Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am looking in to purchasing a B&W Tegu from a locally owed pet store that a friend works at. The animal has some loose skin that hangs in folds. Is this typical? This is my first experience with tegus and I'm not sure what is or is not typical for them. He is about 5 yrs old and is an Argentine tegu.

Yeah its normal, their skin doesn't stretch too well, so they have folds so they aren't all stiff when they move.

Thanks. I'm planning on building my own cage for him as well. Any suggestions for how it should be done? I was thinking it should be about 6'x4', but I'm not sure how deep it should be. What materials would be best for the cage?

Thats the smallest you can go, but if you put a 4 foot Argentine in there and don't take it out for atleast 2 hours a day, its gonna get bored, and try to escape. Alot of the time Reptiles will rub their nose on the edges of the cage, it can injure their nose, in extreme cases, the reptile can actually erode their entire face off till there is bone, teeth and guns exposed. If you can't devote alot of your time to keeping your Tegu happy and occupied, then an 8x4 foot, or for more efficent space, a 7x5 foot. Another thing to remember thats a good rule, the cage should be atleast twice the length of the full grown animal. But if you intend to buy a Baby, I have mine in a 60 Gallon tank till she gets older. Hope this helps.

I think the skin may be normal if it is near the chin area, sometimes older males may develop this. But I would recommend getting a newly hatched Tegu that you can socialize yourself. You never know how others have treated an adult Tegu. I recommend agamainternational.com I just got a baby B&W 2 weeks ago and he is sooo awesome. and Bert was really helpful. I'm new to the forum, and I just want to say hi to everyone and thanks for all the useful information! I'll post pics soon!

Just curious what they charge for their tegus.. I dont see anything on their site and I'm not going to be buying anytime soon or I would email and ask them.

I'm not sure if their price changes at all, so I don't want to quote anything. For that you have to talk to Bert, but I paid less than I would have if I had gotten a Nile Monitor from a local pet store. Not to mention, NOBODY in my area has B&W's. I am very satisfied with the Tegu Bert picked out for me and with his outstanding customer care, both before and after the purchase. I really can't say enough nice things about how he has helped me.
JonV

i agree with Jon. you should definatly go with a tegu from agamainternational. besides, they're so cute as babies!
ian

That's true, Ian. They are just adorable as babies! I can't believe how fast my little guy is growing up, it's so awesome to watch!
JonV