Tegu home

great roomy cage the shelf basking area is a great idea and gives more room. Do they get along?
Lia

Yes, they get along fine. Got them both at the same time, so they've grown up together. The male is much larger, but they do fine; I just have to make sure that the male dosen't get her smaller mice. He's such a pig, while she is a lady of discriminating taste. In fact, she hates mice. I have to dot them with egg to get her interested. But she does love her crickets.

Oh I hope they one day lay some eggs for you. I read in my state Florida some keep them out all yr long and they lay eggs. I imagine in your set up they should to.
Lia

You're in Florida? So am I! I live not far from Daytona Beach. Where are you? Yes, the breeder I got mine from is in Jacksonville, and they keep theirs outside all year.

Leslie

I live in Miami. Maybe your breeder is the one I read about . There was a great article awhile back in a reptile magazine about tegus being kept out all yr long in Florida.
I think that natural sunlight makes them aggressive but could be wrong.
I keep my Jackson chameleons out side in my yard in high cages half shaded they love it but I do bring them in late Nov to March.
Lia

I don't know about it making them aggressive. A number of people I know sun theirs regularly with no problem. Can't say about my breeders' as they do not handle their breeders. But I know Bennet, who raises tegus in your area has his outside, and his big male goes to schools, Home Depot and all sorts of places. I do know that the first time I took my male outside, he freaked! I don't think it's the sunlight as much as the HUGE outside world making them feel very insecure. By the way, my email is druidwood1@yahoo.com if you want to correspond outside the posts.

u going to the daytona show just asking since u live close to it

I read that the Natural UV for some reason makes tegus and monitors aggressive but again just what I read. Your breeder would know more.
I havent been to any shows but heard they daytona show is very nice. I came to this board(kingsnake)since looking into a milk/kingsnake.
Lol the snakes are so incredible looking and the people in classifieds sell such nice snakes that now its going to take me a awhile to decide which type.
I also saw an old kingsnake ad which advertised albino tegus those were real nice imagine pricey.
Lia

To iamme, Yes, I'm going to the Daytona show. Wouldn't miss it, there is always someone who has something I've never seen before. I'm planning to hopefully meet some of the people I've met on some of the forums at the show.

To Lia, I know that a friend of mine takes her tegu out to sun regularly. Her little kids play with it. Tegus are generally not ever aggressive, except with food - don't stick your finger in front of them after eating a hamburger! They really tame down much easier tham monitors. My male, Loiosh, has been majorly ticked off at me on occasion, but he never offers to bite, just makes little hissy disgusted noises at me.

okay thanks. Here is a link for albino tegu just incase you never saw one.
Tegus are way tamer than monitors. I think its a shame that they sell nile monitor babies. Some have been found in the glades as young adults.
http://www.bluetegu.com/albino/

The albinos are beautiful but pricey. There seems to be a growing problem with released monitors in certain areas of south Florida. I hear that animal control and the fish and wildlife folks are having fits. Apparently the climate is good for them and they eat the rats and other rodents they find. Poor Fluffy the miniature poodle... first it was alligator bait, now it has to worry about monitors. I agree that they shouldn't sell them to kids or just anyone, but there are advanced, responsible keepers who love them. I'll stick to smaller ones.

at the last show i was at they were selling baby niles for $20.00

Yes, baby niles and baby savannahs are cheap, and all wild caught. Most of them die within months, either from the stress of importing, or because the people who get them have no idea what they are in need of to survive,and think that because they are cheap, they can just throw them out when they get tired of them. They're beautiful animals, but niles get very big, are usually aggressive and don't handle well. You can get them cheap because they import the babies by the thousands.

Are you still going to the show?
I heard its still on though the weather there is bad.I saw on animal planet animal cops here in Miami they caught 3 golden tegus and water monitor out in a field. It was interesting.
Never knew such a thing as golden tegu.
Lia

Just got power on tonight after the hurricane. Went to the show; very nice. Well attended, as there was air conditioning. Bought supplies and two nice hatchling cresties.

Gold tegus are a lot like colombians in size and temperment. Saw the Animal Planet show. Cape Coral, Florida, is being overrun by monitors that have either escaped or got loose.

Glad you got your power on we werent hit at all here in Miami. Not having power is a nightmare food goes bad no Ac,etc
I am suprised the show was so well attended. I didnt go but thought it would have been fairly empty.
Those golden tegus were nice. By Cresties you mean the crested gecko?
They have become very popular. My aunt has a house in Key west.
She has seen tokay geckos there. Actually she doesnt know what Tokays are but the way she described them as giant lizards that climb on walls and eat smaller lizards that come out at night and their color. I assume its a tokay.
Lia