need help with new tegu!

SiandLi · Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 9:11 am Post subject: need help with new tegu!

hi got my new tegu yesterday and set up the tank and everything in the bedroom. the guy i bought him off said all he does is sleep.when i took him home i let him wander round the room and get his barings and thats the most active iv ever seen. he was trying to dig up the carpet in the corner and hiding behind the bedside lockers. when me and my boyfriend wher trying to get some sleep he was makin so much nose in the tank walking round and digging and hittin off the glass. Just wondering are tegus more active at night then during the day or is this behavior because he is stil to settle in and does not know wat is going on?a few times wen i tried to remove him from behind the bedside lockers he hissed at me and he does not usually do this??any help would be greatly appreciated as my boyfriend has been put off him after one night of no sleep.

angelrose · Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 9:54 am Post subject:

hi SandiLi and Welcome ! Congrats on your new tegu.

tegus are most active during the day. your baby sounds like he/she was looking for a place to hide. they 'huff' to tell you they want to be left alone. can you descirbe your set up a little more ?

make sure the cypress mulch is deep. deep enough to cover their entire bodies. they like to dig and burrow in it.
and do you have a hide box ?
what kind of lighting / heat / UV ?

you may want to look in the forums there are lots of interesting and necessary info there or just ask. enjoy.

oh and give him/her time to settle in. it's a new home for him.
_________________
0.1.0 B/W Colombian tegu
1.1.0 Gold Colombian tegus
1.1.0 B/W Argentine tegus
1.0.0 Savy monitor
1.0.0 Brazillian Rainbow boa
1.1.0 Ball pythons
1.0.0 Burmese python

SiandLi · Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 10:05 am Post subject:

thanks for the reply. we havent got the tank properly set up yet as we had to take him from the guy last nite as he is going away. at the moment we have him in a 6ft long tank thats 3ft deep and 2ft high so it is very big. we only have carpet in it at the mo and a heat mat and eric who we bought him off said he would be fine with that for the night. we have bought reptile bark, a basking lamp (100watt bulb) and a uv light. will all this be sufficient?what type of hiding would be best suited considering he is such a big size?eric is a friend of mine and when he had him all he did was sleep thats why i was a bit concerned when he was moving around so much last night.

angelrose · Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 10:41 am Post subject:

that was so nice to take him SandiLi. to help you along you should get temperature and humidity gages/thermostats.

cypress mulch (more common) or eucalyptus bark for substrate. both are very good in holding humidity. you may want to check a home depot store I get a huge bag there for 1.98. try to keep the humidity at 70%.

A very good bulb with optimal levels of UVB, UVA and heat all in one is the EXO TERRA Solar Glo Sun Simulating Lamp, self-ballasted mercury vapour bulb.

and hide boxes, make sure they are moist (not wet). they spend much of their lives inside of their burrow and depend on it to be very humid for good shedding and a healthy tegu. you can use:
clay bases to large flower pots, with a rather small opening for him/her to get in and out of.
large cat litter box, put something on top of it to stop it from moving around.
concrete blocks, arrange them to make a burrow, *make sure it's stable.
and *file down all sharp edges.
make sure to place substrate in there something that will not get moldy i.e. hay

jose2187, a member here has a very good video on how to make your own hide box (and other good videos as well).
_________________
0.1.0 B/W Colombian tegu
1.1.0 Gold Colombian tegus
1.1.0 B/W Argentine tegus
1.0.0 Savy monitor
1.0.0 Brazillian Rainbow boa
1.1.0 Ball pythons
1.0.0 Burmese python

txrepgirl · Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 1:31 am Post subject:

Hi Lisa.He just made all the noise because he wanted to dig in to some mulch so he can hide.Since he had the carpet in there please check his nails to make sure they didn't get stuck on the carpet and maybe lost one.I do not recommend the heat pad because the Tegu can get very bad burns from it.You can check with your local nursery or hard ware store to get some cypress mulch.You get a lot more of the mulch and a lot cheaper than the stuff you buy at the pet store.Make sure it is the all natural cypress mulch and doesn't have any chemicals or coloring in it.Never use cedar mulch because it is toxic.If you want to you can get a timer for the light.My Tegus lights come on when the sun comes up and turn of when it gets dark out side.It is recommended for the lights to be on 12 or 14 hours a day.I also recommend to feed him out side of his enclosure so he will not get aggressive and think that your Hand is food when you are trying to get him out( also make sure your hands don't smell like food ) ( he also can get impacted when you feed him in the enclosure ).With the mulch I recommend to mist down the entire mulch with a spray bottle one day ( make sure it is moist to the touch not wet or soaked ) and stir it all up.Next day just spray the top and the next day stir it all up again than start from the beginning.My two Tegus never wanted to use a hide box but since i keep the mulch moist they don't have any shedding problems.But like angelrose sad make sure that you have a lot of mulch in there for him to dig in and hide.Good luck.