Ideas for an outdoor tegu enclosure

striker

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Hey guys, I have been having a hard time with ideas on figuring out an outdoor enclosure for my tegu. Through keeping him the last three years I've noticed how destructive he can really be :/. I tried an outdoor cage with hardware cloth, and learned that he can actually tear through it when given enough time. I'm lucky to still have him. Since many tortoise keepers keep their animals outdoor for atleast some time during during the year (granted a tortoise can be kept in different cages than lizards), I figured I'd ask if you guys had any advice for me.
 

Tom

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Here is my first outdoor enclosure from about 15 years ago.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/my-old-tegu-pen.13236/#post-118516

I don't have any pics of my most recent one but it was 20x20' and I used 1x2' welded wire to close it in. They can't break through that due to the heavier gauge.

Where are you? Please go into your user profile and put in a location so we don't have to ask every time.

If you are somewhere reasonably warm, you can allow them to hibernate outside with the right underground set up. I had a 4x4x2 wooden box that I sunk into a 3 foot hole I dug for it. It had a foot of dirt over it, an access hatch so I could check on him and reach him, and a covered tunnel with a rain cover over the entrance for him to get in and out of. They go down in mid September, regardless of the weather, and they come back up mid April. By May, they are ravenous.
 

striker

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Here is my first outdoor enclosure from about 15 years ago.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/my-old-tegu-pen.13236/#post-118516

I don't have any pics of my most recent one but it was 20x20' and I used 1x2' welded wire to close it in. They can't break through that due to the heavier gauge.

Where are you? Please go into your user profile and put in a location so we don't have to ask every time.

If you are somewhere reasonably warm, you can allow them to hibernate outside with the right underground set up. I had a 4x4x2 wooden box that I sunk into a 3 foot hole I dug for it. It had a foot of dirt over it, an access hatch so I could check on him and reach him, and a covered tunnel with a rain cover over the entrance for him to get in and out of. They go down in mid September, regardless of the weather, and they come back up mid April. By May, they are ravenous.
Yeah mines currently sleeping in his enclosure. That's why I made the post, I want to move him outside in the spring. I live in Alabama so it actually doesn't get too cold during the winter, Though we can have snow some years. I was wondering if I could keep him outside in the summer months, than inside in the winter. I think I could hibernate him outside, I believe a man by the name of bert langerwarf (sorry if I butchered his name) hibernated his under the snow not far from me. But I just feel safer doing it indoors. Would it be possible to have a smaller hibernating container, like 6x3, for the winter, and then something like 10x10 or 15x15 for the summer months?

BTW thanks I'll use welded wire for his cage.
 

Tom

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I never met Bert in person, but I talked to him on the phone and emailed with him. I bought several tegus from him. There is a book about his life now, appropriately called "The Lizard King". I highly recommend it.

Yes you can do it outside there. Bert explains how he did it in the book. His way didn't work in my climate. Its not consistently cold enough here and they wake up during our winter warm spells thinking winter is over, and then don't dig back in when the warm weather goes away and its cold again. 3 feet underground works here though. I'm sure it would work there too.
 

striker

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I never met Bert in person, but I talked to him on the phone and emailed with him. I bought several tegus from him. There is a book about his life now, appropriately called "The Lizard King". I highly recommend it.

Yes you can do it outside there. Bert explains how he did it in the book. His way didn't work in my climate. Its not consistently cold enough here and they wake up during our winter warm spells thinking winter is over, and then don't dig back in when the warm weather goes away and its cold again. 3 feet underground works here though. I'm sure it would work there too.
Wow thanks, full time outdoors might be an excuse for me to get another one lmao.
 

Tom

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Wow thanks, full time outdoors might be an excuse for me to get another one lmao.

Mine died during the winter before they would have been mature enough to breed, but I was told that once the female is gravid, they have to be separated. I'm told the females get super territorial and aggressive and they will tear up the male if left in the same cage. My point is: House them individually. I think a 10x10 is plenty large enough for one, but I always like to go big if you have the room.

You got me thinking about Bert and tegus again… Bert housed his in large, round outdoor pens. He'd buy 8' sections of corrugated roofing material and cut them in half. Then he'd dig a 24" trench in a big circle and he'd put half the 4' section in the hole and half sticking up into the air. He'd attached the section at each joint and go all the way around the circle and then fill in the dirt again around the bottom. Even the largest males couldn't reach the top and it was too slick for them to climb. This contained all of his animals year after year, and apparently, wild predators in Alabama were not a problem for the adults.
 

striker

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Mine died during the winter before they would have been mature enough to breed, but I was told that once the female is gravid, they have to be separated. I'm told the females get super territorial and aggressive and they will tear up the male if left in the same cage. My point is: House them individually. I think a 10x10 is plenty large enough for one, but I always like to go big if you have the room.

You got me thinking about Bert and tegus again… Bert housed his in large, round outdoor pens. He'd buy 8' sections of corrugated roofing material and cut them in half. Then he'd dig a 24" trench in a big circle and he'd put half the 4' section in the hole and half sticking up into the air. He'd attached the section at each joint and go all the way around the circle and then fill in the dirt again around the bottom. Even the largest males couldn't reach the top and it was too slick for them to climb. This contained all of his animals year after year, and apparently, wild predators in Alabama were not a problem for the adults.
Yeah I wish we still had Bert with us. By the time I found out about his existence he had already passed :(. I'm thinking I may buy a few of his books as well as "The Lizard King". I've seen some pictures of his collection and it looked amazing. I really wish I could have met him while he was alive, it would have been a fairly short drive for me.
 

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