just two weeks

camb · Valued Member Joined: Aug 26, 2007 Posts: 100

im gonna be picking up my first tegu, in just 2 weeks at the maine expo. its gonna be an arg. b&w tegu from rick. im going to get a fifty gallon tub from target and a 100w uva and heat lamp and then a slim line uvb strip light. and then just cardboard boxes for hides. and then i have some left over decor for decoration. first how does all that sound?

now a few questions.

does diet change for babies at all?

does ground turkey need to be cooked?

how many times a week should i add vitamins and calcium?

and other advice is very welcome, plz!!!! thanx soo much in advance.

jayskuh · Valued Member Joined: Jun 21, 2008 Posts: 97

Yes diet does change for baby, need meat for first year!I feed my baby meat ,eggs, and watermelon!

Um it can be cooked?I guess i feed VIncent raw and he/she just loves IT!!!

Once a week is fine just a pinch though!

Everything you said before the question sounds fine too!Adive?
HANDLE!HANDLE!HANDLE!

Lol So far ive had my tegu for idk 3weeks maybe(very bad with dates) And my tegu is pretty damn tame!Still baby too =)
Which Expo you headed again?

laurarfl · Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 7:44 am Post subject:

" im going to get a fifty gallon tub from target and a 100w uva and heat lamp and then a slim line uvb strip light." I'm not a big fan of slim-line uvb strip lights. Is that a T-Rex product? They had an issue a couple of years ago where they were using an inferior product to coat their bulbs. The result was UVC which is harmful to the skin and eyes. They ended up recalling the bulbs, and I'm sure they fixed it. I'm just leary of companies who wouldn't have known that info from the get go. I'm not trying to bash anyone's business, but animals come first, know what I mean? I think you would be better served by using a ReptiSun 10.0 with a fixture that will fit across the top of the enclosure and a dome fixture with a 100 watt bulb for heat. However, that's just my opinion and your mileage may vary!

"does diet change for babies at all?" Babies need lots of protein and fat for growth. Rodents, ground turkey, organ meats, fish, cooked eggs, insects, invertebrates, all good sources of food.

"does ground turkey need to be cooked?" No. Ground turkey should not be the only food source, either.

"how many times a week should i add vitamins and calcium?" Once a week is fine. The best supplement to use is one that has the minerals and calcium separate. The calcium should be phosphorous free. It is more important to feed a good quality diet and have a great UVB source, in my opinion. These little guys need calcium during this period of growth and that can be obtained by feeding small fish with bones, and appropriate sized mice, like hoppers that have bones developing. If you feed a lot of ground turkey, make sure you supplement once a week as ground turkey does not have a lot of calcium in it.
_________________
Laura R (FL)
0.1.0 Colombian Tegu
0.2.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
1.0.0 Red Tegu
1.0.0 Green Amevia (yet another teiid)
8 other lizards
1 little gator
13 snakes
4 frogs
some bugs
and a partridge in a pear tree

camb · Valued Member Joined: Aug 26, 2007 Posts: 100

ya, i ment to say that only the fixture was slimline, the bulb is a reptisun 10.0.

and thanx for the diet tips, i wont feed ground turkey very often then.

and il pic up some vitamins today.

im going to the portland maine reptile expo on august 30th

and plz any more advice is very welcome!

laurarfl · Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:31 pm Post subject:

You can feed ground turkey a couple times a week, just mix it up with bugs, rodents, organ meats, etc.
_________________
Laura R (FL)
0.1.0 Colombian Tegu
0.2.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
1.0.0 Red Tegu
1.0.0 Green Amevia (yet another teiid)
8 other lizards
1 little gator
13 snakes
4 frogs
some bugs
and a partridge in a pear tree

camb · Valued Member Joined: Aug 26, 2007 Posts: 100

thanx, again but one more question. do i need to hibernate?

txrepgirl · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:33 am Post subject:

Congrats on getting you new Tegu.Here are some infos for you.Hope that helps.I do recommend getting a glass enclosure with a lid that has savety clips on it because Tegus are great climbers and they jump against the screen to get out.You can go on craigslist.org,click on you state and city and than click on pets.I found allot of good deals on there for pets and enclosures.

http://thetegu.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=35969#35969

http://thetegu.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=34545#34545

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/feeder-crickets-worms-rodents-roaches-and-more/

http://rodentpro.com/qpage_articles_01.asp

http://www.anapsid.org/constipation.html

http://www.bluetegu.com/tegu-faq.html

http://www.hagen.com/pdf/reptiles/Exo_Terra_Lighting_Guide_EN.pdf

You can enlarge the reading about the lighting by clicking on the plus sign on top of the add.

http://anapsid.org/handlingreptiles.html ( angelrose posted that for us )

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4415540530596912913&pr=goog-sl ( this video is made for us by jose2187 )

http://thetegu.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=40780#40780

laurarfl · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 11:17 am Post subject:

yay, the librarian is back! Just kdding txrepgirl!

camb, I always hibernate. If you want to breed in the future, hibernation is necessary according to most breeders. I let my lizards hibernate because it's part of their natural cycle. I wouldn't know how to not let them hibernate. My big girl is sleeping and her lights are on. I wouldn't exactly want to go wake her up, and I doubt she would eat anyway.
_________________
Laura R (FL)
0.1.0 Colombian Tegu
0.2.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
1.0.0 Red Tegu
1.0.0 Green Amevia (yet another teiid)
8 other lizards
1 little gator
13 snakes
4 frogs
some bugs
and a partridge in a pear tree

camb · Valued Member Joined: Aug 26, 2007 Posts: 100

thanx for the info txrepgirl! and i will do some more research on hibernation.

do the hibernate their first year?

laurarfl · Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:34 pm Post subject:

My hatchling did last year, and the yearling I just bought hibernated last year, too.
_________________
Laura R (FL)
0.1.0 Colombian Tegu
0.2.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
1.0.0 Red Tegu
1.0.0 Green Amevia (yet another teiid)
8 other lizards
1 little gator
13 snakes
4 frogs
some bugs
and a partridge in a pear tree

txrepgirl · Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 12:49 pm Post subject:

Your welcome camb

.Any time.Leonidas didn't hibernate but Zeus did ( it was the first hibernation season for both of them ).If you like to read there is a book comming out in October about Tegus that has allot of good infos in it.You can get it at Barns and Nobles.

.To bad you wrere just kidding Laura.I took it as a nice compliment

.I'm going to try to be on here more often.I have been working allot lately.

camb · Valued Member Joined: Aug 26, 2007 Posts: 100

id love to get that book, whats it called?

and thanx again to everyone this forum is really helpful!

laurarfl · Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 3:17 pm Post subject:

Well, I meant it as a compliment, but I didn't want to be offensive. Sometimes things come across weird on the Internet when people can't hear the humor in your voice or the feel the nudge of your elbow.

_________________
Laura R (FL)
0.1.0 Colombian Tegu
0.2.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
1.0.0 Red Tegu
1.0.0 Green Amevia (yet another teiid)
8 other lizards
1 little gator
13 snakes
4 frogs
some bugs
and a partridge in a pear tree

txrepgirl · Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 11:15 pm Post subject:

Thanks Laura.I think that I know you well enough by now to know that you meant it in a nice way ( that's how I took it )

.

Hi camb.Here is some info about the Books that Barns and Nobels has and the one that will be comming out soon.

It's number 6 that will be comming out in October.

http://www.bordersstores.com/search/search.jsp?srchTerms=tegus&mediaType=1&srchType=Keyword&doSearch.x=8&doSearch.y=10