I just recieved my new Blue Tegu in the mail Friday. I'm wondering if I'm missing any big information about their husbandry. I have it set up in a very large storage tub (the kind you buy at walmart) with about 3 inches or orchid bark on the bottom, a water and food bowl, a 175 watt ceramic heater and 100 watt basking light, a UVB light, a heating pad on half of the other side of the tank so part of his hide box is warm and the other side is cool. I've been feeding it out of the bowl if nonliving food. Everything is dusted with either Miner-All (I), Herptivite, or Repcal (w/ no Phos.) I spray his substrate once or twice a day to keep it slightly moist and to keep the dust down. We bought some mealworms, superworms, and waxworms and it would only eat crickets even though I offered it all of them.
I plan on getting it a mercury vapor bulb eventually and the tub is temporary until we can build it a larger cage. We're going to move to a larger apartment at the end of December so we'll probably wait until then. We're going to have two walk in closets and we've found it much more efficient to keep the lizards in a large closet to keep the heat from warming up the entire house and they don't get bothered as much by our cats. I don't have an accurate thermometer to measure the basking spot as of yet.
The tegu was very slow the first night and let us up pick it up but now it's been jumping as quickly as it can to the other side of the tank. Since I've tamed some birds (which are much harder to tame in my experience) I'm trying some of the same techniques. I put my hand close enough to notice but not to have it feel threatened. I plan on doing this for a least another week until I attempt to touch it depending on how long it takes for it to not be afraid. So far it has already become less frightened by me.
Any tips on taming or husbandry would be greatly appreciated (or cage ideas/plans!)
