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Thread: Will I be able to handle having one?

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Finger Lakes, NY
    Posts
    1,362

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    O thats cool yeah i's wait to with the daycare thing, If you'd really want a Bobby Hill make friends with some1 in the states as close to you as you can pay and have bobby ship to them then drive over here pick it up and take it home (i dont mean right now, but when "you're ready") i wish you the best of luck.... yeah i also have a 1yr old boy (he just loves the snakes) i have one cage a 75gal tank coffee table height in the living room and he'll crawl to it then stand up and stare all day or until his legs get tired. My daughter Aerika (erica) loves the snakes, lizards, toads, & frogs, she likes the Tegus most of all (Jonesy is hers i got him to replace her 6yr old Croc Gecko that died 2yrs ago this fall)

    Sorry for Hyjacking this thread.....
    As far as i care Nessie ur more than welcome to hang out on the forum as long as you want, & i think everyone else will feel the same
    1.2.0 Argen Black & White
    1.1.0 Red Tegu
    0.0.1 Blue Tegu
    1.0.0 All American Tegu
    0.1.0 Hypo Red Tail Boa
    1.0.0 Lazik Tiger BP
    1.0.0 Normal Paradox BP
    1.0.0 Cuban Tree Frog
    2.3.0 America Toads
    1.0.0 Masked Ferret
    1.1.0 Children
    Rats & Roaches (Dubia)

    RIP-
    0.0.1 RedxB/W Tegu (Stevie Wonder)
    1.0.0 Croc Gecko (Waylan Jones I)

    & More to come

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Citrus Heights, CA
    Posts
    815

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    Well I for one don't mind ya hangin' out here. I mean, heck, I don't even own a tegu yet (although we JUST put our deposit down on two of them!! *GLEE!!*) and I've been hangin' around here.
    "Why do blessings always come in disguises? If I were a blessing, I'd run around naked."

    0.1.0 Bearded Dragon; Spaz (aka "Monkey")
    1.0.0 Bearded Dragon; Leonidas (aka "Jaba" aka "Fatty)
    0.0.1 Ball Pythons; Lil' Bit

    0.1.0 Argentine B/W Tegu; Bozski - *rehome*
    1.0.0 Argentine A/A Tegu; Oscar - *rehome*
    1.0.0 Ball Python; Moose - *rehome*

    0.1.0 Bearded Dragon; Knuckles (aka "Kitteh"), RIP
    0.0.1 Baby B/W Tegu; unnamed, RIP

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Labasa, Fiji
    Posts
    27

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    My tegu is my first lizard, first reptile, and first pet that was completely mine. I did zero research prior to buying him and instead listened to what people at the pet store told me about how easy he would be to maintain, etc. I just wanted to own a lizard that was intelligent, grew large, and lived a long time. Before purchasing my tegu I had never even heard of a tegu. As a result my tegu developed moderate/severe MBD from substandard diet and husbandry. And no, I did not feed my tegu cat food or keep him in a 10 gallon tank with newspaper substrate either. You're obviously way ahead of where I was in that regard - you'll find anything you could possibly need to know about how to properly provide care for a tegu on this website. So it is quite possible to have a tegu for your first pet/reptile and if you do things properly you won't have to go through what I did. However, I got really lucky in that I was able to afford expensive trips to the exotic vet, found this website, and had the time and energy to read about tegus several hours a day, everyday for months as well as the time and energy to rehab him properly. I was really scared that he wasn't going to make it or ever be normal but I was blessed with him making a complete turnaround. With proper care these are really amazing and rewarding pets. These are majestic, incredibly intelligent lizards with distinct personalities. I will definitely have a tegu or tegus in my life forever.

    The main things you need to remember are that you're making a substantial commitment with your time and finances if you are going to properly care for your tegu. I still probably spend about an hour a day, everyday with my tegu between daily feeding, bathing, misting, checking temps, rearranging his enclosure if needed, and taking him outside on a harness to roam and get natural sun. Also, please keep in mind that these lizards get extremely large and can do serious damage to someone being careless or to a child. It's one thing to look at a huge tegu and admire it and it's another to handle one. And I don't care what ANYONE says (I'm obviously not a reptile expert) but in my opinion a tegu is never, ever going to be COMPLETELY tame - especially when you take them outside. I have handled my tegu almost every single day since I've owned him (10 months), and before that he was in a pet shop and has obviously seen and been handled by many humans in his life but just today I took him outside while 2 guys were out front washing my cars and when one of them walked up to me I took my eye off him for about 30 seconds and he flipped out like a maniac. When a nearly 3 foot lizard as strong as a tegu flips out it can be a little intimidating and downright scary. My tegu does mid-air barrel rolls completely turning his body over before landing, tries to run for the nearest bushes (If I didn't have the leash I might have lost my tegu - had to drag him out of the bushes while he was having a kicking and hissing fit), opens his mouth as wide as he can to look as terrifying as possible, etc. These aren't dogs who've had thousands of years of domestication around humans - they are wild animals who live in the jungle - and they are EXTREMELY fast, strong, and nasty when they want/need to be. My tegu is obviously not even close to fully grown and right now he could probably take off the end of my finger with a bite, his nails are like razors and his tail is extremely long, thick and powerful. I'm not saying this to scare you but I think it's important to realize that no matter how calm and tame you think your tegu is at best they tolerate us - my tegu takes naps with me, goes outside almost every single day without incident, is handled/petted by friends, my 5 year old son, etc. and is calm as can be 99% of the time, but that can change in an instant and you need to be prepared for that possibility. They act like slow-moving lazy slobs oblivious to whatever is going on most of the time but don't let it fool you!

