theTegu.com - Tegu information, photo gallery, forums, caresheets, diet & nutritional info, taming tips and more for the argentine black and white tegu, argentine red tegu, blue tegu, colombian black tegu and the colombian gold-phased black tegu. Tupinambis merianea, teguixin & rufescens.
Joined: Nov 06, 2004 Posts: 972270 Location: Central Maine
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 3:13 pm Post subject: Rick's Tegu Caresheet
T.merianae (Argentine B&W Tegu) Care By Rick Sisco of Sisco Reptiles
General Information
The Tupinambis merianae (Argentine B/W Tegu) is a large, intelligent lizard from South America. They have been recorded in Brazil (Amazon, Rio Grande do Sul), N. Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia (Santa Cruz) and other locations. They vary from light to dark and in size from region to region.
Housing & Substrate
Hatchling tegus can generally be housed in a 20 gallon to 40 gallon 'breeder' aquarium. Anything smaller than a 20 gallon aquarium will not allow for a proper temperature gradient. As a tegu gets larger, it will need a larger enclosure. An adult tegu should have an enclosure that is a least 3 wide, 2.5 to 3 feet tall, 6 feet long.
There are many substrates that can be used safely and some that should not be used. Do NOT use cedar or pine products. They produce an aromatic oil that can be toxic to reptiles.
My personal recommendation is "Cypress Mulch" which can be purchased at most farm and garden supply places. If you can not find it locally, check around and speak to the store managers and see if they can order it for you. Cypress mulch holds humidity well, but does not mold easily.
Lighting, Temp & Humidity
A proper photoperiod and temperature gradient is required to keep your tegu in optimal health. Tegus DO use UVB lighting to process vitamin D3.
A UVB bulb (for processing Vitamin D3) and a Basking bulb should be placed on one side of the enclosure. The wattage of the Basking bulb is dependant on the size of the enclosure. If the enclosure is small, you will require a low wattage bulb. If the enclosure is really large, you may need a couple high wattage bulbs. By placing the Basking bulb on one side of the enclosure it allows a temperature gradient, which basically means that one side of the tank is hot and one side is cool. This allows the tegu to move back and forth as required to be comfortable. Optimally, you want the basking spot to be 100F to 110F, while the cooler ambient side should be 70F to 80F.
Note that UVB is very important. Not all "full spectrum" bulbs produce UVB. Make sure the UVB is designed for reptiles and states clearly "UVB" (not just UVA).
Using a 24 hour timer to turn the lights off at night and on during the day will help you maintain a proper photoperiod for your tegu.
Misting the enclosure daily will keep the enclosure from getting too dry. If it gets too dry, your tegu could have issues trying to shed. Shedding issues cause horrible pain, scars and often loss of tail and/or toes.
Feeding & Diet Requirements
Tegus should have a large variety in their diet. Tegus do require Calcium supplements and Vitamin D3 supplements. These supplements are available at any pet shop in the form of a fine powder. Calcium powder should be used for two days, on the third day use Vitamin D3 powder, then for the next two days use the Calcium, etc. etc. So basically.. Monday & Tuesday use Calcium supplements on the food. On Wednesday use Vitamin D3 supplements. On Thursday & Friday use Calcium supplements. On Saturday use Vitamin D3, on and on. Do not use the Vitamin D3 every day as it can cause an overdose. I sprinkle supplements on everything except whole food items (rodents, fish, etc)
My tegus diet consist of "Fruit & Meat" every meal. I feed once a day and I allow the tegu to eat as much as it wants to for that one meal. I place the food in a large plastic bin. I then take the tegu out of the enclosure and hold it for a few minutes. Then place the tegu into the bin that already has the food. This avoids any association of you or your hand, with the food. It also avoids the territorial behavior that a tegu can get if it is fed into its enclosure. As a further benefit, it avoids accidental ingestion of substrate, which can cause impaction.
There are many things a tegu can have.. but here is what my tegus diet normally includes...
Meats:
• Prekilled (Frozen/Thawed Rodents) ** Do not feed live rodents **
• Insects (Crickets, Roaches, Superworms)
• Lean Raw Ground Turkey
There are other items that can be used as treats, but shouldn't be part of the tegus regular diet.. Eggs (boiled, scrambled or raw), Potatoes (boiled, mashed, etc. Do NOT feed raw potatoes), Clean Fish, etc. You should search the forums here on TheTegu.com for more food ideas.
Warnings
There are a few things I have stated already and will stress again here...
1. UVB & Calcium/Vitamin D3 supplements are required if you want to ensure a healthy tegu.
2. Do not feed live rodents. Tegus fed live rodents learn to grab first and then decide if it's food. Feeding prekilled rodents lowers the feeding response and the chance of accidental bites. It also helps tame a tegu.
