Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've been thinking of getting a tegu but need more some info on it. I've gone through thetegu.com and agama intl but still feel like I need more info on them. I have three main concerns as having them as pets.
1. Are they friendly? Do they like to be handled a lot? Are they playful?
2. How fast do they grow? I'm interested in the smaller tegus (Columbian black & white and maybe the blue tegu) and will most likely get the columbian b&w.
3. Are they hard to take care of? I've been reading a lot of their maintenance and they don't seem that bad to me, but I want more input from those who have them as pets.

Thanks!

Did you just look at thetegu.com or JOIN it? And I hope you read Bert's caresheet and looked at his galleries. Now that thats out of the way...
No reptile 'enjoys' handling or is 'playful'. Some barely tolerate it, some hate it with a passion, some put up with it, some look forward to it (food!), and some are curious about it. Any animal can be any of these. It depends on the species (probability, not set in stone. There are evil beardies and tame Nile monitors. Beleive me, I've seen both.) and individual(both individual animal and individual keeper.) If you want a tame tegu, get a blue, since you want a small one. Blues are the smallest (not columbians!) and often tamest. Blues have a bigger following, are much prettier, and there are more high-quality breeders of them. RON ST. PIERRE! Hes your man for tegus. I would have said Agama Intl., but youre not looking for args or reds.
Tegus are in between beardies and monitors in difficulty. The only thing people really have trouble with are tameness (because they almost always get a crappy WC columbian b&w, the worst choice in tegus) and size. Blues are often the best in both these ways. They are the smallest (they can get 4 ft , but 3 is more common) and calmest. They also dont require as much fruit and vegetable matter as others, but still require some.
What I suggest you do is contact Ron St. Pierre (bluetegu.com) for availiability (hes top-notch! if you cant wait for babies, you arent patient enough for tegus), JOIN thetegu.com, and be ready with all the supplies you need, the food ready to go, and the cage built (you have to BUILD an enclosure! aquariums are for fish) BEFORE you purchase a tegu, or ANY animal. Contact rodentpro.com and mulberryfarms.com for quotes on feeder pricing. These two are world-class in service, pricing, and quality. I suggest placing orders for whatever size mice or rats you need for whatever size tegu you get (youll need rats later!)
BUT, before you do any of this, honestly ask yourself if you can afford the time, money, blood, sweat, and tears the tegu will cost you. It will take about 20 minutes a day out of EVERY day, not to mention vet trips, cleaning the cage, and everything else. It will cost several hundred dollars for the initial setup, along with monthly feeder and electric bill costs. The tegu WILL make you bleed at some point, whether you like it or not. You will put in lots of work into cage building (no small feat!). And when the tegu dies after the long q5 years it should live, you will mourn the loss of a dear friend. If you are a minor, I would suggest waiting till after college, once you get a real job and a real house. I think that speaks for itself. Waiting until after college also applies to anacondas, big pythons, monitors over 4 feet, iguanas, hots, and crocs of any kind. These guys are a BIG responsibility, but INCREDIBLY rewarding. If you want a medium-sized, visually pleasing, tame lizard, youve made the best choice! If you have any specific care (or anything tegu-related) questions, ask away here or on thetegu.com! Just make sure you do that BEFORE you get it. Good luck! Remember, join thetegu, Ron St. Pierre, blue tegu, and dont be stupid.

I said after the long 'q5 years' it will die. That should be 15. When I discussed handling, I forgot to mention lizard leashes. you can take him outside when it is sunny out for walks, if you live in the right area. There is a good harness, and a bad one. Get the one that is blue and has a monitor on the label. There is one that looks like a straightjaacket with an iguana on it. Thats the bad one. And when I was talking about feeders, I forgot to finish that. From rodentpro you should also order quail once is is adult size, for a little variety once in a while. And from mulberry farms, purchase crickets, superworms, and silkworms when he is small. When he is adult he will looooove aduilt, tomato worms (not from outside!!!), adult silkworms, and hissing roaches. Hissers arent availiable at mulberry (wish they were!) but you should be able to find some. You should get frozen feeder quail and rodents, and BREED your own feeder bugs. All in all, MICE, RATS, QUAIL, CRICKETS, SUPERWORMS, SILKWORMS, TOMATO WORMS, HISSERS. He should also get some carrots, apples, squash, banana, and other fruits and veggies every few weeks. Good luck and youll love tegus! If I'm making this seem difficult, it's not.

1. Are they friendly? Do they like to be handled a lot? Are they playful?

No. They aren't friendly or cuddly nor are they playful. No reptile is. However, they can be docile and easily handled.

2. How fast do they grow? I'm interested in the smaller tegus (Columbian black & white and maybe the blue tegu) and will most likely get the columbian b&w.

Colombians have a reputation for being very nasty tempered and not handleable. My argentine is about 2 years old and 4 feet long. They grow fast.

