Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Everyone, I am A first time Reptile owner, and I got a Columbia Black and White Tegu! And i'm sad to say that i don't know to take care of him! If anyone could e-mail me or leave a post here It would be great! I would like to know what does it eat, how big do they get, how big of a cage i need for him and what kind of cage setup i need, for climbing or walking, any information would help. Thanx
HAILtheLEAF@msn.com

In Brief: They eat a lot and get BIG.

You can scan the posts here for a lot of very helpful and reliable information on feeding and housing. I also recommend www.agamainternational.com/ and www.bluetegu.com which both have extensive information and care sheets.

Essentially you are going to need a cage with minimum length of 6 feet, and longer is recommended. They won't climb much so height is not critical, but he will need a foot or so of substrate in order to permit him to burrow. Basking side temps of about 110 degrees and cool side about 85.

How old/big is your tegu, and how did you acquire it?

MAP

I breed Leopard Gecko's and I wanted something different, so I traded 0.2 to this lady who owns her own pet shop. He's about 1 and half foot long so a guess that make him pretty young, right?

You also need to plan to give _daily_ attention to your animal. Handle him/her daily, if possible, with gloves if necessary. If you neglect this, you'll end up with a large animal that can do you damage, or at the very least will take a lot of work to tame down later (esp. if it's a Colombian).

With diet, we started our Argentine B.&W. on crickets, but quickly moved to a daily diet of a meat (cut up into bite-sized pieces) and vegetable or fruit. You might try combinations of the following:
--pork chop, chicken, turkey, cooked hamburger for the meat
--green beans (ours loves them!), cantaloupe, peach, tomatoes, strawberry (leafy vegetables like lettuce don't work well; tegus don't have tongues like bearded dragons!)
--NO dog food (too fatty, causes horrible diarrhea)
--ALWAYS dust with Miner-All or some other good calcium-D3 supplement (but not all purpose vitamins, which have too much Vitamin A). There is no sight more pitiful than a tegu with calcium deficiency disease.

A daytime basking spot of 90-95 degrees is also essential, and a hide box as well (not under the lamp).

We feed daily, and have a big lizard (14 mos. old, 3 feet long and growing). It's probably fine to slow down to feeding every other day. If your lizard is growing long, that's fine, but don't let it get obese.

And yes, check this forum frequently--it's a great place to learn, for all of us!

JRM