Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm considering getting a Tegu in the next couple of months and have a few questions that I haven't been able to find answers for. (These may have been answered in the past, but I couldn't find the answers so please bear with me.)

1. Top opening or front opening cage? I've been planing out the enclosure I want to build, it will be 8' by 3' by 3'. My question is would you reccomend it open from the top or the front? It will have about a foot of substrate in the bottom so take that into consideration.

2. Insects, fruit and mice seem to be the concensis on what to feed these guys. What ratios? I know insects are better for hatchlings, at what age can I switch them over to mostly mice/rodents? What type of fruits? Are any fruits bad for them? What about veggies?

3. For substrate...I've seen a lot of people reccomend cyprus much, how well does this hold a burrow? Does plain soil make a good substrate? Are their any problems with useing plain soil?

These are just a few I was having trouble finding answers too. Thanks for any help you can give me and I'm sure I'll have a few more questions pop up as time goes on. Thanks.

Tegan

Hello Tegan. What kind of Tegu are you thinking about acquiring? I personally have right now a gold, a red, and a black and white. Hope the following info helps you out a bit...

1. I think that the top vs the side door is purely based on your preference/opinion. Your cage is only 3 feet in height, correct? That is a nice size to have the door at the top. If you are short (like me) a tall cage can be hard to get into from the top. I personally prefer a top door if the cage is not too tall itself. A side opening door is great if you do have a tall cage, but when first taming your tegu they can bolt right out if you are not careful. Just some of my experience...

2. The fruit thing is mainly preference also. Tegus can be picky eaters and it is sometimes hard to get them to eat fruits. I have gotten mine to eat grapes, strawberries, and oranges, however my red tegu won't touch any fruits at all. As long as you are feeding whole food items and supplementing with vitamins (I use Miner-All) the fruit thing shouldn't be a big deal. I have also always fed my tegus mice, from hatchling on up. For hatchlings I give crickets twice a week and pinkies any time they will accept them. I also provide mealworms and lobster roaches. The diet grows as the tegu does. In other words, they start with pinkies and go to fuzzies, then hoppers, then smaller mice, then adult mice or jumbo mice, then to rat pups. Usually when snout to vent length is around a foot, I stop providing crickets, but do still offer superworms and lobster roaches every now and then.

3. Cypress mulch is a good substrate and yes it does hold burrows well. Sometimes cypress mulch can hold an over amount of moisture which may cause problems, but as long as you don't over water it, it should be fine. Soil is good and it will keep their nails filed down from digging too. Downside is that you usually have to give the tegus a bath before extensive handling (unless you don't mind being covered in mud). I have seen some people suggest newspaper as a substrate. I would not advise that as newspaper can cause sores. Some of the ink used for colored sections is considered toxic.

Hope some of my babbling helps!

Good luck in your endeavors,
JS

I should have stated what tegu I was thinking about sorry about that. I'm planing on an Arg. B&W. I just really like the looks of them and its my understanding they have a pretty good personality. Thanks for the reply, I'll keep all that in mind!

Tegan