Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The funny part of this post is that my Arg. Tegu decided to train himself to go in a litter box. I was using just paper as a substrate but that got very messy. Then i tried some stuff it looked like the food you feed rabbits. That worked ok but i couldnt scoop it good. I was wondering some type of cat litter would do? Maybe an all natural one? He does not eat it. He is very clean about it too so none of substrate gets out. Any help would be great. Thankyou

i use a tub of water for mine. after each feeding i simply put him in it and he would eventually go poop. After a couple of weeks he learned to go into the tub by himself and poop. so you could say he's 'water tub trained.' i then pour the water in the toilet and flush!

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Tristan
1.1 Blood Pythons (Rambo and Medussa)
1.2 Egyptian Uromastyx (Dog, Cleo, Slo Mo)
0.1 Suriname Red Tail Boas (Stoney)
1.0 Argentine Black and White Tegu (Roy)

Hey Tristan,

How's it going? How are the egyptians? My microlepis (Gus) has grown and thrived over the last few years. He still doesn't want to be handled. I'm thinking seriously about getting an Argentine B&W tegu this year. How tame is your big guy? How would you compare his temperament to the uros?

thanks,
Craigo

hey what's up craig? gus sounds like he's doing great. do you work with him? he's not aggressive towards you is he?

i don't have my egyptians anymore i sold them last summer. back then i had a pair of black and whites and a rhino iguana. due to unforseen circumstances i had to sell off everything except my male tegu. his temperment is awesome. i potty trained him to go in a tub of water every 3-4 days. he used to free roam my room back in the summer months and would go in and out of his cage as he pleased.

my rhino is now with Greg, where he is spoiled and livin it up. he was one of the sweetest lizards i had. very tame and affectionate. it was a hard decision to sell him but it was for the better.

are you getting a tegu? they're really smart animals and they don't get too big (compared to water monitors, black throats, etc.). if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. also check out www.thetegu.com.

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Tristan
1.1 Blood Pythons (Rambo and Medussa)
1.2 Egyptian Uromastyx (Dog, Cleo, Slo Mo)
0.1 Suriname Red Tail Boas (Stoney)
1.0 Argentine Black and White Tegu (Roy)

Hi Tristan,

Good to hear from you! Gus is still a bit shy, so I don't handle him unless he chooses to climb onto my hand, which he doesn't do very often. That tail of his is quite a weapon, and he's very good with it. It's still funny to me how he'll watch me like a hawk when I'm around the cage. He's very alert.

Yeah, I'm considering getting an Argentine B&W tegu. My son is 7 now, and last year he caught two Northwestern alligator lizards in our yard. We decided to keep them and as it turned out, one one pregnant. She had 7 babies that were live born, not hatched from eggs. It was pretty amazing. So my son has turned out to be quite a little herper, and handles his lizards regularly and carefully. I think it'd be fun for us to get the tegu and care for it together. I really like everything I've heard about their temperment, and how they look.

Gus usually goes to bed under his rock around 5-6pm. What kind of sleeping habits does your tegu have? I'm curious about their activity level throughout the day.

thanks,
Craig

yeah, i'm familiar with the tail of an egyptian being a weapon. my big male drew blood on me once. but i guess that's why they're interesting also.

i think a tegu would be great for you and your son. they tame down really quickly. the only thing i would advise if you haven't had a monitor or tegu before is feeding time. when some go into feeding mode they are voracious. my female red would literally leap out of the cage with mouth open when she knew it was feeding time. others are more mellow though. i feed my male tegu on my patio so that he only associates being fed out there and not in my room or in the cage.

i have my lights on timers. he comes out to bask when they turn on at 9 am. then he goes back in his hide between 12-1pm. then he comes back out between 2-3pm. he then goes back in his hide at about 5pm and the lights turn off at 6:30pm. it's funny because i put a towel in his cage. since then he pushes it in and out of the door to his hide. i guess he likes his privacy! he hibernated from mid October to early January.

tristan

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Tristan

1.0 Argentine Black and White Tegu (Roy)
1.1 Pastel Ball Pythons
1.0 Spider Ball Python
0.2 Normal Ball Pythons

Tristan,
Yeah, I've read all about their strong feeding response. I've got some ideas about how to deal with that, and plan on having a seperate area for feeding as part of my measures also. I really like the colors of your tegu. If I had my pick of the litter, that is the look I'd be going for. I like the white on the head, and high contrast between black and white. Where did you get your tegu? Was it from an online source or someone local to you?

thanks again,
Craig

i got him locally from 'prehistoric times.' he was already 3 ft. long but was really calm when i held him.

there's some great breeders out there. i know that varnyard (bobby hill) has some chacoan adults but i'm not sure if he's expecting babies. chacoans usually have lighter heads. also, rick sisco has some different phases on his site the last time i checked. good luck with your search. you could also contact Bert from agama international.

good luck! keep us informed if you decide to get one.

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Tristan

1.0 Argentine Black and White Tegu (Roy)
1.1 Pastel Ball Pythons
1.0 Spider Ball Python
0.2 Normal Ball Pythons

Hey Tristan,

For some reason the image doesn't work right. You might have to click on it to view it. Maybe it won't work at all.

thanks,
Craigo