    With all that said, I say go for it if you think you're ready. No one can tell you how many reptiles you need to own before you're "allowed" to own a tegu. Knowing what I know now, there are PLENTY of people who keep WAY too many reptiles for it to be possible to care for them all properly unless they have a full staff and thousands of dollars to spend every month. It makes me sick to see some of these peoples houses on youtube with 15 reptile "enclosures" in some small bedroom - that's WORSE than a pet store and in the end the animal suffers. After having a tegu, I can say with conviction that I do not agree with people attempting to "domesticate" these animals (or any reptile) or keep them as pets for that matter. That is why I would never buy a tegu from a breeder. Making a living breeding animals such as these to sell as "pets" is just plain wrong and disgusting IMO. You're better off reading and experiencing on your own rather than just listening to whomever is running their big mouth trying to make a profit from you by selling you an exotic pet. I'd rather have one from a pet store or a previous owner because I know that 9 out of 10 people who buy a tegu from a pet store aren't going to care for it properly and rather than have it languish in the corner of someones house I would rather keep it myself and at least give him/her a chance at a full healthy life. It's not about owning pets, it's about providing for your pets properly and any animal deserves that, especially something as awesome and special a tegu. ALSO - I would make plans to eventually have your adult tegu live outdoors, unless you are prepared to dedicate enough space in your house to have AT LEAST an 8 ft. by 4 ft. enclosure for ONE adult tegu.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Sin City
    Posts
    252

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    I would not recommend a baby beardie for small children as they are quite flighty and jumpy. Also babies can go downhill very quickly and die if you don't have things just right, so why the worry about if they will grow right and get mbd, etc. If you are thinking about getting a beardie as a first lizard I would recommend getting one that is at least 6 mo old. At that time they tend to calm down quite a bit and are old enough to be sexed. They are much larger so easier for smaller kids to handle w/ out hurting them. Also, baby beardies eat TONS of bugs and are much more expensive to take care of. If you get one that is full grown 1 1/2 years old, that is when they start eating mostly greens and fruits and only about 20% of their diet is bugs so then they become much cheaper and easier to take care of. If you are interested in beardies I would recommend checking out Beardeddragon.org there are lots of reputable breaders on there that you can buy from in the for sale section http://www.beardeddragon.org/bjive/v...e6f7d5791d9722
    this guy is currently for sale. Great looking and full grown breeder.

    Also check out http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtrem...Nutrition.html for food and supliments.
    Toki Tegu
    Scorch Dragon
    Nadine Columbian Boa
    2 Herb freak Teenagers & 1 Beardie loving Hubby

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Chesterfield, VA, USA
    Posts
    265

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    I wouldn't recommend a tegu as a first pet or first lizard on the basis that not much is known about tegus kept as pets. We have a lot of information, but nowhere near as much as say a beardie for example. Personally I wouldn't have gotten a tegu if my boyfriend (whom I live with) hadn't had lizards and snakes before and I knew I got really, REALLY bored online and intended to search out new information on tegus.

    On the other hand you HAVE found this site which I've found to be incredibly helpful. If you were to get a tegu, this site is definitely an outstanding asset. But the hard truth is, only YOU know if your mature and responsible for any pet, not just a tegu.

