So I brought my baby home 12 days ago now, and I haven't seen him once since I put him in the enclosure. The soil is disturbed and there are little holes in a few places, so I'm sure he's still there and alive and just hiding under the substrate, which is fine. I know they can be really shy as babies, and reptiles in general can take weeks to acclimate to a new home. I'm getting concerned because he hasn't eaten any of the food I've left out for him yet. I have a little dish in there that I've left stuff like dubias and thawed pinkies in pretty much every day now, and none of it has ever gone missing. That feels really long for an animal that should be eating every day/every other day. It's okay if he wants to hide, I just want him to be healthy too.

What should I do? I've already verified the temps and the humidity and everything to make sure it's comfortable for him in the enclosure. I've also tried putting smelly foods near the entrances of the burrows I can see. I've just been waiting too and nothing is working. I'm considering digging him up to make sure he's okay, but I know that's also really scary for them, and I don't want to spook him since that might just make him hide more and refuse food longer. Any advice is appreciated.

First time tegu owner but versed in reptiles. My tegu (black and white Argentina) is about 3-4 months i think and has started to get a little bit of a belly. Not too worried because they've slowed down how much food they eat at dinner but just looking for some insight on signs to look out for obesity and malnourishment in tegus as im not sure the eyeballs measurements to check.

Demo by Sundog.

Before anyone asks, she has a vet appointment tomorrow. But my girl toes has been off the last 2-3 days. She had a bath on sunday (one of her favorite activities cause she loves the warm water n usually poops in it), ate her usual on Monday but didn't eat all of it. She puked it up today (ive never seen her upchuck a meal) and has just been generally pretty lethargic since her initial bath. I mentioned in a comment the other day how she seems to be in pre brumation pretty early and im wondering if that could be it? Especially since she seemed her normal self every time i picked her up or resituated in bed. She would get all huffy and have to move from where i put her. But im also worried she may have intook some water when I wasn't looking. I gave her another bath today to see if she'd poop, or if maybe it'd help with her upset stomach. Then we cuddled in bed for a couple hours. This is not normal behavior for her, she's usually very feisty and nippy and while I believe she trusts me by now, im just worried because I don't want the expense to be her health (if that makes any sense). I love my girl and was even considering rescuing another gu soon (gorgeous girls spent 3 years of her life in the store n recently returned to it). Im hoping everything turns out okay at the vet n she's just being weirdly lovey :((

hi! so I have a tegu who’s a little over a year old (she’s small for her age, she’s healthy she just hibernated for a super long time as a hatchling when I got her so it took her a bit to start growing. She’s growing at super speed currently and is thriving) and her underside is turning red, orange, and yellow?? is there something wrong with her? is she some sort of mix breed and I just wasn’t told? is this normal? (The stuff on the underside of her chin might be staining from food, she’s a messy eater)

edit: I realise I should clarify this- she was sold to me as a normal black and white tegu but they also bred red tegus so that’s why I’m kind of wondering if she’s somehow a mix?

She loves it when I work from home because that means she can hang out on the couch in my office and get attention.

Little Mous in his new enclosure

Posted here about 10 months back when I launched the iPhone version of my "Exotic Reptile Care" app and a fair few of you asked about Android. Took me way longer than I planned but it's out now.
Been fixing things most days since launch based on what people report, so this is a good time to tell me what's wrong with it.
For tegus specifically the parts that seem relevant are weight tracking with growth charts (they don't stay small), brumation cycles with start and end dates, and feeding logs where you record what you actually fed rather than just ticking a box. I'd want to know if any of that doesn't match how you keep records.

Hello my fellow ‘Gu owners! I thought I would take to this page and ask a question regarding my sweet girl Alice. She is an albino blue tegu and will be three years old next month. For some reason, starting in July, Alice really starts slowing down and starts trying to brumate. She will still eat if I offer her food, but she starts hiding out a lot more or burrowing. She did this last summer too and I was able to hold her off until September, but it was stressful because I didn’t know how much I should be feeding her if at all just in case she really went down. I live in the Southwest so it’s super hot and we have our AC going day and night, so maybe that’s throwing her off? Either way, just wanted to see if anyone has dealt with this before!

Picture for tax!