3. Do not feed your tegu inside its enclosure. The reasons are listed above.
This is just a basic care sheet to get you started. Be sure to search the forums here at www.thetegu.com for more information.
Joined: Jan 05, 2008 Posts: 1386 Location: pennsylvania
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:00 pm Post subject:
Rick do you have a care sheet and diet for the colombian tegu ? _________________ 0.1.0 B/W Colombian tegu
2.0.0 Gold Colombian tegus
1.0.0 B/W Argentine tegu
1.0.0 super tiger retic
0.1.0 tiger retic
0.1.0 colombian redtail boa
1.0.0 Brazillian Rainbow boa
1.1.0 Ball pythons
1.0.0 Burmese python
Joined: Nov 06, 2004 Posts: 972270 Location: Central Maine
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:18 pm Post subject:
angelrose wrote:
Rick do you have a care sheet and diet for the colombian tegu ?
I am afraid I don't keep any colombians, but the few I had were fed and treated the same. They ate the same fruits and meats (though at first they needed to be taught that fruit was 'food')
The rest of the care is basically the same for any tegu.
Joined: Nov 06, 2004 Posts: 972270 Location: Central Maine
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm Post subject:
txrepgirl wrote:
WOW Rick great job.Thank you.I have to save this one for new members.
Great! And I appriciate all you have been doing to welcome new members and helping them get started. I may have to make you the official "Forum Greeter"
Joined: Oct 16, 2007 Posts: 2245 Location: San Antonio,TX
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:40 pm Post subject:
WOW I really don't know what to say.I'm speech less .Thank you sooooo much for the compliment.I'm honored.I just go by" treat people how you want to be treated".Oooooh boy now I'm really never going to get of this forum.My boyfriend asks me sometimes when I'm getting of the computer .I just wish I would know more about Tegus so I can help even more people.I'm also very happy to be a part of this forum.
Joined: Jan 05, 2008 Posts: 1386 Location: pennsylvania
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:47 pm Post subject:
Rick, that's the secret the colombians have to be 'taught' that fruit is also food. gotcha _________________ 0.1.0 B/W Colombian tegu
2.0.0 Gold Colombian tegus
1.0.0 B/W Argentine tegu
1.0.0 super tiger retic
0.1.0 tiger retic
0.1.0 colombian redtail boa
1.0.0 Brazillian Rainbow boa
1.1.0 Ball pythons
1.0.0 Burmese python
Joined: Dec 18, 2007 Posts: 878 Location: Eddington, Maine
Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:15 pm Post subject:
yeah it has taken forever for my Isis to learn about fruit.. but she does like a few different kinds _________________ 0.1.0 Colombian Tegu
1.0.0 Arg. Tegu
0.1.4 Bearded Dragon
0.1.0 Royal Python
1.0.0 Crested Gecko
0.0.1 Kingsnake
0.0.1 Painted Turtle
0.1.1 Spotted Pythons
1.2.0 Tokay Geckos
2.3.0 Leopard Geckos
Joined: Jan 29, 2008 Posts: 150 Location: Mar del Plata, Argentina
Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 12:43 pm Post subject:
Well I have and Argentine one, but I can tell you how I made him start eating fruits. One of the first dishes of Juancho was raw egg so since they love eggs then he started eating everything I put into the eggs. I started with banana. After a couple of times I used fruits alone, specially sweet ones since they love sweet things like cherries, plums and grapes. Well, the rest is just history as you can see in my videos! Good luck with yours!
Joined: Dec 18, 2007 Posts: 878 Location: Eddington, Maine
Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 2:38 pm Post subject:
nice. i havent fed her raw eggs, she has ate hard boiled tho, and ill have to try some new fruits. ive tryed cantelope, grapes, r.berriess, s.berries.
thanks _________________ 0.1.0 Colombian Tegu
1.0.0 Arg. Tegu
0.1.4 Bearded Dragon
0.1.0 Royal Python
1.0.0 Crested Gecko
0.0.1 Kingsnake
0.0.1 Painted Turtle
0.1.1 Spotted Pythons
1.2.0 Tokay Geckos
2.3.0 Leopard Geckos
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WOW Rick great job.Thank you.I have to save this one for new members.
.Thank you sooooo much for the compliment.I'm honored.I just go by" treat people how you want to be treated".Oooooh boy now I'm really never going to get of this forum.My boyfriend asks me sometimes when I'm getting of the computer 
.I just wish I would know more about Tegus so I can help even more people.I'm also very happy to be a part of this forum.
