Red Tegu Care Sheet

Welcome To HerpinVerts!

The New Face of Herp & Invert Forums. Please join us and have look around. We are one of friendliest forums on web.

We hope you enjoy your visit.

You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Joining removes all adds on forums.

Join our community!

If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Red Tegu Care Sheet
Topic Started: Nov 4 2007, 06:47 PM (10,930 Views)
lizardboy101	Nov 4 2007, 06:47 PM Post #1
HerpinVert Juvie Posts: 112 Group: Members Member #493 Joined: November 4, 2007	Introduction and Handeling The Argentine Red Tegu is normaly just shortened to Red Tegu. The scientific name of this species is Tupinambis rufescens. They habitats stretch from centeral Bolivia all the way over Western Paraguay into western Argentina. They can be found in the tropical southern Amazon all the way to more temperate regions. The winters are cold and these animals can hibernate during the winter. On average these animals live 15 years, but 20 year lifespans hav been heard of. They normaly hit around 4 feet, but there have been records of 4.5 foot males. They can weigh up to 20 pounds or more. As far as handeling goes these guys are great about it. As babies they rarely bite, but will tail whip from time to time. Most as adults are very friendly and will regularily want to come out of their cage to "play". I have heard and witnessed many people taking their Tegus outside on "walks" to get some UV. Handeling does take some getting used to as babies. It is not unheard of for babies to be very skittish and somewhat aggressive(although as I stated earlier they rarely bie). Housing Housing on these animals can be very difficult to accomidate for. As babies a pair can be housed in a 40g breeder tank. Although this is not really reccomended as there is sometimes mutilation that can occur. An adult must have a bare minimum of 8x4x3(LWH). They do not climb much so height really isn't the most important thing but you will need at least 3 feet of heighth(find out why later). I find that the most appropriate substrate is Cypress mulch. Make sure that there is enough in there so that the animal can burrow. 6" is normaly the best amount for babies and a 12" is best for adults(hence the 3 feet of height). As far as decorations go you don't really need to be too extravagant with this. Put something in there so that the can climb at least a little bit(although many won't). They need a water bowl that they can completely submerge themselves in. As babies this is not problem, but as adults this can be hader to find. I reccomend a cat litterbox filled to the brim. Make sure that the water is on the hot side to help with humidity and to keep it warmer. Hides are a definate. These guys will not always use their hides as they like to burrow, but they should be given the oppurtunity. As adults a cardboard box flipped over works just fine. Make sure one hide is on the cool side and one at or near the hot side. I say near because your hot side may be completely a water bowl. Temperature, Lighting, and Humidity I will say it again and again, but I believe the key to keeping any reptile is what...thermoregulation. Meaning that you have a hot side and a cool side so that the animal can pick its own temperature. A good basking temperature to maintane is about 110-120 degrees farenheit. With breeding animals(especialy females) the basking temperature should be raised to 120 plus. This allows the reptile to digest its food items much easier and quickly. The cold side of the enclosure should be about 80-85 degrees. The hot side should be fine as long as you maintain these temperatures stated above. A full spectrum of light is required for these animals. I reccomend a 10.0 UVB Reptisun bulb. This helps the animal produce D3 through the light source. Some people say that the animal is fine with just supplementing with UVB, but I find that it's better to be safe than sorry. These guys need a lot of humidity. The humidity needs to be at least 75% and can go all the way up to 90%. This may be hard to do in some enclosures to what I do is place the light in the enclosure(far enough away that the animal can't reach it) and put a plastic lid over the entire container. I also place the basking bulb directly over the water dish to help get the correct humidity levels. Hibernation I don't know much about the hibernation of these animals as I have not had to go through it before. What I do know is this- These animals can and probably will hibernate. Make absolutely certain that the animals has not eaten a week prior to hibernation. The food will literally rot in their stomach if they have. Start to slowly reduce the amount of light they get during the day and their food intake and eventualy they will have very little light(about 8 hours a day) and no food. Your animal may come out during hibernation(brumation is the technical term). He will be very sluggish and slow. Do not feed him. When you are ready for your animals to come out of brumation start to length the light schedule. Until it is again at its original time length(about 12-14 hours a day). The first day that you leave the lights on for 12 hours feed