Reptile & Amphibian Forums

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you may have read it wrong. normally it is the Igs that you have to worry about. my tegu Taz is calmer than my dogs, and i would trust him over all my dogs. he has never done anything aggressive towards me and i have owned him for over 4yrs now. he is awesome. couldnt ask for a better pet lizard.

cool! hes absolutly adorable!!!!!!!!! but im ten and do you think i can manage a teg? i asked this before and like 10 people said it would be fine for me, but on the ig forum i asked a simular question and they said i shouldnt own any large liz. whats YOUR opinion?

i was 12 when i got Taz i'll be 17 this year, so i wasnt much older than you when i got mine. i was EXTREMELY dedicated to keeping this lizard well and not just getting bored with him after a month. realize they are not always sweet little angels, with Taz i got very lucky and have never had any problems since i got him when he was around 17inches. they require a very large cage 6'Lx3'Wx3'H is the bare minimum in my opinion. Taz is in a 8x4x4 cage and he is only in that when im not home, when i am he is wandering around my room or the 3rd story of my house. they are very active and love to explore. when i was choosing a lizard to get i picked out a couple i was really interested in and read up on them for about 6mos before i made my choice. i got Taz from Agama International, and all my other tegus. and i wouldnt recommend any other place. Bert is absolutely awesome, very kind and willing to give out advice. check out www.AgamaInternational.com

thanks

Okay, so there's a number things that you really need to consider and it has a whole lot to do with your age. Have you thought about the future at all? Do you want to go to college? If so, are you going to live in the dorms? If so, what are you going to do with a tegu? Pretty much all dorms allow nothing larger than a ten gallon tank and what can fit into it. Obviously a tegu is not going to fit into a 10 gallon tank. So if you can't take your tegu to school with you what then? Have your parents take care of it? Even though you've argued to the contrary it doesn't seem to me that your parents would be to thrilled about having to take care of a large lizard for a few lizards. Especially if you go to school out of state.

There are so many things to think about. Do you know anyone who can take care of a large lizard even while you're away on vacation? Unless of course you don't plan on ever taking a vacation. I think that you will soon find out that some people who will readily drop crickets into a tank for a gecko, aren't exactly thrilled about the care and mainenance of a large lizard for a number of days. For instance, if I'm going on vacation I will seriously have someone coming over to my house for a month before I leave so that my animals are familiar with this person and this person knows enough about each animal (2 tegus and 4 beardies) that they feel comfortable feeding, exercising, and cleaning up after each of the lizards. It's very important and a point that too many people over look.

There's just too many things that a 10 year old hasn't been through yet, that you just don't know if your a large lizard is truly right for you. And it's totally unfair to the lizard for you to either lose interest or try and dump it on someone else. I'm honestly not trying to patronize you, there's just a lot of life that you haven't lived yet and you just don't know where you're going at 10 going on 11 years old.

Lindsay

there are tons of tegu owners in the world, ones bound to care for my tegu if i get one.

Your last reply is EXACTLY why you should wait to get a tegu. Wait until you are sure, if you really want to do right by an animal you will wait.
There are plenty of people who like reptiles, not all want to take on another, thus there are rescues, most area very crowded with unwanted reptiles because they did not foresee what handling and taking care of a big reptile entails.
Sorry, but I think that if you really love these animals, you will wait, you may not like it, but isn't having a little patience and waiting a lot better for the future animal you decide to get????

well, actually my friends little sister will care for it if i go to college. she is responsable.

Cilli, I have read what you wrote on the tegu, monitor, and ig forums. You are 10 years old. People were questioning your age and being able to handle any of these reptiles at your age.
Do you parents KNOW anything about this? Do they KNOW you are planning to try to get a big lizard?

yes, they know, and i will be able to care for it cuz i will publish a book on snakes, and will be able to afford a tegu from the income ill get. my mom also said she will do every thing she can to help pay for food, lights ect. when i publish my book. and im planning on selling all my toys ( i can earn money for a teg) and get my room devoted entirly to herps and art. it'll be sooo cool! i have read up on tegus for a very long time and beileve i can care for it and treat it properly.

