tegu

[latshki]

Well I've wanted a tegu since i found out what they are lol
but I have never been able to find one and have not had a source for rodents and an enclosure
well I have aquired a 6x3x3 tank and have a source for food
but now I need the actual tegu

I am wondering if you can point me in the right direction for getting a tegu in canada

also any advise from owners (Tom) would be great
thanks

 

[Tom]

Oh jeez. Where to begin? I've only raised a handful of them, so I'm no expert. I've been around a few dozen over the years and studied them as much as I can, but I don't feel like I know that much about them yet. Here's my experience: I like to start with springtime hatchlings and hibernate them every year, including their first. So, if you get one in August, it should be putting itself down by Sept/Oct. Then you won't see it for 5 months or so. I hibernate them indoors around 50-55F. Hibernation is a whole process and a whole book could be written about just that. They will likely die, if you try to hibernate them outdoors in most of the country for a variety of reasons. Even in the warm areas. When they wake up, they are ravenous (after a couple weeks of waking up) and they grow in leaps and bounds before the next hibernation. When they come out of their 4th hibernation is when they start breeding and laying eggs. They build a nest and defend it viciously, so be careful.

Diet: Some only want the meaty stuff, while others like a variety. Either way, variety should be offered all the time. Meg has some good tips for this. She knows a good deal about them too. I don't use a lot of rodents for them. I use pigeon and dove eggs(fertile), roaches and other bugs, Bird of Prey diet, reptile sausages, hard or soft boiled chicken eggs, chicks, chicken parts, occasional fish, and whatever other stuff I can come up with for variety. I also use soaked premium dog kibble, wheat bread, pasta, a whole assortment of fruits and occasional veggies like squash or cucumber. Basically a mixture of all kinds of stuff. They seem to me to get more omnivorous as they get older and bigger.

Housing: I like to start babies in something smaller, like a 2x2' or a 40 gallon. I usually let them hibernate in that and then after they wake up, start eating and shed a couple of times, I'll move them into the next size up. Your big cage would be a good second year cage. Once they get big, after their 3rd hibernation, I move them outside into big outdoor cages like this:
http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-13236.html?highlight=tegu

I'm in the middle of building two 16x20' and two 13x28' enclosures right now. Outdoors is the best way to go with these guys, once they get big, but I bring them in to hibernate. Since you are up North, I think you'd need to build a 4x8' minimum, for an adult. I use a humidity friendly substrate and a dark, appropriately sized, humid hide box.

They all have different temperaments. Some are more flighty than others, and some get very assertive around the food in Springtime, but I've never had an Argentine that wanted to bite or be aggressive. Still, they have a very powerful bite and really big teeth, so do use caution. I also feed mine outside of their enclosure. This gets them handled everyday and helps to prevent a food response in the cage.

I don't know of anything reptile related in Canada, but there are all sorts of breeders here in the States.

I could go on and on. Seriously, a book could be written, but at least this is some stuff for you. Hit me back with any specifics that aren't addressed here.

 

[latshki]

Thanks Tom it's good to get some personal experience mixed in with those basic care sheets
yea the cage will only be until he or she out grows it and they will be getting at least an 8x4 as an adult
Im trying to get some roaches to have a good colony in which I will get back to you on that and want to get a trio of rats for food
fish and the sort is no problem here, as I live on an island so fishing is a major part of our economy
I am wondering though if rock crabs and mumichogs are safe to be eaten I can get copious amounts and they often have a lot of meat on them
I would love to keep them outdoors more but i would only have about 2-3 months in which they could stay out and I would likely bring them in
I have been researching these guys for a long time but the real struggle is finding one and although I can find them, they are often from agama international and have some problems like MBD and missing toes
preferably I would want an extreme giant from bobby hill (varnyard)

 

[Tom]

The majority of mine were from Agama International. They were all great. Very healthy. Bert was a great man and I learned a lot from him. Sadly he passed away a couple of years ago and his company is no longer in business.

Variety is good in their diet, so the items you mentioned are probably fine.

Don't know about those "extreme giants". Meg? Where you at?

If you can swing it, you'll really enjoy seeing them outdoors. Its a whole new experience, sitting in a pen with giant lizards hanging around you.

 

[latshki]

yea agama international is still in business but his son Timo runs it and hes not as dedicated as bert was and hes been getting a bad wrap for it and have seen pictures of tegus with missing limbs and parts of tails that came from him
I am definately making an outdoor pen for him, Ill just add it to the tortoise pen and make a top for it
also I think I found myself a Gu so I will keep you guys updated

 

[Tom]

yea agama international is still in business but his son Timo runs it and hes not as dedicated as bert was and hes been getting a bad wrap for it and have seen pictures of tegus with missing limbs and parts of tails that came from him
I am definately making an outdoor pen for him, Ill just add it to the tortoise pen and make a top for it
also I think I found myself a Gu so I will keep you guys updated

Interesting. I talked to Timo and Hester both within a few months of Bert's passing and they both told me the company was done, the ranch was up for sale and they were in process of selling off all the stock. In fact there wasn't much left by the time I talked to them. So they changed their minds and did a 180? Whoa. Didn't know that. I'll have to look into this as that was my preferred place to get my animals from. Bert went to Southern Argentina and collected his breeding stock himself. He wanted cold tolerant animals. He spent months or years turning their biological clocks around to Northern Hemisphere seasons and after a lot of years of toil, effort and expense, was reaping the benefits of his hard work. So were his customers. If you can trace the lineage back to his stock, you'll have the most cold-tolerant healthy specimens there are. I haven't dealt with Timo as a business man, so I have no comment at all, but Bert was a top notch guy. I sincerely hope his son will live up to his high standards.

 

[latshki]

yea I have heard many great thing about bert but almost none from his son
from my understanding he is only about the money and not the animals and has sold deformed animals
although I must say that the collection its self is very amazing and hope to someday get some chinese crocodile lizards from him

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just checked their site and it turns out it is all for sale
just a few months ago he still had ads on kingsnake and there was nothing about the place being for sale on the site
he also makes a lot of youtube videos
under the name agamainternational