your tegu. I do not find brumation as a must unless you plan on breeding the animal. I plan on at least trying to keep mine out of brumation either until I want to breed her or she is older and I want to "expirement". Some people claim that it is impossible to keep their animals out of brumation so I guess I will just have to wait and see. Feeding and Supplementing When younger Reds will eat much more protien than they will fruits. A big mistake that first time keepers don't reilize is that these animals need fruit just as much as the need protien. Many will not start to consume it very often until a year old, but it should still be provided for those times that they do have the "sweet tooth". Some appropriate food items of these animals are as followed mice(of appropriate size), crickets, mealworms, superworms, silkworms, and other insects(not caught oustside), scrambled eggs, turkey, strawberries, grapes, and bannanas. Make sure to feed the animal(insects and other bugs) outside of its cage in another tank so that the animal does not accidentaly consume any of its bedding and possibly get impacted. I can never stress enough how important supplementing is. These animals have a much better chance of surviving without it then most carniverous lizards, due to the amount of calcium in many of their food items(ie. pinkies). It is still very much needed. I supplementing everything my animals eat. I supplement calcium with no phosphorus or D3 daily(make sure there is no D3 because too much can poison the animal), I supplementing with bee pollen and calcium with D3 and no phosphorus every third day. Maintenance From what I've read these guys are pretty high maintenance, especially as adults. Due to the fact that they need a high percentage of humidity their cage needs to be misted a minimum of once a day(or other means of keepint the humidity high). They need their food chopped up daily. Remember too these are big animals, they are going to make well big poo. One really big part is the cage. You are more than likely going to have to build your own cage(or pay someone to do it). That can be hard work and can cost a bit. Even a simple 8x4x4 cage can take awhile to build. They also require a soak once every 2-3 dys. Fill the bathtub up just enough so that the animal can completely submerge itself. Let it sit in there for about 15 minutes and your good to go. Purchasing Many reptile dealers are scam artists. They'll sell their animals no matter what they have to do to get rid of it, even if it means lieing to you. So, you want to make sure your animals is healthy when you buy it. First off check for signs of dehydration such as ruffled skin. If you pinch the skin(lightly) it should fold back into place. Make sure that the animal is not skinny. Check for protruding bones such as the spine of hips. Make sure the leg muscles aren't drooping. Check for fece smears on or near the cloaca(rump). This could mean that the animal has diahria and is probably sick. Ask to see if the eat. If it has already been fed it may be a good idea to come back again at a different feeding time. Make sure the animal is active. It should not be laying down on the ground not moving with its eyes closed. Lastly check for signs of respiratory infection. Make sure there is no gaping, runny eyes or nose, crusty lips, ect. Sexing and Mating Sexing at a young age with this species is somewhat hard. They can be probed, but if you are not an expierienced owner it really isn't recomended. As adults it is very easy to sex these animals. Adult males will be a lot bigger and much more colorful. They will also have much more pronounced jowls(their "cheeks"). From what I've read they also have spurs by their cloacal opening, but don't quote me on this. Females will againg be much smaller and have very dull colors. They will have much smaller jowls than the males and lack spurs. Mating is something I know next to nothing about so stick with me here. What I do know is that after hibernation the femal and male should be inroduced. They will copulate(which is normaly a very rough affair) and the female will produce 4-6 eggs. Thats pretty much it. Females will be much more aggressive after laying eggs for the rest of the year so do not keep them with any other Tegus or you are very likely to have a hurt or dead Tegu. Hatchling Care Hatchling care is pretty much the same as with adults. There are a few differences though. They require less substrate. 5-6" should suffice. Their food items are just a little bit smaller and they don't require a huge cage like adults. Minimum is a 40g breeder. They are only about 5-6" long after all. Edited by ReptileMan27, Oct 4 2010, 07:43 PM.
	0.1 Agrentine Red Tegu(Tupinambus rufescens) 0.0.1 Agentine Black and White Tegu(Tupinambus marinae) 1.0 Chacoan(Extreme) Tegu(Tupinambus marinae) 1.0 Bearded Dragon 1.1 Horses 0.1 Green Cheeked Conure Tons of homing pigeons


Fai0607	Oct 4 2010, 03:50 PM Post #2
Flaming Supporter Posts: 28 Group: Members Member #1,676 Joined: October 3, 2010	Huge. Letters. Idk if its just my browser but maybe you can shrink it just a bit? O_o
	Beginner Herper, avid love for reptiles. Advocate for every reptailian species!