Cellie, you also posted on the leopard gecko forum asking how to get your parents to let you get another leopard gecko, since your other one died. The supposed 10 people who said you could handle a tegu are all in your head. The only ones that said you could were the ones that did not know your age or your posting history, and they all changed their minds once they knew the story. As you have been told on all the other forums, stick with your beardies, and stop trying to convince everyone your parents are behind you in this. If they won't let you get a leopard gecko, they surely won't agree to a tegu, or monitor, or iguana.

Leslie

FYI they did know i am ten. soon i'll be 11.

If I had I probably would have answered you differently. Any larger lizard is going to be a huge responsibility and liability for a 10 year old. I did tell you that Tegus were easier to maintain than an iguana but they don't come without their pitfalls. Here's an example.

I have a freeroaming Tegu that sometimes sleeps on the foot of the bed at night. He's a sweet tempered animal and likes to be held and cuddled with...abnormal behavior for a Tegu. I feed him out on the open floor, thawed mice. As most Tegus and Monitors do he likes to shake and "kill" his food before he eats it. A couple of weeks back he was feeding normally but shook a mouse so hard it went flying out of his mouth. When this happened he went for the closest thing that might be food and bit my bare foot right over the arch. It wasn't a severe bite, 3 puncture wounds and some teeth scrapes but one puncture on the top of my foot was fairly deep. It has healed nicely but I'm afraid that I may have some nerve problems because I'm having some numbness from the site of the bite down into my large toe. This accident was entirely my fault and I'm not a newbie when it comes to large lizards.

How about one of the smaller Tegu-like lizards? One of the ameivas maybe? Green ameives are beautiful creatures.

im talking about on this forum, the people who aswered here a wile ago said it would be fine even tho im ten.

frommy ecperience, they are nothing like tegus. I had one, never again. I dont know anyone who has ever had a tame one or even seen a tame one. Please correct me if you know something I don't.
-----
Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

did you read my post about my book? it proves two things you oviously dont get. my parents WILL help me, dont accuse me of lying that my parents will help cuz they WILL. and the people did know i was 10. and i dont get it how so many of you judge people by their age. i know more stuff about herps than alot of adults, so dont think just cuz im ten im stupid and dont know anything about herps.

They'll help you with a monitor or tegu, but won't let you get a leopard gecko?? And if you had read as much as you say, you wouldn't have to be asking about whether or not a tegu will bite your finger off. Please listen to what you've been told on the forums. Stick with your beardies.

As to your book...let us know when it comes out.

Leslie

when my book is published they WILL let me have a leo.

Then wait until your book is published and get a leo, but forget about large animals like tegus, monitors and iguanas until you are older, bigger and able to afford to provide for one on your own. Most of the people on these forums started out with smaller and easier herps until they learned how to successfully keep them. My first herp was a bearded dragon, same as you. There's nothing wrong with beardies; actually they are one of the most interesting and personable lizards around. I still love mine. My husband still likes the beardies better than any of my lizards, because they will just 'hang out' with you more than any other lizard. You already own one of the 'coolest' lizards around.

Leslie

good luck. IUguanas are much more testy then tegus are. Thanks Russ

that is the cutest tegu ive seen!!!!!!!!!!!! is he nice? how long is he? can they eat fish? if so, what kinds in what forms?(like canned, grilled ect.)

He is a real mellow tegu. 4' 3 1/8"tl(missing 2" of tail) 20 3/4" snt to vent and 18 lbs.

wow, cute!

No...that's [bleep]. As far as I'm concerned iguana are one of the nastier of lizards...but then again my teg is known by my friends as "Don't put your hand in there she'll [bleep]ing kill you!!!"...but mine's the only aggressive (non-columbian) one I know....so meh...but hey..just my opinions...tegus are the [bleep]...whereas iguanas are just [bleep] plain and [bleep]ing simple

There's my two cents

THAN I WANt a teg