tegu or bosc

[martin day]

im really wanting a baby b&w tegu or a bosc i used to have a bosc and he was a little bugger but i think it was more my fault for keep forceing him to be handled
im not sure which one to go for i love the look of b&w tegus and they get between 3.5-4.5 ft at the moment id put it in a 4ft by 2ft viv but upgrade to a 6ft by 2.5ft viv as ive read that would be a minimum i would love to go bigger but it will be going in a bedroom as my wife wont have a viv that big down stairs ive allso read they can be tamed alot easier than boscs
most of the sites ive been on has posts such as help tame my sav and with b&w tegus ive rarely seen a post like that obviosly it would do some damage if it was to bite
people say you learn from your mistakes and with the last bosc i had i think i know what not to do now, when i first brought him i made the same mistake alot of people do and had an impulsive buy without doing alot of research on them, now with doing a hell of a lot more reading and owning one before i will be able to cope alot better with one
id like to know what the groth rate of tegus i know its fast with out them hibernateing but how quickly would one out grow the current viv id be happy if it was about 12-18 months
does any one have any suggestion what i should do
thanks
martin

[beestingbutterfly]

i've never had a tegu but i love my Bosc cause he's got an ace character so biased as it may be i'd say Bosc!!

[martin day]

your bosc is really nice does he roam about alot and will he let you put him back in his viv or does he go back when he wants?

[Johelian]

Hiya,
Im totally biased, as argentine tegus are my favourite lizards. I have two now, a big adult of 3 years and a youngster of about 6 months, and I would love more if I had the space!

For me, the thing I love about the tegus is their intelligence and their general mellowness. When they are young they can be quite flighty and nervous, but in my experience its never been anything that cant be controlled with sensitive handling. Both of my tegus were terrors when it came to being handled in the shops, charging and tail-whipping; I have never used a glove with either, and have never been bitten or tail-whipped, or even had them attempt to do either. If you snatch at them with a glove, they will respond understandably with aggression or fear; if you approach them slowly and carefully, they will usually become curious enough to come over and have a look rather than attack. This is something that not many larger lizards seem to do, and is very endearing to me.

I kept my tegu in a 5x2 viv until he reached adulthood - he was in that until he was about 18months. Towards the end of that period though it was very cramped and he had to spend a lot of time out of the cage. Hes now in an 8x3, and really I dont believe that its fair to keep an adult in anything smaller. If anything, they should be in something bigger! He uses every inch of that space, and is obviously a lot more active and happier than in the smaller cage. They really do get agitated in too small a cage; my newer baby tegu spend about 3 weeks living in a tank until his viv was completed, and towards the end he was desperately trying to escape. Similarly, my big Teg used to devise ways to escape his smaller enclosure. Now that they are both in more spacious accomodation, they never try to climb the glass etc. They love to dig, and so need plenty of mulch and fake plants/cork bark, rocks etc to create burrows. A 4ft tegu will struggle to turn in a 2.5ft cage. I really think its a pity that there are sources out there that give a minimum size of a 6ft cage for these intelligent beasties, as I really cant imagine how depressing an existence that must be. Of course, a bosc will get to the same size as a tegu if not more, so the space you have available will still be an issue.

The only downsides to tegu ownership are that they require quite a high humidity that can be tricky to maintain in captivity, need regular interaction to maintain "tameness", and the fairly high price they command (especially compared to relatively low price of boscs). As I said already, I love these animals and I wouldnt want to be without them, so I would say tegu all the way - but they will eventually need more space.

A hibernated tegu may take a couple of years to reach full size; one that doesnt hibernate should reach maturity and have completed the bulk of its growing by about 16 months. They grow incredibly fast while young, and gradually slow down at a year or so.

[beestingbutterfly]

there u go!! two biased oppinions!! bet u don't feel too enlightened now!!! yeah Burtil has the run of the house in the evenings when i'm around he's top dog with the cats too!! lol and its usually him that puts himself back to bed, he likes climbing the stairs and hates the laminate flooring!! lol

[martin day]

thanks very much for your reply it looks like ill have to think of somwere other than the bedroom to put him i think they are lovely looking lizards and would really like one
are yours tame and if so how long did it take you ?

[Johelian]

Well, the cage neednt be too high, so perhaps you could find some way to implement it into a room layout, eg build storage above or below it or something We built a massive storage area under our 8ft viv, so its not taking up much space by itself (and we incorporated the beardie cage into it)

Incidentally, this was just after it was built...its packed full of plants and things now, lol

Big Teg is what I would call "tame"; he will come over to you if you open the cage to see what you are doing, come and climb on you if hes out and about (or at least try to dig under you), and generally act very calmly and placid around people. He is fine being carried as long as his feet are supported, and doesnt struggle or fuss. All in all, I absolutely adore him, and hes one of very few larger lizards that my vet sees that he doesnt have to be wary of. The *only* issue we have with him is that he really doesnt like shoes, and will try to bite my boyfriends trainers when he is outside. Similarly, he doesnt like brooms, so I think it has something to do with the noise that they make on the ground. They also have a strong feeding response, so when he is geared up for food we dont touch him. He recognises the tapping of his food dish, and will launch out of his den when he hears it; this is the only time that we have to be careful, but its not a question of tameness so much as instinct.

He tamed down very quickly (he was about 10months old when we got him, whereas our younger teg was about 4-5 and is a lot more skittish), but I would only really have considered him trustworthy once he was an adult. I think youngsters are instinctively so nervous of being eaten by predators that they really cant relax in unusual situations; adults, which have fewer natural enemies, seem more laid back overall. Having said that though, both shops that they came from would not attempt handling without a glove, as they would whip or bite; I have never felt the need to use a glove with either, so I think its largely down to how they are treated.

[martin day]

im sorry ive just had a look at some more care sheets for tegus and boscs and the enclosure minimum was 6ft by 3ft by 2.5ft high as they are terrestrial the caresheets ive been reading have been from www.repticzone.com

[Johelian]

Oh dear, Im sorry but I hate RepticZones caresheets Ive posted on their tegus forums for a while, and occasionally dip into the sheets, and I really do think that they are dire (probably because they can be submitted by pretty much anyone visiting the site). The best resource U have found for Tegu information is www.thetegu.com - an American site, but the most active community I have found for these lizards, and they were really useful throughout all of my questions and issues.

Im not trying to be irritating by stressing this, but I think you will really struggle keeping the animal healthy and happy in that size a cage. But at the end of the day, its your decision.

[beestingbutterfly]

i agree thats y my bosc comes out most nights, he lives in a 7ft x 3ft viv, ideally i'd like to donate a whole room to him (and i'm worknig on it!!) its a tough call!