3. Are they hard to take care of? I've been reading a lot of their maintenance and they don't seem that bad to me, but I want more input from those who have them as pets.

yes. They are. They need HUGE enclosures and have high energy. They can be messy with their food and poops, and need a lot of cleaning to keep it sanitary. They need to be able to burrow, and need deep substrate. Its easy to care for the little guys, but for most people, housing an adult in an appropriate enclosure is difficult and problematic. A MINIMUM cage size of 8x4x4 is needed. Also, they're still reptiles and can't be trusted not to bite. Under the right (or wrong) circumstances, even the "friendliest" tegu will bite, and an adult can do some SERIOUS damage.

Well I'm glad I asked around. I do want one in the future when I can handle them, but for now I guess I'll stick to snakes. Thanks for the advice.
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1.0 Graziani Pastel Ball Python

man o man, i've just read through some of the posting and if i had read those a year ago i don't think i would have gotten a Tegu, lol. Its true reptiles do not like to be handled in general but my tegu is very curious and loves exploring or just chillin on my lap. As for growth rate, fast is an understatment, i currently have a blue tegu and his been averaging about a half a foot a month and is finally slowing down... alittle. I did have to build his own cage but there are a few commercial cages on the market. In all fairness compared to other reptiles tegus aren't too bad to take care of, the main demain in food. With snakes and some large monitors you may get away with feeding once or twice a week... do that to a tegu and he'll be made at ya like no other. So feeding and caging are the main conserns and cost behind a tegu. Oh and not all columbians are mean... go back to thetegu.com and ask Ameviaboy about his columbian named Goo, his proff not all columbian tegus are mean. So waiting is a good thing but don't let people here scare ya too much.
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Leo Gex
1.0 Giants
0.1 Giant Albino
0.1 Red strip/hypo
1.0 Patternless
0.2 Normals
Others:
1.0 Giant plated lizard
0.0.1 Blue Tegu
1.1 dogs
2:0 chinchillas

I was trying to steer you TOWARDS tegus, not away from them! I know you have that ball python, and if thats your first herp I'd stay away for a good long while. But if not, tell us what youve had before. Good luck!

Oh I still want one. But I'm a college student so I won't be able to handle one for quite some time. I also realize that living in Los Angeles kind of makes it hard to have a tegu as a pet. It seems by everyone's pics/comments on the tegu forum that a tegu would need a backyard to roam around in. I also read from an old tegu book (around 1995 when it was published) that a full grown tegu would require its own room. It even had a instructions on how to modify a bedroom into a tegu cage. I'm not sure how accurate (or if that still applies today) but I don't think I can handle that yet. Maybe in 10 years I'll have my very first one. At the rate I'm going with my snakes (5 snakes in less than 2 weeks) hopefully I can have a tegu by 8 years. I figured grad school or law school should be done by then. In terms of previous pets I've only had 3 dogs (bouveir des flanders, rotweiler, and lab), and goldfishes. I used to catch insects as pets but they would always die in less than a week (bees, wasps, spiders and beetles).
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1.0 Graziani Pastel Ball Python (Baldwin)
1.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Snow Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Blue Garter Snake (Blue)

lol college i hear ya, i'm a third year up in Davis and the only problem i've had is sometimes finding landlaords that won't flip out when they hear i have a "giant" lizard. The whole room thing would be nice for a tegu but if you check out the site thetegu.com you'll notice alot of people actully biuld nice enclosures for their tegu... i'd post pictures of mine but i left the software to my dig at home over winter brake. Now im not saying getting a tegu now would be easy... or practical and sometimes I think a back yard would make it easier, which i get my wish next year when i move into a house.
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Leo Gex
1.0 Giants
0.1 Giant Albino
0.1 Red strip/hypo
1.0 Patternless
0.2 Normals
Others:
1.0 Giant plated lizard
0.0.1 Blue Tegu
1.1 dogs
2:0 chinchillas

I would recommend a blue tegu, although they get bigger, they are easier to tame than col. b&w.
Just be sure that your budget can afford these guys huge appetite.

Dude, no need to give up your whole backyard or guest room lol. Stock tank will do fine for a blue, either sex. You know about those right? Look around the monitor forum and read proexorics.com's FAQ, THE WHOLE THING, especially the section on stock tank enclosures. Any other questions, feel free to ask! Join thetegu.com, if you havent alreadt. Im StickyGecko there, if you ever need to find me. Good luck!

do you mean argentine? cols are more agressive. args aren't. mine comes to me when I snap my fingers and will sratch at his cage when i'm home until I let him out, at which point he'll just chill in my lap. loves grapes and watermelon, hates butterworms but eats them anyway and when the birds outside make noise, he runs for it. a great pet!...the A B&W that is.

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Thnx,

Deven