Red Tegu Female

[SterlingAce]

Hi everybody,I'm pretty quiet on the forum but thought I will share>This is my female red tegu,I got her about 2 and a half months ago.I've been keeping her indoors mostly but over weekends she spends a lot of time outside.Her indoor cage has a heating pad,heating light x2 and a uvb light in it.
I feed her every 3rd day but struggling to get her to eat fruits and veg.What I have been able to feed her is a canned dog food with veggies and pasta or rice in it along with the meat.She's approx 3 years old and weighs just over 2kg.Any hints to get her to eat more veggies?Just before feeding her I usually let her soak for 10-15min in luke warm water.
Any hints,tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.I'm still learning every day about this wonderful animal.

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[SterlingAce]

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[SterlingAce]

And a last picture

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[_THEO_]

Tegus are South American lizards that live in the tropics.They need tropical conditions:
about 75 to 90 percent humidity.
atleast 8.0 uvb lighting or natural sun for no less than 8 hours a day.
I think the best substrate for them would be a type of mulch,wich holds moisture.
temperatures in the cage should range from 24c on the cold side to 35+ under the light on the warm side.

My advice to you is.... RESEARCH! RESEARCH! RESEARCH! you can never know enough.

Find out what she ate before you got her and keep offering her fresh fruit daily.

[SterlingAce]

Thanks for the advice! I will def change her substrate then,she has a 10.0 uvb light thats on a 12hour timer.I measured the temp on the hot side at just over 38C is that too hot? I will find out from the previous owner thanks.

[_THEO_]

That's all good.Just make sure that the cool end is much lower. What do you use to cover her tank?

[_THEO_]

some starting points that could help:
http://www.teguterra.com/tegucaresheet.htm
http://www.reptileforums.com/forums/showthread.php?35695-Tegu-care-sheet!!
http://www.repticzone.com/caresheets/Tegus.html

[Bushviper]

Try going for sweeter fruits like mango, paw paw and grapes. These are often accepted more easily.

If you have her in a wire/mesh cage over weekends she will absorb enough sunshine that the UV light is not critical every day. Build a nice big aviary sized cage for her to run around in but check that she does not rub her nose. Place plastic mesh (which you get from the nursery) along the inside at the bottom which then is not as hard if she rubs up against it.

[Boadicea]

I heard from a reputable source that the red tegus in particular need vitamin C so the fruits in her diet are very important. They apparently have a higher need for vitamin C than other tegus. Don't know why but maybe its something you can research? Berries tend to be high in vitamin C and might be a good place to start when offering her fruit. I have black and white tegus and they eat grapes, strawberries and bits of apple that I cut up for them.

[SterlingAce]

Thanks for all the replies,Her outside cage I'm still working on because the first day she did hurt her nose which upset me a bit.But thanks for telling me about the softer mesh,will def try that.She has almost finished shedding and looks stunning.I have made a change to her cage,half of it has about 30cm deep peat for her to burrow in.And soaking her a bit longer and more often.I will also try more berries and sweeter fruit thanks.
I had her at the vet for a check up,she has gained almost 500g since she woke up from hibernation.The vet also gave her a parasite flush and a clean bill of health say she looks very good.
Another question,is there a way to visually sex them? When I baught her she was already sexed.
Thanks again

[firefly]

Hi SterlingAce. My opinion is that your setup is quite fine! A summer daytime of 12hr should suffice and your a UVB 8 or 10 will work. Your tegu is a fussy eater thats all. A great diet for tegus are boiled eggs, very important to not boil the egg thoroughly. You thus want the egg white to be hard, but the yolk to be soft!
Theo, the whole of South America is not a jungle. Not all animals from South America are tropical species. The ARGENTINE tegu's (of which the RED tegu is part) originate from temperate grassland areas, thus very much like the Gauteng highveld. This is also why tegus need to be hibernated in winter. These tegus are more prone to heat stress than cold stress, thus always ensure it has an area to cool down. I lost an Argentine black and white tegu many years ago by leaving it in its outside enclosure without sufficient shade!

[_THEO_]

[_THEO_]

The requirements stay the same and I think a tegu on mulch will be much happier than one on aquarium gravel.

[Dave07]

Hi guys, I'm new to the forum. I'm looking for a Tegu Lizard, does anyone know of any breeders in the Gauteng area, or pet shops that might sell them?

[Mitton]

There might be some for sale here: