

if you want an Argentine BlackWhite Tegu i would HIGHLY!!!! recommend Agama International. that is where i got Taz.
for Argentine Reds i would say Ron St Pierre now is probably the best. though they are sold out for this year. Next year Agama International will have baby Reds and i would buy from them.
Blue Tegus i would go to Ron St Pierre, they seem to be the best for blue tegus.
for Colombian/Gold and Chilean Dwarf Tegus there is no "best" breeders for them as they normally are WC.

i think that about does it. any more questions just ask here are some links

Agama International www.agamainternational.com
Ron St Pierre www.bluetegu.com

im sure some ppl will disagree with some things iv said here in keeping them. oh well. im sure i left some things out. plus its late

I agree with everything Matthew said and if you have had a wd already...a tegu is a great second herp. If you are buying your first tegu I would go to Agama Intern. and buy a small baby, for the following reasons:

1. You will not find better support then Bert, and if you are new to tegus support is very important.
2. I really love B/W's because of their size, coloring and tameness (although other tegus are said to be very tame too). If you buy a hatchling, you will have time to get used to eachother as it grows.
3. You are basically guarenteed a healthy animal (I have 4 so far from Agama) they are raised in the sun and hibernate each winter. Alabama had pretty cold winters, considering how far South it is, and yet all the animals do very well there. I believe there is alot to be said for animals who can thrive in seasonal temps (not just warm ones).

That's one person's opinion anyway You will find everyone here agrees on one thing: Tegus make wonderful pets!
Good Luck!
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Yours,

NiCoLE

"Trying to save someone from their own stupidity is like trying to teach a pig how to dance: it wastes your time, and annoys the pig."

- Robert
Heinlein

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I have an Argentine Black & White, I got him from LLLReptile (www.lllreptile.com), he's extreamly tame, he doesn't run when I goto pick him up. The only thing that bothered me, was he had two layers of skin on his tail, the tail shed normally once I helped him get past the scab lines on his tail. Other than that, he's healthy and happy, and loves attention. I recommend LLLReptile if you live in California near San Diego like I do.

I have purchased several snakes and an Argentine Red from them and found them to be extremely helpful pre - and post sale. They stand behind everything they sell, keep an impeccably clean store/cages and refuse to sell anything but top notch healthy herps. They will also ship anywhere. Unfortunately they don't have any juvenile Reds right now - only black & whites, or mature Reds. But keep checking or give them a call or email LLLreptile.com to find out if they expect any.
MAP

I also got mine from LLL. They were fabulous and Kitty is a healthy little bugger!!

Good Luck!

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Lady Stefanie

Life is meant to be enjoyed, not endured.

If you get one from Bert get his video, too. Very informative. He also has a tegu book coming out soon in english. It's out in German now.

Mike B