Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been thinking about getting a lizard now (off and on) for almost a year now. I have been keeping boas and pythons for 15 years now and want something different. I would be starting off with a baby from Agama International. Not having ever owned a lizard before, I don't really know that much about them. I know they can get to around 4 feet as an adult and become tame. I know they will eventually require a large cage as they get older but I would like to know some things about them. Or if anyone can point me to a good caresheet about the tegu, that would be appreciated. But just from a personal experience, how long does it take to tame a newborn and how do you do it? Thank You

Tegus are about the closest you can get to "puppy tame" reptile IMO. They can be housebroken, clicker trained, etc. IME, they will tame down very easily if they are just handled on a regular basis. I have a couple I got as fully grown breeders that had received almost NO human contact their whole lives, and both of them are now totally tame...only took a few weeks!

Argentine Black and Whites can actually top out around five feet and they grow to that size ALARMINGLY QUICKLY (if you don't hibernate them they can reach 3 ft. in 6 months and 4-5 ft. in under 2 years)

I've owned a lot of herps in my life...all I keep now are tegus and that's probably all I will ever keep again

Probably the best, most current information on tegus can be found at www.thetegu.com. Check out the "helpful info" section on the left side of the screen.

Thank you.. I read about the clicker training from thetegu guy further down the forum list, so I will probably do that. I will probably be getting one next week sometime.

If you have any specific questions about clicker training, feel free to email me.

Rick
e m a i l @ t h e t e g u . c o m
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