Breeding Temperatures

Diegar · Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2005 3:19 pm Post subject: Breeding Temperatures

Hello All,

I am looking to breed tegus in a few years, but before i commit myself completely, there is something i need to know. Does anyone know the lowest temperature that a tegu can sustain during the winter? Here in North Carolina, the lowest temp i have seen at night, is around 8f. Is this too low, or perhaps something that can be worked with, with a little modification?

I want to know because it will mean the difference between hybernating them indoors, or outdoors, and i would prefer outdoors.

So if anyone has time, and some suggestions, please help me out. Thanks!
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The Jay

Diegar · Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 12:54 pm Post subject:

Well good news.. I just got an email back from Bert at AgamaInternational and he says that the temps in Alabama get just as low as they do in North Carolina, so that is very good news..
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The Jay

tupinambis · Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 1:14 pm Post subject:

Before I'd jump on that, I'd get winter burrow temperatures to make sure. I guarantee you that if your burrow gets down to 8F, you WILL have dead tegus, no question. Secondly, it will also depend on which species you are thinking of. The northern clade of tegus do not hibernate, and low temperatures would likely prove to be lethal. The southern clade of tegus do hibernate, but as I stated above, you'll need to be mindful of the burrow temperatures.

Diegar · Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 1:44 pm Post subject:

noted.. Thanks :O)
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The Jay

Diegar · Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 11:25 am Post subject:

Well i have decided that if i am going to buy a bunch of tegus next July, then i might as well figure out this winter issue this year. What i am going to try, amongst other things, is to take one of those dog igloos, that really insulate well and put some moist, cut grass inside of it and then place a thermometer inside and check it daily. I want to see if the grass mulch will keep it warmer than the air outside.

A question i had about this is, since i am new to breeding tegus and new to breeding anything outside, will the tegus most likely choose to hibernate inside the dogloo, or will they just bury themselves in the dirt anyway?
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The Jay

ForkedTongue · Member Joined: Apr 12, 2005 Posts: 65

Dude seriously without proper protection you are going to kill your tegus. A dog igloo will not do it in 8 degree temps. And you can't compare a dog igloo to how Burt does it.

Diegar · Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 6:55 pm Post subject:

tupinambis · Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:10 pm Post subject:

Unfortunately, Diegar, you seem to want answers to vague questions, something rather hard, if not impossible, to do.

First, though, some stuff that may be helpful. Tegus can build their own burrows, but will often use whatever is provided for them. Therefore, if you build a burrow for them yourself, they will PROBABLY use it. If you look in my photo album, you will see how we constructed our burrows in our 'baias' down in Brasil. However, don't jump to the conclusion you should use the same materials (brick, concrete, etc.) in your construction. That area of the world has very rarely, if ever, seen freezing temperatures.

There are some things YOU need to discover/think about before you decide to build a burrow for them. First, what is the temperature profile of the soil where you live during the coldest part of the winter? If your soil gets down to freezing temperatures at roughly a foot in depth, then you are either going to have to dig your burrow deeper than that, or somehow heat the burrow. You will want to build a burrow that is strong, resistant to molding and decay, yet easily enough accessed for cleaning and checking on your tegus. I would hesitate on letting the tegus dig their own burrow as they aren't from around where you live, so they will not have any instinctual idea of how deep they need to dig.

You also need to think about the type of soil your enclosure is being built upon to determine how deep you need to dig to bury your fence. If you have loose, loam based soil, you might have to dig a meter or so down in order to prevent your tegus from digging underneath it. Our baias in Brasil were built on hard packed clay, most of our fences were dug 1/2 m down, and some tegus were still able to dig under that. Up here, our soil is pretty loose, and I don't even dream of putting the tegus in an outdoor enclosure unless it has a COMPLETE bottom to it (not only to keep the tegus in, but the coyotes out).

Like you said, you are trying to work things out ahead of time, you have a fair bit of information to gather for yourself. Best of luck.

Diegar · Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 7:00 am Post subject:

Awesome, thanks!

I have been doing some thinking, as well as talking with some people. Was talking with Bert and we were going over some climate charts and soil charts. Victoria, Argentina and Apex, North Carolina, are almost exactly the same in climate and soil. Average low temps in our coldest months, gets down to around 0c to -1c. That isn't bad at all. The soil here is also very dense and packed clay. I was digging in it yesterday, to drop a retainer wall underground for the enclosure, and ran into ground water that seeped up at about 16" on one side of the area, but i wanted to find out if that water was everywhere, so dug down to 18" on the other side and so far, there is no water.

I chose the area of 20' x 30'. I am digging a trench along the rectange, of 4 feet deep. Then i am planning to add a retainer, drop my poles fill it up. Once i drop the retainer, i am going to buy some temperature probes. The detachable kind that you can plug into a digital thermometer. I am going to bury them in different locations and at different elevations, so as to get an idea of the frost level, across the entire enclosure.

I haven't decided whether or not to let them dig their own burrows, but if the frost line is not too deep, then most likely i will.

Thanks for the input :O)
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The Jay

ForkedTongue · Member Joined: Apr 12, 2005 Posts: 65

Did I assume that you were going to take one of those dog igloos, that really insulate well and put some moist, cut grass inside of it and then place a thermometer inside and check it daily? That's what you said. All I was saying is that in 8 degree temps that won't work. I was just trying to help. I wasn't being negitive. What would be negitive is you turning your tegus into tegusicles.