Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It's been about 5 years since I last had a reptile and I've been slowly getting back into the hobby again, starting with a baby bearded dragon.

The last reptile I had was a 3 foot savannah monitor that I raised (daily handling and excellent care) since he was about 4" long. All that hard work and handling paid off when he was an adult, I would usually watch tv and have him on my chest (often he fell asleep if I held him long enough) or take him outside for walks, let him go swimming in the pool, walk around the house, almost felt like having a dog as tame as he was.
One morning when I woke up, I was saddened to see him dead laying in his room. (I dedicated 1/2 of a bedroom to him.) I really felt that loss and decided not to try getting another reptile because of how bad I felt. (Almost felt like I lost a family member.) Kept thinking of how good he was, walking him around like a baby and impressing the women with my giant lizard out on the street.

It's been a couple of years now and I'm ready to try a new (hopefully long living) reptile. My goal is the same, to get some type of monitor that I can raise to be as tame as my last one. I've been thinking of a blackthroat monitor this time around, that was until..

Getting straight to the point (lol didn't realize I was going off topic so much) I was at a reptile shop in my local area where I saw a 4 foot Tegu for $300. The guy running the shop said it was captive born, didn't get around to asking too many questions but I asked how aggressive he was, which he responded, not at all, very tame.
So we took it out and I held him a bit and he really was, at least for that brief time, extremely tame. I asked how often he was handled and the guy said about once a week.

I was curious if this sounds normal? Most adult savannah monitors that I've come across (that aren't handled often) are usually fairly aggressive, lashing their tails at you, attempting to bite you, or at least hissing.
The Tegu on the other hand, was as tame as tame could be, all without handling?
The pet shop owner said that they were usually naturally tame, similiar to bearded dragons. There were several types of tegus, the other 2 types were aggressive, but this one (it was black and white in color) was more docile than the others.

Any ideas? I'm strongly considering buying him on my next pay check, along with a big enough reptile cage to house him.
It'd save me a lot of hard work and time from buying a baby monitor and rasiing him all over again to the point of being an adult and being dog tame. (That's usually my goal with any kind of animal I have, to get them to be part of the family and to be tame as a dog. My one nile monitor I had in the past was the only reptile I coudn't get to that stage because he would never lose his aggression no matter how much I handled him.)

Any feedback is welcome on this issue because it has been a couple of years for me and I'm just getting refreshed on the reptile scene.

a few things.
i am NOT trying to put you down in anyway just thought you might consider that oddly your savana died. reptiles do not show sickness very well, so its very hard to tell when something actually is wrong. so to you he was just fine and doing great. yet he just died all the sudden. dont you think that is just a little weird? and maybe you didnt have the perfect setup? just some things to think about before rushing into another large reptile.

it was probably an Argentine BW Tegu, maybe a Paraguayan or Chocoan. they do make awesome pets. i wouldnt say that they are naturally tame. i have some female argentines that i never handled but i see them and have to do things in there cage daily. they will charge at me with their mouth open. what does seem common is that they tame VERY easily as long as you hold them a little bit. it doesnt take much. if i wanted my females calm, it would probably take me about 1-2months before i could just go in there cage and pick them right up without any problems. also, this is a large lizard, it needs a lot of different things that you should consider. they eat a TON. i have monitors and tegus. my tegus can out eat my monitors everytime without fail. my big male is 4'4" around 18lbs. i have a 6'1" 33lb female Blackthroat monitor, and Taz my tegu can eat more than her everytime i feed them. so be prepared to order rats online in extreme bulk. i think the last order i had for my tegus was around $400 in rats. and that would last me about 4-5mos. its not cheap. i would not just go in and buy this thing. make him a cage set it up right. order your rats, wait till they get in and then buy the tegu. also realize that these guys are like little bulldozers and will dig like CRAZY. on average i have about 3' of dirt for my tegus to dig in. that is a LOT of dirt when you are filling it into a cage that is 8x4x5. takes a lot of time to get it in there hauling it to the cage things like that.
im not trying to convince you to not get this tegu. but there are some things you NEED to do BEFORE buying a tegu. as i said before, i have monitors and tegus. i would rather have my tegus than my monitors by a long shot. i just like them better. if you are looking for something to be very calm and large. tegus fit that category very well. just hold your tegu atleast once a week and he should be fine.
later

Thanks for the replies and advice.