Tree Hugger	Oct 4 2010, 05:01 PM Post #3
HerpinVert VIP Posts: 3,611 Group: Members Member #484 Joined: October 28, 2007	Yeah, that is REALLY big, isn't it.



SnakeGoddess	Oct 4 2010, 05:17 PM Post #4
HerpinVert God Posts: 2,354 Group: Super MODs Member #1,418 Joined: July 3, 2009	Holy giant letters batman!! LOL you can't even read it without scrolling side to side. Geez Jas, think you could do something about that?
	*Kim*


Lazy Lizards	Oct 4 2010, 05:57 PM Post #5
New Member Posts: 79 Group: Members Member #1,647 Joined: September 1, 2010	lol wow. This caresheet must be annoying to read.
	1.0.0 Leopard Gecko


matt4797	Oct 4 2010, 07:16 PM Post #6
HerpinVert Juvie Posts: 164 Group: Members Member #327 Joined: June 5, 2007	Its started off good, then you started to use big words. Dumb it down for the rest of us :p



ReptileMan27	Oct 4 2010, 07:26 PM Post #7
Admin/Owner Posts: 12,892 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: May 17, 2006	Holy crap lol, let me see if I can fix it lol.. There better now Edited by ReptileMan27, Oct 4 2010, 07:29 PM.
	Jason Site Owner/Admin My Facebook YOUR NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE,YOUR ON PANDORA!


Tree Hugger	Oct 4 2010, 07:39 PM Post #8
HerpinVert VIP Posts: 3,611 Group: Members Member #484 Joined: October 28, 2007	Umm... I must still be viral. Its still big to me.



ReptileMan27	Oct 4 2010, 07:43 PM Post #9
Admin/Owner Posts: 12,892 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: May 17, 2006	T&K Brouse Oct 4 2010, 07:39 PM Umm... I must still be viral. Its still big to me. there now try it, even smaller
	Jason Site Owner/Admin My Facebook YOUR NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE,YOUR ON PANDORA!


Fai0607	Oct 4 2010, 08:29 PM Post #10
Flaming Supporter Posts: 28 Group: Members Member #1,676 Joined: October 3, 2010	Much better and leggable! -just woke up, spelling errors will occur!-
	Beginner Herper, avid love for reptiles. Advocate for every reptailian species!


Tree Hugger	Oct 4 2010, 09:38 PM Post #11
HerpinVert VIP Posts: 3,611 Group: Members Member #484 Joined: October 28, 2007	Ahhh... Much better. Thank you, Jason!



SnakeGoddess	Oct 5 2010, 12:42 PM Post #12
HerpinVert God Posts: 2,354 Group: Super MODs Member #1,418 Joined: July 3, 2009	Thanks oh fearless leader
	*Kim*


RedTegue05	Dec 5 2011, 01:53 PM Post #13
Hatchling Posts: 3 Group: Members Member #1,910 Joined: November 30, 2011	Thank you soo much for the care sheet I just aquired a female Red Tegue!! I love her soo much already!! So far she is soo very sweet!! the guy we got Her from said she had been in hybernation for 3 weeks we are bringing her out of it cause we don't have a male to breed her to do any of you have a male red tegue we could breed her to? She is already showing signs of being ready to mate!! I live on the coast of North Carolina!! Please send me an e mail if you do!! pit.bullnc@hotmail.com Put Male tegue in the subject like!! Thank You!!


« Previous Topic · Herp Care Sheets · Next Topic »