Reptile & Amphibian Forums

For sometime I have wanted a monitor lizard. Their eyes just look so amazingly intelligent, however, their general appearance is very, for lack of a better word, is too predatory. They just seem too dangerous, and I know if I feel that way, I should admire them from afar, not in my house.

But, upon cruising the Tegu forum, I see the intelligence I love about monitors, but combined with cuddliness and an affable manner. I am pretty certain I would like to get one. So, I am fairly experienced with herps, having a plethora of ambassador species. See signature. I am very interested in getting a new Tegu friend, but have a number of questions that have not been covered by the traditional care & feeding sheets. I got feeding & space, but let’s chat about personalities and quirks.

OK, so let’s pretend this is a Tegu commercial…
How would you convey your love & appreciation of these animals? Why?
What is it about them that made them become your companion?
Are they predominantly easy going? (I understand about individual personalities!)
What is something you WISH someone told you before you got your Tegu?

Thanks!
Maxwells

0.1 Ball Python (Abigail)
1.0 Okeetee Corn Snake (Jake)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Boo)
0.1 Leopard Gecko (Gordita)
~Dart Frogs~
1.1 d. Tinctorus Powder Blues (Stinker & Tinker, the Bells)
0.1 d. Tinctorus Ole Marie (Ollie, she’s fat, sassy, and looking for a boy!)
0.0.2 d. Auratus Bronze (Dot & Dash)

They biggest question to ask youself before buying a tegu is do you want a very active animal or not. Most species of tegus (especially Argentine black and whites, the largest and "reportedly" most intelligent) can hibernate for up to 6 months out of the year, brumate for 2 and are possibly only active for 4 months out of the year! I am a rookie and have had an Arg (AGAMA international, born July 2003) since mid December, and he has hibernated ever since. He is not expected to come out till March! Of course it depends on the individual from what I have read. Some specimens, if kept on a year-round consistent photo and heat cycle, may never hibernate. Then again, some will hibernate no matter what conditions you provide. I am anxious to see how my little guys behaves. Also, from what I have read, they have a bottomless pit for a stomach, and juveniles can eat every day, it is often recommended to feed juveniles as much as they can eat (within reason). I guess you have read that adults need up to an 8 foot enclosure, so that can be a problem. Also, they must have a deep layer of substrate as they love to dig, and the sleep under the subtrate and depend on this to provide moisture for shedding. Like you asked, these are some of the things I wish I had known about before I purchased one. If you are can afford the food, housing, heating, etc. and are content with an animal that will possible do little or nothing for 8 months out of the year, then a tegu is for you. I have read that the instinct to hibernate is strongest in this order: BW, Red, then Blue and Columbian. If any of the more experienced tegu owners find anything I said as incorrect, PLEASE let me know. By the way, I have got to handle my little guy once when he came flying out of the subtrate during a misting, and he was liek a puppy dog with scales! Check out www.agamainternational.com for some good info from one of the pioneers of tegu breeding. Good luck!

Good stuff... That's a very interesting point about brumation, thanks! Yeah, my dragon went into brumation this winter. Really missed the little guy. I'll have to mull that part over.

The housing is not an issue with me. The S.O. may have issues. He's been cool thus far, everything we currently have is contained in these amazing little micro enviorments, so having a macro one may take some fancy footwork on my part. As long as he gets another snake out of the bargin, we'll probably have a deal.

Side note: it's very cool to have these little "worlds" to peek into while there's snow everywhere in Chicago! My tropical rainforests are a nice visual vacation, completly bejeweled with dart frogs!

Maxwells

I've kept up to 16 Tegus at one time. I can tell you that personalities can be as different as night and day. What attracted me to Tegus in the beginning were their pleasing aesthetics and their reputation for being a large docile lizard. I've yet to have one that wouldn't calm down with minimal handling or become pleasant to deal with with much handling. One of my Argentines is a freeroamer and is the one Tegu that will cuddle and fall asleep while I stroke his head and neck. He sleeps at the foot of my bed most nights. Most of them will tolerate handling for a short period of time and then want to be down exploring. I still believe that they are one of the most attractive lizards in the pet trade.

What is something you WISH someone told you before you got your Tegu?
I wish someone had told me how totally addicting they can be. I keep alot of differnt lizard species and I believe that if I had to give up all but one it would be a close call between the Cyclura and the Tegus which one I would keep.

I can say that my tegus ( one blue, one BW ) fall somewhere between my dog and my other reptiles in terms of how much personality they express, and how emotionally attatched I am to them. My husband would say that he is at the end of that list. My blue doesn't appear to want to hibernate, but my BW girl is a major sleepyhead. She goes down in Sept. and wakes up sometime in the spring.

Be ready for a pet that is more like a cat than your other reptiles. Tegus love to explore, and need more room than a cage. My BW absolutely refused to settle down in a cage of any size- She was frantic to get out. I finally let her choose-She grew up living under the livingroom couch on a towel covered dog kennel type heating pad, coming out to bask in sunlight coming through an open window. She used a cat door to go out to a screened porch. I am not recommending this as a husbandry technique, just pointing out that these animals are very individual, know what they want, and will tirelessly pursue it untill they get what they want.

More good stuff! Thanks!

Addicting? Try poison arrow frogs! LOL I just seem to be recreating the Ark, but with only one of everything.

Anyone have a Tegu and a cat in the same house? I wonder because i have 2 cats, one who runs the show, and if the Tegu wanted to roam about, i worry about any interaction. (Even supervised, Seymour wold try to get any critter he could... He's a 20 lb barn cat transplanted to Chicago.)

Thanks bunches,
Maxwells

i dont recomend having the tegu and cat share space....that is if your tegu will be allowed to roam at times. another piece of advice would be to purchase a captive bred tegu. and something i wish someone told me would be not to allow your tegus claws to get little carpet fibers in them after roaming a room....these fibers can get tied up and contrict the fingers when they grow, my tegu lost a nail no biggy but if he does roam, clean his claws very well (olive oil i think works the best) if you see any little fibers on there.

my tegu would eat my 2lb (full grown too) chiuahuah when he gets older so i have no choice, unless i want my tegu to have a $900 dollar meal. i personally wouldnt risk it and leave them alone at all, but if you have no problems thats awesome. anybody ever hear about possoms and stuff falling into berts setup once and a while, he was tellin a friend of mine about it, lol. later, justin

I have 3 cats in the household and they pay no attention to the larger lizards. Likewise, the lizards are not bothered by the cats. I also have 2 dogs weighing between 50 and 60 pounds each. They, like the cats, ignore the lizards for the most part.