In my savannah's setup, I dedicated 1/2 of a bedroom to him (roughly about 10-12 feet long, 10 feet wide) I used newspaper as bedding and had one heat lamp clamped to the wall for a basking spot. (I didn't have the UVB light, unfortunately. Back at that time I thought all they needed was a regular heat lamp to bask in.)
The house temperature was about 70 degrees.
I mentioned to one pet shop owner what had happened and she said it was probably internal worms.

It was suprising (more of a shock if anything) to see him dead one morning, even to this date I still miss having him around the house.

The great thing about me now is I have a government job (a good paying one at that) so money isn't much of an issue. I spent a couple hundred dollars the other day at Petsmart getting reptile supplies - including several basking light clamps, the blubs, as well as 2 of the UVB lights (about 36" long).
I also picked up 2 different cages - one of them at Petsmart, the Reptarium 100 (which now after reading the replies may not have been the greatest idea because its more of a screen type of caging and I dont know how I could get some digging dirt in there - but I was aiming primarly for size) as well as a wooden/glass combination reptile cage from Pet Supermarket, about 6 feet long and 2 feet wide. (Probably not big enough.)

Money isn't an issue when it comes to my pets, so any other advice on what I should get or need would be appreciated. I'm aiming to pick up the tegu as soon as possible before someone else beats me to it. I'll consider the rats but that seems like something I could just pick up locally. Also ground turkey I've heard is something you can also feed them.

Thanks again for the tips and I'm open to any other ideas and suggestions, especially anything about the reptarium, if it would work or not. (It's bigger than I am when opened up fully.)

It's great that you're willing to part with some cash to take care of your animals but don't waste it on a Reptarium. That Tegu will dig out of it in a matter of a few hours. They also are inefficient at holding heat and humidity. Put the Tegu in the wood and glass enclosure until you can build one that is more suitable.
You will find that ordering mice or rats online is much more cost effective than buying locally. Tegus are bottomless pits when it comes to food.
Best of luck to you and the new Tegu. Post some pics when you get it home!

Please be aware to add to what was posted in response already. That there are also the temperature and humidity needs for this tegu also that should be set up first. You will need uva as well as uvb lighting. Also I have seen a tame as can be tegu in its normal environment become aggressive when removed to a new home. Now they will mellow out Mine have always been just as sweet as can be but some friends had a little trouble with thiers. It only took about 3 weeks with daily handling for about 5 min at a time before she would walk up to them.
Just really look into thier needs it is better to have the tank set up before the tegu comes home than to try and rush to set it up after. Good luck

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Beau W.

"There are no athiests in foxholes. It is not an argument against athiesm but rather one against foxholes." James Morrow

anything with teeth can bite. Tegus are wonderful lizards and generally simple to care for IF you know what you are doing and do it right. Big lizards like tegus need more than space, they need the proper enviornment and food. Find out exactly what type of tegu you saw and research every aspect before committing. I raise Reds so I can't speak about the others. If you want some basic info, check here
Tegu Q&A

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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

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Signature edited for TOS violation.

Edited on August 23, 2004 at 00:12:45 by phwyvern.

I agree with everyone's responses, just wanted to add my 2 cents. I have a pair of Argentine B/Ws. I've had them almost 4 years now, I handle them about once a week. They are both very tame. I dont like the term dog tame. Anyway, they do eat like pigs, and mine are quite aggressive eaters. I have to seperate them at feeding time. I have to admit, I have been bit once, and it was during a feeding frenzy - so be carefull, they don't let go! I love these guys, I also have monitors, but they just don't compair to tegus (in my opion).
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1.1 Jacksons (no names yet)
1.1 Argentine B/W Tegus (Draco and Drucilla)
0.1 Columbian B/W Tegu (Diablo)
2.0 Black Throat Monitors (Razor and Spike)
1.0 Desert Tortoise (Tubbs) from Tortoise Rescue
1.0 Boxer (Shadow)
0.1 Feline (CK)