Tegu

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Yvonne G

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My grandson bought an Argentine tegu yesterday. He also bought a really big aquarium for a temporary habitat, because he's going to build it a cage outside. I don't know anything about tegus, but seems to me coming from Argentina that they shouldn't get that cold??? We have freezing almost every night in the winter. He says they dig down and hibernate. I printed him a care sheet, but it didn't mention hibernating. He has what amounts to a Commodore 64 (just kidding, of course, but its dial-up and takes forever to look at anything), and isn't online much, so I can't refer him to the new (to us) Tegu forum. Can anyone point me to a good care sheet that I can print out for him?

(Its a beautiful animal)
 

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He's got the right info Yvonne. They put themselves down around Mid Sept., even though its still warm then. They get up around mid March to April. Mine are still hibernating. Most of the ones in the hobby came from Bert Langerwerf who got them from the Southernmost (coldest) part of their range. Bert Hibernated his outdoors in Alabama in the snow. Tell your nephew that our CA mild winters cause them to get up and down, so he should hibernate them indoors in a box or something like we would a tort. I lost two of mine one year when they came up during a January warm spell and then didn't dig back in deep enough when it got cold again, later in the month. I'm going to try it again with a three foot deep man made burrow and see if I don't have better luck. They can become amazingly tame. Dog tame. Tell him to feed it in a separate tub. Like an 18 gallon rubbermaid tub. Do NOT feed it in the enclosure. When he handles it daily for this tell him NOT to restrain it or grab it. Just gently let it walk onto his hand and do the hand over hand thing. It may jump off a few times, but in time it will become very tame and not feel so threatened. Make sure he knows its an omnivore too.
 

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Madortoise said:
Meg has a nice tegu. I bet you she can be helpful.

Not anymore. She's one of the two hibernating in my garage.
 

Yvonne G

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I'll post some pictures when I can get over there later this week. The animal is about4' long.

Thanks everyone for the info.
 

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emysemys said:
I'll post some pictures when I can get over there later this week. The animal is about4' long.

Thanks everyone for the info.

Oh. I thought he was getting a little one. He'll need a much bigger tub for feeding then. I use 44 gallon trash cans for adults.
 

Fernando

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Tom said:
emysemys said:
I'll post some pictures when I can get over there later this week. The animal is about4' long.

Thanks everyone for the info.

Oh. I thought he was getting a little one. He'll need a much bigger tub for feeding then. I use 44 gallon trash cans for adults.

Do you have pictures of yours Tom?
 

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His? His who?

They all hibernate. Like tortoises, they don't HAVE to hibernate, but they usually try. Bert Langerwerf believed that if they miss even one hibernation, they will never breed. I never tested the theory, but he had no reason to lie.
 

Fernando

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Tom said:
His? His who?

Oops...I must not have sent the first message. My buddy has a 3-4 year old Tegu looks similar to yours. He named it DEBO...he didn't find out it was Female until a year or so ago.

She has never hibernated. But looks completely fine. I was just curious
 

Yvonne G

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Here's my grandson, James's tegu. Its a really nice lizard. Eats quite a bit and hasn't shown any aggression at all.

tegu-1.jpg


tegu-2.jpg
 

Kristina

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OMG I want one... What a COOL lizard!!!

I am starting to accept donations toward moving into a larger house. We have 6,000 members... If each of you sends me $1, I will have a down payment!

Let's get the party started. We'll call it the "Kristina's Giant Lizard House Gala Event!!!"
 

Tom

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Where are you going to buy a house with a $6000 down payment? Its not in the middle of a Florida swamp is it?
 

Kristina

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LOL, no. You have no idea how cheap real estate is here right now. I could get a 5 bedroom house with a garage for $50,000.
 

Tom

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kyryah said:
LOL, no. You have no idea how cheap real estate is here right now. I could get a 5 bedroom house with a garage for $50,000.

I couldn't buy the lumber alone for a two car garage for that much in CA. Wow. I didn't realize just how much of a premium we pay for 80 degree days in the middle of winter.
 

Josh

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Kristina, they're giving away land in Kansas I hear!
 
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