Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been reading here for some time now, just lurking and watching really. I have been very into bearded dragons for some time now and have not really kept anything besides them(and a small group of ball pythons I used to have) for quite a few years. So the tegus are all new to me, and im hoping to have a great experience with them. My baby blues are coming this week from the St. Pierres and im super excited about it. I am going to be setting up their baby cage this Sunday or Monday. I was planning to use cypress......but is there anything that anyone else would recommend that may be better? That is really the only major question I think I have right now......unless anyone has some good tips? I cant wait to get them and take some pics to post up here........and im sure I will be posting many questions. Chris Allen

..can't wait till you get your babies, we can excange notes on them..

Im so stoked about these coming, im almost nervous, lol. They should be here Thursday, if everything goes as we planned. By the way........how are the babies doing?

They are doing great Chris, Thanks...

well, something that is the best. just dirt. plain ol' dirt. its what i use and my monitors and tegus are sooooo much happier for me changing their substrate to that. its like $11 for a cubic yard of it. a lot of ppl dont use it because they always look dirty (and are). but since iv gotten it they ALL seem to be digging TONS more than they used to. cypress mulch is good when its moist. but once it dries out, it gets very dusty. good luck with the new tegus
they're awesome

How deep to you keep your dirt for them to dig in?

the dirt in Taz's cage is around 2½ft. deep and he uses every bit of it. he is around 4½ft. long. for my Red tegu i have it at 12" deep, and he is a little over 3ft.

didn't know you were into Tegus? In keeping with my Beardie color scheme I raise Red Tegus. I think they are great. Mine live year round outdoors in cypress mulch about a foot deep. We get plenty of rain so it never dries out. I go in and stir the pot with a pitchfork about every month or so. If you decide to get into reds I have lots of pretty babies I am sure we could work out a trade!!!!
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

Just starting with the tegus, so we will see how it goes. In the future maybe we can do something!

I agree with mathew. I've tried cypress mulch and didn't really like it. I noticed little white bugs crawling around after a while. Since Blake almost never poops in his cage I knew it wasn't from that. And since I feed him in a shallow ceramic bowl I didn't think it was coming from the food, so I immediately switched his substrate. I switched it to a mixture of peat moss and sand. I now have all three of my tegus on it and they just love it. Trinity, my baby blue, has a real kick throwing dirt around and burrowing under. My dwarf tegu Tweak, loves the burrowing as well. They definitely seem happier with this substrate. And the best thing about it is that it's cheap!

Lindsay

thanks for the info. I have been reading alot about substrates and it seems everyone has a different opinion. I was researching some monitors as well, and it seems the same holds true for them. Lots of people start with cypress then switch to a dirt/peat moss/sand/vermiculite mix. Guess maybe I should take that as a sign to go from the get go with a type of mix.

I started with cypress mulch but I saw one of my tegus biting at a piece like he was going to eat the stuff. I switched to the peat moss/sand mix too. It sure holds a lot of water! They do sometimes get dirty from it but it's not muddy and it's easy to brush off.

Has anybody had problems with there feet. Stella said they had ptoblems with there feet from the peat moss sticking to there feet . Thanks Russ

Thanks for bringing it up Russ I'd hate for something bad to happen to their feet! I haven't noticed anything. What should I look for? Do you know what the problem was? Is it like a mold or a shed thing... Or do little pieces get imbedded or something? I've had mine on peat moss for about a year.

Stella St. Peirre told me that they got swallon toes and had problems with there toes shedding. It sounds like your guys are fine. I just was checking. I use small bark from home depot. Its 2.98 a bage (40 lbs.) , and when I chang the subsrate I use it in the yard. I can get the most out of the bark that way. Im always looking in to provide something better for them< and before I chang anything I like to reserch it first . If your not haveing any problems then I would not chang anything . What % of peatmoss to sand do you use? As for mold , the fungas problem that Santiago had was on his back not his toes . It has heald up , and the skin is looking better. You can se the scaring on the picture with the can of mineral on his left. It will take 1-2 sheddes before it looks normale again. Thanks Russ

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wrong picture

Hi Chris,
I think I have exchanged chat with you in the beardie forums, could be wrong. Tegu's are awesome and so happens I have one of the St.Pierre's blues as well. The animal is a good healthy one and the St.Pierre's give excellent support too. You will love keeping Tegu's! Get ready for a serious and seemingly neverending growth spurt though. I have a photo series of my blues growth on my website if you are interested? It is really amazing how fast they chunk up! Mine blue, "Tegan" is even bigger than the last photo I uploaded. He is right at 4' now. I think he done getting longer but seems to keep "filling out" Anyway, enough rambling!
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Peace!
KofSeattle
Reptile-Like
Here lizard lizard.........

Hi Chris,
I think I have exchanged chat with you in the beardie forums, could be wrong. Tegu's are awesome and so happens I have one of the St.Pierre's blues as well. The animal is a good healthy one and the St.Pierre's give excellent support too. You will love keeping Tegu's! Get ready for a serious and seemingly neverending growth spurt though. I have a photo series of my blues growth on my website if you are interested? It is really amazing how fast they chunk up! Mine blue, "Tegan" is even bigger than the last photo I uploaded. He is right at 4' now. I think he done getting longer but seems to keep "filling out" Anyway, enough rambling!
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Peace!
KofSeattle
Reptile-Like
Here lizard lizard.........

Congrats, Chris! Looking forward to pics of your new babies!

Hi Chris! Welcome to the wonderful world of Tegus. They are the most amazing animals and you picked a great group of people to talk to here. Everyone here is simply fabulous!! I really hope you enjoy your new babies and that you post lots and lots of pictures!!

Congrats!

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Lady Stefanie