Reptile & Amphibian Forums

last week i had the problem of badger not eating. now he eats al lthe time. he jsut needed to get used to me it seems. today i was eating on my bed and talking to him (yaya im a freak i talk to lizards) and he came over and snatched a pice of meatngravy fomr me, he gulped it down to. and anhour later i was holding him and he kept wanting in my pocket for some reason and when i let him go he bolt into my shirt pocket and pulled out a pice of beef jerky i forgot i put there =) so hes doing fine now. any ways enough rambling time to get to the ppoint. my local pet store "Captive Breed Specialties" is getting in a argintine B&W tegu same sise as my badger. i have a pro custom made 500-600 gallon cage some is selling me. this B&W tegu cost 100$, should i buy him. is a red tegu and a black tegu a good thing to do? also if i do buy him im gonan have to wait about a month to be able to afford the cage cuz of the cost for him. and my freind sez hell only hold the cage for me if i put a good mount of money down on it. he wants 200$ for it im getitng 200$ this sat should i buy the tegu and put money down on the cage and keep 2 13" tegus in the same 46 gal tank or should i just buy the tank? im still not even sure if i should be taking care of 2? will it be alot harder? will it be more fun? some1 who has more thn 1 tegu plz help me??!!!?!?!?!?!??!

Consider these questions to ask yourself:

1) Why do you want another Tegu?
2) Are you certain you are caring for one adequetly?

From the language of your post I'm assuming that you are going to get this additional Tegu, are you posting this question to validate your decision or do you *REALLY* want advice?
Finally, are you doing this for yourself, or to benefit the Tegu you already own?

From what I know, I believe Tegus are social animals, although they appear to do better with substancial amounts of space when more than one is kept together. Not twice the space, more like three to four times the space.
Consider that with two Tegus, that means more than one basking area, twice the food, twice the biological waste, and if the two animals are not compatible you will need to have another enclosure on hand to house them seperately. Now the costs go up, and if you're ill prepared to cope with this, BOTH the Tegus will pay the price probably with their lives.

Please don't think I am judging you in any way, I just want to make the case for ensuring your animals well being.
I would also suggest talking with people who breed Tegus to get some idea about compatibility between Argentine B&W and Red Tegus.

Take Care,
Kit

yes i would liek another tegu. and yes i am taking care of mine great. badgers is really tame now. about am i doing this for my tegu its kinda half and half. i want the best for badger, so if another tegu is good for her thn ill probly get it plsu id like 2 cuz there so kool!. but if she might fight or get bossed around and be less happy when theres 2 thn i dont want it. what ever is best for my lizard. but i doont no what i should do. im going to look for another job but im having troubles, i have to rely on a 100$ a week for everything and im turung sixteen in a month so i need money for a car.

At this time in your life, it is probably best you stick with your one Tegu, and invest your time and care into its well being.
Consider too that soon you may contemplating college, relationships, career and all those things normal young people do. All those things will be taking up lots of time in your life, and a single Tegu may be all you can handle.
Get a car, get your life in order, take care of yourself and your Tegu. Worry about adding another animal when your time and financial resources allow it.

My 2 cents of advice.

-Kit

I have to second what Kit said. Enjoy the one tegu you have right now. If you're getting by on $100 a week, now is not the time to add another large lizard. Besides the obvious feeding costs, you need to consider that vet care tends to come up unexpectedly and can be quite expensive, and you need to save up an emergency fund for that sort of thing (when my monitor became ill, it cost me over $700 just to discover that he was already too sick with cancer to save). You are also just a few years from college, if you plan to go, and will likely find that your whole living situation will change dramatically. The less you encumber yourself with during that period of time (when your housing situation may restrict whether you can have animals at all or how many you can have), the better.

ok now im planning on gttin another job now and my borher and me share bying the food, so now money isnt a problem say. but besides money problems and the colledge part, should i get him. see my parents are buying a house for extra money to put colledge kids in so they dont have to stay in domrs. ill probly stsy st something liek tht. so besides those 2 factors what should i do. basically asking what do u htink my tegu will be happesist

"What Should I do?" versus "Tell me I'm doing the Right Thing?" are seperate and unrelated questions.
Ask yourself, which of the two questions you are really asking of this Forum.
In this instance all I can recommend is that you put your Tegu ahead of you want right now and seriously consider the consequences of your wants.

Take Care and Good Luck!

-Kit

if money isn't the problem anymore, would you have enough time for two tegus? they might not even get along.. i don't know as much about tegus as everyone else but that's a common problem with any other pets

I'm not trying to come across to horribly harsh, but reality is sometimes harsh. It sounds to me like what you really want is for the people of this forum to tell you "yeah, you should totally get another tegu!" And that's not happening. People have definitely suggested against getting a second tegu. You keep coming back trying to make the situation sound better by adding more tidbits and what ifs. It sounds to me like you've already made up your mind and you're just looking for others to tell you that you are in fact making the right decision.

Well I'm going to come right out and say I think it's against your current tegu's and a possible future tegus best interests for you to get another one. You're young, you'd be amazed at how fast your interests change even though you say they won't. College is a whole different world. You have to spend so much time studying. Then when you have some free time, you really want to go out and enjoy yourself. Maybe go to some parties and stuff. Well, none of that is tegu friendly. There is no way that I could have gone through my first two years of college with Blake. First of all, I lived in a dorm with a 10 gallon tank maximum per person. That's all they allowed. Second of all, I had to study my butt off! There is no way that I would have had time to devote the kind of attention that he now gets. It's just not realistic. So I say, don't get another tegu. Bad idea. Doesn't matter whether money is an issue or not right now. The thing is you are about to go through a very life changing faze and it's just not fair to make a lizard go through that when they most likely will get the short end of the stick.

Lindsay

I'm afraid I have to agree with Lindsay on this, after being a member of the Waterdragon forum as well as this one, and seeing the trouble that you had before (with the waterdragon), I would strongly suggest just sticking with the one tegu you have now. You have a lot of busy years ahead of you at this point in your life.

Just my 2c

Leyla x

well, i'm in college (which'll be followed by several more years of med school) and i have two tegus. however, i know i'm the exception, not the rule. i have plenty of time to take care of my critters because i get enough scholarships and grants so that i don't have to work at all, but a lot of people have to work their way through college. another big factor, i live in a townhouse, not a dorm. odds are, you can't bring your tegu into the dorm. and even if you don't get a dorm, you have to make sure whoever you live with (because it's just so much cheaper that way, i live with three other people) are okay with reptiles... BIG reptiles... that wander around the house. but anyway, i don't think that this transitional period in your life is a very good time to get a second tegu. i mean, who knows, you may have a tough time taking care of one tegu a few years from now (they have expensive appetites and they need so much room it's just easier to let them free roam your house). i think tegus do like company, though. however, i don't think that it needs to be another tegu, it can be you. just spend plenty of time with this tegu and i'm sure he'll have a great bond from you (trust me, you can make it puppy dog tame, no sweat! i had a tame nile monitor, it was hard work, but it was doable!). but yeah... i can't say that it's impossible, but it sure will be awfully hard to give two tegus all the food, attention, and room that they'll need while you're getting ready to leave high school and go to college. that's my two cents (or more like 50!)