Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Howdy,
I am looking for reputable dealers for dwarf tegus on line. I searched the archives and came up short. I have only owned a argintine b/w before(he escaped from his out door habitat)and would like to know if i can keep a single dwarf tegu in a 4 foot Neodosha as i dont know exactly how big they get.
Thanks
Ryan

They tend to get about 18-20 inches. Males are larger. They are very active lizards, so four feet should be good. One caution: most are wild caught, when you can find them, and they are known to be somewhat short-lived in captivity. I had mine for a year, which I was told was pretty long for a dwarf. Still not sure what happened. Got an absess on her tail, which was being treated. Then one morning she didn't come out of her hide. Found her dead inside the hide. I was not aware when I got her that they were considered by some to be hard to keep. I miss her; she was a neat lizard, although she did not tolerate handling well. Not mean or anything, just clearly upset, so I kept her more as a display lizard per her choice.

dwarf "tegus" aren't actually tegus. They are ameivas, not even in the same genus. You might wanna go look up an ameiva caresheet or go to anapsid.org they have an ameiva care sheet.
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

I wasn't referring to the Amieva amieva, or ridgerunner. I know that some people call them dwarf tegus, but you are right, they're not.

What I had, and what I was referring to is the Callopistes maculatus. They come from Chile and northern Argentina. They do look sort of similar, but are not the same.

If you have access to Barron's Reptiles, Amphibians, and Invertibrates, they have pictures of both on facing pages 148 and 149, so it is easy to compare. The Callopistes looks much more like a tegu, but sort of a high speed - low drag version. The head of the Amieva is quite different, and, to me, they don't look as much like a tegu.

It is sort of confusing, and I guess I should have given the Latin name to clarify. Sorry if I confused anyone.

Leslie

I have a care sheet for them . If you want it you can email me at russpettit@yahoo.com. They are kinda more like lacertas. thanks Russ

I am no expert and I looked into these lizards about 6 months ago and was told by a breeder and a fella that manages a reptile shop that they are very hard to keep alive. I was told if you can keep them a year you are lucky.

Yeah, that's what I finally found out. I had all the care sheets, and had done a lot of research. Then after she died, I felt so bad, thinking I had done something horribly wrong. But it appears that even the people who are very experienced have trouble keeping them, and no one seems to know why. Apparently there is still something lacking in what we know about these beautiful lizards.

Leslie

ok this sound like a bad idea, I don't want my herps to die for no reason. I guess I'll just get a blue because i know I can care for one.
thanks
Ryan