Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Thank you all, If I came across rude I'm sorry but I was in a panick. However your constant hashing on me didn't help my attitude we all start somewhere, and had I left with out the tegu he whould not have been there upon my reutrn so it was a now or never deal and I wanted to him to help fills a gap in my life which he is doing nicely

I've just finished reading and printing off all the useful info you gave me I still feel my knowledge is incomplete I bought a book and I'm ordering a few I think for the websites you gave me, He is in a 4 by 2 foot cage with a plastic hide box peatmoss and jungle bark from the pet store for beding the bed is 6 inches deep he loves to burrow, He is getting a varied diet tonight he got some feeder fish and some fruits and crickets,

They actually have canned tegu food out in the pet stores down here what do you guys think of that?

And he has a 100W Day Glo Tight Beam Baking Spot lamp and a 75W Night Glo Moonlight lamp both made by Exo Terra

Is there anything else I can be doing for him?

I use that canned food for my B&W and he likes it. I get the stuff by Zupreem and add calcium to it, it's also much cheaper online than at the petstore. I think I will supplement him with a frozen/thawed pinky mouse a couple times a week as well, and you may want to consider this as well. Be sure and use a calcium supplement and a vitamin supplement too. The feeder fish can carry parasites, I think, so I don't know about them. Also, you will need a fluorescent bulb that emits UVB or else he will get Metabolic Bone Disease. Make sure his hidebox is relatively humid as well to help him shed. Hope that helps,
JonV

Thank you any little details like that can and will help me. next week he shall have a florecent bulb

It sounds like you've made a lot of progress in the last couple days! They do like to burrow and usually stay in there most of the day. I accept that and let them come out of their burrow on their own every day. I've never been a fan of any canned food as the main course but its ok for every once in awhile. One thing you might not be aware of is that a lot of people say live feeder fish (especially goldfish) can pass parasites to the tegu. Crickets are awesome for the main part of a young tegus diet because they contain a lot of protein for growing. If you can't stand the way crickets smell, die, and chirp you might want to try superworms, again high in protein. You said "I still feel my knowledge is incomplete"... is there anything else you wanted to know? Oh yeah and congrats on getting a tegu! I'm sure he'll provide you with much happiness, I know mine have

The varied diet is a great idea. I have tried the canned tegu food and the tegu bites. My tegu prefers canned catfood. Get a variety of the little 20 - 25 cent cans and see what he likes. The flourescent bulb is necessary. Get the best you can afford that has 5 or 8 percent UVB. Enjoy.

Mike B

one of the Mercury Vapor Reptile bulbs that are on the market now. They can provide more than adequate amounts of UVB AND heat...saving you a fixture and electricity. I would suggest the ZooMed PowerSun. I've had great success with these in rehabbing lizards with MBD. They are pricey but last a long time and come with a one year warranty. Well worth the $50 or so bucks!!

That's a great idea. I wish I would have thought of that before putting in a 4' fixture for a fluorescent bulb. I think that maybe I will try one of the UVB Powersuns, while keeping the fluorescent to use as a general light source. Does one need to worry about overdosing a tegu on UVB? And the powersun is about $34 on reptiledirect.com.
JonV

I got my powersun for about much too. I wouldn't recommend that you put it any closer then what is listed as minimum distance in the bulb instructions (like 12". When it's too close the UV rays really start to get intense (who knows if they can even get skin cancer though?). I haven't been able to get a 120 degree basking spot without getting it "too close". You might want to get a 5$ 75 watt halogen Outdoor flood to go along with it, they work from a good distance. Just make sure your not heating up the "cool side" of the cage too much!

a buddy of mine gave his monitors feeder fish and one of them got internal parasites. feeder fish are filthy, and i wouldnt recommend them. i do recommend the sdz diet, though...
ian