Newbie

Johelian · Retired Mod Joined: Nov 22, 2004 Posts: 848

Hey Dave.
Its pretty scary - I too live in the UK, own a tegu and a bearded dragon, and am waiting (impatiently) for my parrot!

What parrot do you have? Im desperate to get an eclectus, but there are none to be had near me at the moment!

I wouldnt imagine he would freak out in the new cage; tegus are generally very slow and cautious in new places, scenting everything carefully. To make him more comfortable you could throw in some cage furniture like cork bark, plants (fake or real, bearing in mind both will be gradually destroyed, and being careful to pick safe varieties), branches (if you use ones from the garden, they should have a quick soak in a weak bleach/water solution, followed by a lenthy soak in pure water before being left to dry out...same as for beardeds really) etc etc; these will make the space less intimidating and give your tegu something to do. Also, a good deep layer of substrate will let your tegu dig to its hearts content - a favourite pastime of most captive tegus

Most stores here dont stock cypress mulch, but you can buy massive sacks of orchid mulch at good reptile stores, which is usually fairly cheap and will do just as good a job. To keep humidity up requires frequent spraying - go to B&Q and pick up one of their 3l or more garden sprayers, they are the business! Rick is right about those pellets - they will become a nasty mess when subjected to constant moisture.

Its a good idea to get the new tegu checked out by your herp vet as soon as possible; mine went to the vet a couple of days after I got him, and was found to have a respiratory infection, so its always best to get a good bill of health for a new pet - that way also you may be able to cadge money back off the shop if you find they have sold you an ill animal to go towards treatment etc. As Teiidae said, keep him away from the bearie; if he doesnt try to take a bite out of it, they may pass on passive illnesses to each other.

_dave_ · Member Joined: Apr 03, 2006 Posts: 22

i have a senegal parrot called Chester, he is hand reared by me and my partner and is great! oh i also have 2 scorpions in which im selling so thats good, get a bit of money to put towards tegu

ive changed his name to Drake, its easier to roll of the tongue than godzilla, and its also a name of a dragon.. (i searched on the net)

check out http://www.parrot-link.co.uk/forum/default.asp for parrots for sale, and adtrader.co.uk .. just search for parrots for sale uk im sure you will find an eclectus.

my beardie is going to the herp vet in snodland tomorrow so i will take drake with me and just get him checked up.

_dave_ · Member Joined: Apr 03, 2006 Posts: 22

Hi

Drake is fine, took him to the herp vet this morning and his vent lump is just a bit swolen probably due to the substrate as i think rick said, i am waiting for my mulch to come in the post so not long now for him!

the vet was so impressed he took some pictures of him! dont think he has seen many tegus, said he is in very good health otherwise, so im happy about that

beardie has pinworms though and is being treated for them, keeping the 2 away from eachother because i dont want drake to get them too! the vet asked for a fecal sample of drake just to make sure he is fine.

Nero557 · Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 12:06 pm Post subject:

Good to hear that the swollen vent isn't anything major, glad for you and your tegu. I would soak him quite a bit so that maybe the water can flush out the debris that is causing the problem. Also, since you don't have enough substrate for him to burrow in, maybe you would just want to put him on newspaper until you get your mulch... just a suggestion though. That might help get rid of the problem quicker and then you won't have to worry about it anymore.

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_dave_ · Member Joined: Apr 03, 2006 Posts: 22

Hi Nero

Thanks for the response, still havent recieved my mulch yet! taking ages

looking to build him a 6x3x2 ft tank this weekend, does it need to be 3 ft high? or is 2ft going to be ok, because if it was 2ft would save me 15quid

he is feeding really well, loves sitting on my shoulder. hates the bath and always poops in it hehe

Nero557 · Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 6:02 pm Post subject:

depending on the size of the tegu, and from the pics it didn't seem to be that big, for now I believe 2ft would be perfectly fine, just watch your temps and give him enough to burrow in. If you have anymore questions make sure you ask.

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yeaitsdave · Honored Member Joined: Sep 25, 2005 Posts: 261

It will for a while, just be careful about where your lights are mounted at. At that height he may be able to get to them, so you make sure you put chicken wire around it so he cant hit it and burn himself

_dave_ · Member Joined: Apr 03, 2006 Posts: 22

ill just spend £15 more and make it 3ft high, dont want him to get burnt, gotta buy loads of cypress mulch!!! to fill a 6ft tank hehe

if he poops do i just scoop it out and not refill the whole mulch? im scooping at the moment, but he does lots of wee's (white bits)

Teiidae · Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 7:45 am Post subject:

Spot clean it as he goes, however you will still have to periodically change the substrate as well - Getting him to go somewhere other than in the enclosure "Such as the tub", will help keep your substrate fresher...

Feel free to use all the forums on this board to start new topics or pose questions as some may skip over a lengthy welcome thread

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_dave_ · Member Joined: Apr 03, 2006 Posts: 22

he does it in the tub i bath him in, farts a lot too the smelly bugger! lol.. found out Orchid Bark is like cypress mulch and i have some at home!

jb · Honored Member Joined: Sep 01, 2005 Posts: 201

Is orchid bark safe????...it's made from some pine or fir tree bark...it has an odor so i didn't know if it was safe.

_dave_ · Member Joined: Apr 03, 2006 Posts: 22

ah my cypress mulch arrived today. its a bit spikey if i press my hand down on it, so hope its ok for drake

he loves it! has burried himself, keeps playing around in it so im happy he seems happy

Nero557 · Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 11:01 pm Post subject:

He will be fine, they have rough skin, a lot of us use it and I don't know of anyone who has had a problem, some people mix it with other stuff, such as, but not limited to, bed-a-beast, peat moss, and some other smaller, more dirt-like substances and they like the look a little better, I guess it's all personal preference. glad to hear drake is happy.

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_dave_ · Member Joined: Apr 03, 2006 Posts: 22

i put a good 4 inches deep for him to use it, woke up this morning and he had buried himself in it, was a bit worried so i got him out after a bit of hissing, and he was stone cold! might consider putting a heat mat under the tank for keep him warm at night, because he really was cold!

Johelian · Retired Mod Joined: Nov 22, 2004 Posts: 848