ARGENTINE TEGU CARE SHEET
Argentine Tegus are quickly becoming some of the most popular pet reptiles for sale in the USA. Explore our full Argentine Tegu care guide, and learn the best tips on how to care for a baby or adult Argentine Tegu. Our care guide will explain many variables concerning habitat, feeding, diet and care of the Argentine Tegu Lizard.
ARGENTINE TEGU HABITAT
Hatchling or baby Argentine tegus for sale average about 6 to 10 inches long. We recommend using a 35 to 40-gallon aquarium or tank or reptile enclosure. Usually they measure 3×2′ may be used for at least the first year of life. When properly fed and cared for, your baby Tegu will grow quickly and require a larger habitat at some point.
For this reason, we advise for you to plan for providing a larger enclosure. For adult Argentine Tegus for sale, use something that is at least 5 by 2.5 feet. An Tegu habitat or enclosure of this size would be suitable for an adult tegu for the duration of its’ life. A rule of thumb is the larger the habitat the better. Providing your tegu the proper sized habitat will ensure they are both physically and mentally cared for. By providing something too small or cramped it makes for a cramped, dirty enclosure.
ARGENTINE TEGU SUBSTRATE
Baby or Adult Argentine Tegu Substrate can be a combination of soil, potting mix and cypress mulch. We recommend cypress mulch as our favorite tegu susbtrate to use as it holds humidity and is clean and hides odor. Also, it is readily available and fairly inexpensive when compared to some other types of tegu substrates for sale.
One of the most important parts of the substrate is to maintain humidity for your baby or adult Argentine tegu. Argentine Tegus for sale require 80 to 90-percent humidity. For this reason, we prefer and recommend substrates that are the best at retaining moisture. In turn, this helps provide and maintain proper humidity.
SUBSTRATE AND HUMIDITY
To maintain the humidity, each morning when possible, try to mist or spray down the substrate. If this is done as needed, it will help maintain the recommended humidity level in Argentine tegu habitat. Also, be careful that you aren’t keeping your tegu on an overly saturated wet substrate. Avoid creating puddles of water when spraying or misting your Tegu’s substrate to prevent germ and smell build up.
Always try to provide amble airflow for your tegus’ habitat. By using a secured screen top will enable a lot of airflow, but sometimes that is too much. You may need to cover part of the top, or provide a solid top with air vents so it is possible to maintain humidity. Chances are, you will have to manipulate your setup a little bit in order to provide the proper heat, light, humidity and temperature parameters.
TEGU SUBSTRATE DEPTH
Using a substrate depth of about 4 or 5 inches is suitable for Argentine tegu hatchlings. Juvenile and adults will require 8 inches or deeper for adult tegus. Adults tend to dig, burrow and hide at times so they require deep substrate for sure. Be sure to stay away from substrates such as cedar, pine etc, that are dusty and create too much dirty air. Both of these are toxic to tegus!
ARGENTINE TEGU TEMPERATURE
Argentine black and white tegus for sale can tolerate cooler temperatures, for proper health and digestion, daytime temperatures should be between 80 and 85 degrees on the cooler end. Additionally, provide your adult or baby Argentine tegu for sale a basking spot between 100 and 110 degrees. By always providing both a cool and a hot end, your baby tegu will be able to properly thermoregulate its’ body temperature. Also, by not providing a warm enough hot spot, your baby tegu may begin to brumate, which is a type of hibernation.
Tegus hibernate up to seven months in the wild though it is not entirely necessary. f they do not hibernate, they may still slow down on feeding, and activity during the normal hibernating season. Note the Argentine tegu species, and the Blue tegus are the only ones to do this that I know of.
ARGENTINE TEGU DIET
Omnivores, tegus eat basically everything in the wild. Argentine Tegu hatchlings for sale will enjoy most insects. Be sure to dust your insects with a reptile vitamin mixed with a calcium powder. We use reptivite as well as calcium with vitamin D3 mixed in a 50:50 ratio. Vitamins and Calcium with d3 must be added to all insects via dusting.
This goes for both baby and adult Argentine tegus. Adult tegus enjoy mixtures of meat made into meat balls, lean meat, fish, boiled eggs, fruit and vegetation like collard greens. Like with most reptiles varying the Argentine tegus diet is key to raising a healthy hatchling to an adult. Argentine tegus love varied food sources in the wild, and it should be duplicated.
When we feed our tegus, we make a tegu meatball. Primarily using ground turkey, we blend some greens in with the meatballs and feed them twice weekly. Be sure to also sprinkle some vitamins in your meatball mixture if you are making them!
ARGENTINE TEGU WATER
Always provide your baby, juvenile or adult tegu fresh clean water. City water will need to either be treated with a chlorine removing liquid, or let it sit for 36 hours before providing it to your baby or adult Argentine tegu.
ARGENTINE TEGU UVB LIGHTING
UVB is important when setting up Argentine Tegu habitat. We recommend using a T5 high output UVB Lamp for your tegu. Do not confuse the need for a UVB lamp with the need for a hot and cold spot. While the UVB lamp for your tegu can give off some heat, it is not primarily used as a basking bulb.
The reason we use the t5 tube style high output UVB lamp for tegus here at CB is it provides a much better spectrum of UVB. Using a MVB or Mercury Vapor bulb or lamp works well for providing a basking area for your tegu. MVB lamps do give off both UVA and UVB so some Argentine Tegu breeders ONLY use them. Here at CB we use both. A basking lamp as well as a longer, tube style lamp for UVB production.
ARGENTINE TEGU SIZE
Baby Argentine Black and White Tegus are tiny at first, however they grow quite rapidly grow big and fast. Female Argentine Tegus usually reach around 2.5-3 feet. Males up to 4-1/2 feet in length. The Argentine Black and White Tegu for sale, has beaded looking skin and a distinctive white and black pattern of dots and stripes.
ARGENTINE TEGU LIFESPAN
Argentine Tegus for sale make great pets, once they become acclimated to their owners. Argentine tegus are known for been quite docile as adults. Tegus intelligent and can even be house-broken. A healthy tegu can live for 16 to 22 years in the wild, and possibly even longer in captivity.