Meet Niko, my argentine b&w Tegu

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EchoTheLeoTort

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Got my delivery this morning of my little tegu Niko (pronounced like Neeko) . and when I say little i mean he is tiny (for now of curse :D ) Little guy let me pet his head when i first opened the container, then he let me pick him up and handle him. Seems pretty calm. Although I put him in the enclosure and i went to take pictures and he was just darting around the cage like a madman so i decided to leave him alone. I got one pic of him in his enclosure, ( you see brick because its a huge brick hide for him inside) So excited to get him, and yes, he is my first lizard.

His enclosure:
IMG_3697.jpg

handling him the first time. Pardon my messy hair and no make up look I am rockin this morning ;) :
Photo on 7-9-13 at 9.30 AM.jpg

close up of his face
IMG_3703.jpg

finally a full body shot
IMG_3709.jpg
 
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Beck

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He's so tiny! How fast do they grow?

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EchoTheLeoTort

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Beck said:
He's so tiny! How fast do they grow?

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The males grow super fast I think because they get so large. I asked for a male but I really won't know for awhile what sex he/she is. They reach sexual maturity in 3 years I think, but they still grow fairly fast :D Pretty soon he'll be 4.5 feet and roaming my room. Right now without including his tail he is so small, maybe like 5 inches. It's crazy i thought he'd be bigger. But he just hatched on the 2nd of this month so he's super young


Team Gomberg said:
He is pretty with the green still.

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its a very vibrant green too, I love it. Would be cool if it stayed after they grow up :D but eventually it'll fade out and he'll just be a big black and white beast
 

EchoTheLeoTort

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Here is a size reference to how tiny he is. You can just see his tiny little head peaking over the bricks. they are normal sized bricks.

IMG_3711.jpg
 
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Vickie

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EchoTheLeoTort said:
Here is a size reference to how tiny he is. You can just see his tiny little head peaking over the bricks. they are normal sized bricks.
What a cutie! You really got an eye for picking out the nicest looking reptiles. ;)
 

Johnlaws

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Sweet ..


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1. Sulcata baby
7. Assorted Ball Pythons
1. XL Savannah Monitor
1. Red Iguana
 

mike taylor

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Awesome I love them little guys.

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Tom

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He looks great. Congratulations.

Here's a handling tip. Don't restrain him. Start by letting him walk across your hands in his enclosure. As soon as you grab them and pin their legs, they start to not trust you. It's a fine line. And don't grab the tail. It can come off.

Are you going to hibernate and do you intend to ever breed him? Got your roach colony started yet?
 

reptile_couple

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Beautiful tegu! Makes me wish that I still had monitors and tegus. I love the green on the baby's. it's to bad that they don't keep it through maturity.
 

wiccan_chicken

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Love the green! So tiny and cute :3 I wish your new baby and you a happy wile together. Can't wait to see how Niko grows! Do the females generally stay smaller than males? I'd like to have a female Tegu if I get one XD
 

LisaTurtle

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Congrats Marissa! He's so cute!! Hard to believe he will get so big!
 

EchoTheLeoTort

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wiccan_chicken said:
Love the green! So tiny and cute :3 I wish your new baby and you a happy wile together. Can't wait to see how Niko grows! Do the females generally stay smaller than males? I'd like to have a female Tegu if I get one XD


As for the black and whites, reds, and blue tegus females stay smaller. Usually averaging around 3 ft where as males can get up to 5 feet but thats a rarity. Males usually are in the 4ft-4.5 ft range. If you got a Columbian tegu I'm not sure how big females get but males only get about 3 ft. I had it planned I wanted a female but now a lot of names I chose are male names so I said I'd prefer a male. I might change the name ( i'm highly indecisive) but I dont know. I have heard that sometimes females are more stubborn than the males and males are easier to tame, but I've seen many females be nice and perfectly tame. Just take a lot of time and put work into it and it'll pay off :D


Tom said:
He looks great. Congratulations.

Here's a handling tip. Don't restrain him. Start by letting him walk across your hands in his enclosure. As soon as you grab them and pin their legs, they start to not trust you. It's a fine line. And don't grab the tail. It can come off.

Are you going to hibernate and do you intend to ever breed him? Got your roach colony started yet?

what are the advantages of hibernating if I may ask? I heard that most people only do that if they intend on breeding. I don't plan on breeding at all. I am getting enrolled and college in spring and there is just no way I have space for two tegus or the money for caring for 2 much less incubators and all that good stuff. I kind of like to only have one of something when it comes to pets, especially reptiles because they don't get along. I only have one snake, and one tegu, and the only thing i have multiple of is my dogs. I would love more pets of course but living with my grandma and dad I have to oblige by there rules. So far we are kind of learning about each other, when I go in his cage he darts to a hiding spot, I lay my hand down on his basking rock and he comes out and walks over to me and "licks" me, and then kind of walks around my hand avoiding it. He lets me actually pet his head but he runs away if I touch any other part of the body. We had a "moment" today when I was offering food again, and I was stroking his head and he closed his eyes for a nap, and then i went a step further and gently picked him up. He woke up and was somewhat startled but i started petting his head again and he closed his eyes again and laid there. That being said I have hopes that he will tame down fairly easily. He doesn't hiss or tail whip or try and bite but he's very skittish. thats expected from a baby though. I am going to read tonight on how to keep crickets. He is my first lizard so I've never dealt with bugs or roaches or mealworms so I'm kind of clueless. Today he ate some bites of ground turkey. I haven't gotten to get him crickets from the store yet so i need to do that tomorrow.
 

zman7590

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Nice looking Liz! If only adults stayed that vibrant!

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wiccan_chicken

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When you go to feed crickets, I'd advise leaving a little bit of food for them to munch on, my last Leo died because a cricket bit her eye because the person I gave her too didn't follow my advice. So she got an eye infection and passed.

So remember, give them something to munch on that isn't your lizard!
 

EchoTheLeoTort

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wiccan_chicken said:
When you go to feed crickets, I'd advise leaving a little bit of food for them to munch on, my last Leo died because a cricket bit her eye because the person I gave her too didn't follow my advice. So she got an eye infection and passed.

So remember, give them something to munch on that isn't your lizard!

Thanks! So far I take Cato (renamed him) out of his cage and place him in a tub that has the crickets in it. He sets off and eats about 7 crickets or so that are dusted in calcium and then when I see he is finished he comes out of the tub. I watch to make sure he is left alone and to monitor his eating and make sure he gets his fill. I don't put crickets in his actual cage :)
 
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