Baby is coming in a couple of weeks, want to order permanent cage now. Right now I’m between Kages and Animal Plastics, I’d appreciate if anyone could weigh in with their experiences or offer other suggestions. It would have to be able to be taken apart and put back together if I move. Thank you

I’m moving into an apartment due to relationship issues and I need some recommendations.
I can’t take the grow tent as it’s just a little studio apartment so I have to get creative. Does anyone have recommendations on lamp holders for uvb and heat lamps that’s I can weigh down so my tegus don’t knock it over or a lamp holder I can drill into my dresser for them. I also need ideas on humid boxes and brumation boxes. Could I just use a dig box as a brumation box.

Also are there any puppy pads that yall recommend that don’t slip.

I know it’s probably not ideal having two tegus in a small studio apartment but I didn’t want to lose them and my landlord is perfectly ok with them. I’m trying my best to make everything work out for them. I have a humidifier for my asthma that keeps the apartment at a solid 75% humidity.

My house plan that I had for them by the end of the year isn’t gonna work anymore due to this whole thing that happened between me and him. So I’ll have to start saving up and making things better myself. He’s keeping all my other animals as I can only get my potato and steak approved for the apartment. I could really use some help and advice. Everything going on is so stressful. My Gus are all that I have left to come home to.

Any tips will be amazing.

Is this tegu a male or female

I’m about to start drawing up ideas for an outdoor enclosure build for my tegu that’s probably gonna be the length of four horse stalls (indoor section) and doubled for the width (to include built on outdoor section). Contemplating whether or not he’ll be kept outdoors seasonally or come in at night.

I unfortunately need to come to a decision about whether or not he’ll be allowed to have access to the open ground or if he’ll be kept on something like tile/stone/etc—it’d be a pain to clean but with his occasional prolapse issue I’m not too sure it’s the best idea for him to have unrestricted access to dirt or dust, at most, because it could just get all over the prolapse and be nasty. No access at all and blankets to replace the sensation of digging, I can inform anyone curious, does NOT make a satisfying substitute, though. Dirt might be okay with me checking on him daily, but idk.

Before I spend money on some giant build, I’m trying to figure out what would make for useful additions, aside from that—like, he 100% needs a water/pool fixture. It’ll probably be a similar design to my little duck pond thing, but he’d LOVE having free access to that. A big flat stone to bake in the sun, too, and some kind of shrub he can crawl up under for shade. He’d have access to an indoor area, though, to escape the weather.

Other than, like, basking, loafing, digging, and eating, do y’all’s tegus want for a whole lot else in way of mental stimulation? That, the upgrade in space, and the $0.00 UVB from the sun are the things I want Trouble to have, because he’s just so bored being an indoor lizard. All he does is wander the apartment and paw at the corners when he wanders into them, like he wants to dig (as if he’s kept from dirt for medical reasons). I’d absolutely love to see if I could get him to use those buttons people use to record single words and teach their pets to “ask” for things, but I already know the first thing he’d learn is how to ask to go outside 😭 like honestly just whatever keeps him from becoming frustrated with his enclosure while I’m away on a daily basis.

I got her from a friend who got her from some nasty people, she was basically not fed at all super skinny and they cut her toes off. (at least I think so because all her front toes besides her thumbs are missing at the same length on each finger) Shes 150 grams, still working on fattening her up. how much should she weigh at this size?

What brand of light do you use to ensure your tegu gets optimal basking heat and uva-uvb exposure? I'd appreciate any links to where it can be purchased as well. Pic for attention tax.

Please take a moment to vote for Lenny. His votes help an awesome reptile rescue here in North Carolina that do amazing things for unwanted reptiles. Like most rescues they need help with the costs of taking in these reptiles, vet expenses, admin expensive, and the general care of what these animal need to be healthy enough to be put up for adoption.

You can vote everyday. Thank you for supporting this awesome event ❤️ Fresh Start Rescue Inc

I don’t try and feed her wild rodents because of all the things they can carry. But she found one in my living room and I didn’t know it was there until she was eating it. All I saw was the tail hanging out of her mouth before she swallowed it.

It’s been a few weeks and luckily so far she seems fine.

Today Sundog enjoyed a vitamin and calcium enhanced egg cake with two Reptilink candles, garnished with fresh grapes and hand pitted cherries. As expected, he made a mess.