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Oregon
    Posts
    67

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    My first lizard was a tegu and it has worked out very well. Just do lots of research on how to provide it with the proper heat, humidity, UV light, substrate, water tub, and diet and you will be fine. About 6 months before buying a tegu I highly recommend getting a colony of Dubia roaches going so you have a good source of insects to eat since crickets are too small to fill up even a 6 month old tegu. A few weeks before you get your tegu it is necessary to get its enclosure completely set up so you can get the temperature and humidity completely dialed in. Make sure to have ground turkey, chicken, beef liver, eggs, and cod liver oil on hand as well as a large amount of calcium powder made from precipitated calcium carbonate rather than oyster shell. Make sure you have a good source of coconut fiber or cypress mulch for substrate because it takes quite a bit for a cage large enough for a tegu. Make sure you have a UV light that is new and the proper distance from the basking spot to be effective. The most important thing is having enough time to spend with your tegu. I would suggest that you have your tegu out of its cage for about 2 hours per day when you should handle it, feed it, and let it roam around and explore safe areas. If you don't have time for this I would not recommend a tegu. They need to be fed raw meat with calcium powder or insects with calcium powder daily and should be fed frozen thawed mice at least weekly. They often need to have fresh water daily because the poop in it and get substrate in it while digging. Their water dish needs to be large enough that they can submerge most of their body in it or they need to have a bath every day or two. Their cage needs to be misted EVERY day to keep the substrate moist but not soggy or tacky. humidity needs to be kept around 60 to 90 percent most to the time and basking temperature needs to be between 90 and 100 degrees F. The rest of the cage should be in the mid 70's to mid 80's during the day and can be allowed do drop to around 70 at night. A screen top will cause the humidity to drop too fast and will not work out well. I would suggest building the enclosure yourself or finding someone to do it for you rather than buying a 400 gallon aquarium to use because glass is a poor insulator and it is difficult to reach the bottom of large aquariums to do the daily cleaning that healthy tegus need. If you think you can do All of these things I believe that a Tegu would make a great first reptile pet. It is just a matter of whether or not you have the time and patients. As for having one around small kids, I would say that a cat would be more unpredictable and dangerous than a tegu. I have had a few small bites on my fingers from not washing my hands with soap after handling meat. If it smells like food any tegu will take a bite just to check it out. These cuts have never gotten infected like cat bites often do. For the first few months I would recommend keeping the kids away just because tegus feel threatened whenever multiple people around until they get large enough that people are no longer a threat. My tegu became very tame after having her for around 3 months. She went from being a wild animal to a personable pet in this time but I spent lots of time with her and took her out of her cage at least every day and handled her as much as possible. Best of wishes on you quest to becoming an expert tegu keeper.
    All American Tegu- Annabelle
    South African leopard tortoise- Lucy
    Gopher Snake- ochoco
    Corn Snake- rio
    Mali Uromastyx- apollo and Darwin
    Beautiful Wife- Sarah
    Lots of tropical fish
    Black standard schnauzer- Zeus
    Red wigglers

  7. #17

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    How much does a Beardie eat compared to a Tegu? I read somewhere Beardies eat 20-60 crickets a day. How accurate are those numbers? Also is it possible to breed crickets rather than buy them?

    And roughly how much is the general overall cost monthly for keeping lizards? $50 a month? $100? All of the care sheets I see are pretty vague.
    Last edited by Danceswithhogx; 06-28-2010 at 02:39 AM.

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Citrus Heights, CA
    Posts
    815

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    Well, I can't tell you how much the monthly cost of keeping a tegu is, as I haven't gotten mine yet. As far as a beardie goes though, we already have one of those, full grown, and there's no way he could eat that many crickets a day. Granted, this is just ONE beardie, but he might eat about a dozen crickets one day, a dozen meal worms another day, then won't touch anything the next day. We can offer him a variety of things, and he just scoffs at it. It's just how the lil' guy is.

    My recommendation is to factor into your budget the monthly cost of feeding and caring for an adult tegu. If you think that you can't afford it, then I wouldn't get one. But really, that just goes for ANY animal.
    "Why do blessings always come in disguises? If I were a blessing, I'd run around naked."

    0.1.0 Bearded Dragon; Spaz (aka "Monkey")
    1.0.0 Bearded Dragon; Leonidas (aka "Jaba" aka "Fatty)
    0.0.1 Ball Pythons; Lil' Bit

    0.1.0 Argentine B/W Tegu; Bozski - *rehome*
    1.0.0 Argentine A/A Tegu; Oscar - *rehome*
    1.0.0 Ball Python; Moose - *rehome*

    0.1.0 Bearded Dragon; Knuckles (aka "Kitteh"), RIP
    0.0.1 Baby B/W Tegu; unnamed, RIP

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    1,210

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    The monthly cost is going to vary alot depending on the cost of everything where you live, the extremes of husbandry you're inclined to pursue, and what usable free stuff you're able to scrounge up and willing to live with. What you are able to construct yourself.

    A tegu will cost much more than a beardie: enclosures are a huge expense once you get above standard sizes, which you WILL need. The bigger enclosure requires a greater number of the specialized bulbs and other heat devices -- more wattage and higher electric bills. This is stuff you'll have to price out where you live. Be prepared to go to a specialized vet (but hope you don't have to). A single visit with fecal test and an xray can easily set you back $300. Tegus only eat crickets when they are babies. Once they are juveniles they will start needing bigger and bigger prey items. Frozen mice, quail, chicks. I don't think beardies require such big prey at $1-$3 a pop, maybe 3 times a week.

    I'm not trying to discourage you. We think no expense is too much for our brilliant little boy. But if you click to the Classifieds section of this forum and read posts going back a few years, it seems like almost weekly there's someone who has to sell a pet because they can no longer afford to keep it. It's very sad, and makes me wonder if they knew what they were getting into. We sure didn't fully understand, but we aren't putting human kids through school, either.

    You are being really conscientious and wise to think about all this beforehand. I'm guessing that if you continue to do your homework and judge yourself capable and willing, you will be a great caregiver no matter what animal you decide on.

  10. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by isdrake View Post
    I understand how you feel but I wouldn't recommend a Tegu as a first reptile. They are pretty complicated.
    My feelings exactly! :P

    Purushyottam Ghoshronald Cruzag
    Last edited by pushomikuor; 10-04-2010 at 08:10 PM.
    P

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