Updated Pics - Extreme Giant, All American and Blue DUW

Few new pics of my pack. They all share the same enclosure and get along fine. They are all 09's but the giant didnt hibernate so he is about 3ft and the others are just over 2ft but the All American has a much bigger body and shorter tail then the blues.

All American, Giant and a blue sleeping.




All American - he is about to shed but you can see all his color



Extreme Giant


All American and Blue


One of my blues

Great shots Dave.

Thanks Larry.

David, how are tegus as far as ease of care? I am leaning towards getting one instead of a Timor monitor, since I have read that they are lot easier to handle and not nearly as shy. Which one would you say is the easiest breed to care for, and are males or females easier to care for?

quote="Bryan Arens"]David, how are tegus as far as ease of care? I am
leaning towards getting one instead of a Timor monitor, since I have
read that they are lot easier to handle and not nearly as shy. Which one
would you say is the easiest breed to care for, and are males or females
easier to care for?[/quote]

They are fairly high maintenance, when they are young they should be fed
daily, once they get larger you can feed 4-5 times a week. Their diet is
very simple and affordable though. Ground turkey is a very popular
choice, I personally feed chicken gizzards supplemented with calcium and
rodents once a week. Red tegus also require some fruit in the diet.
Tegus require UVB light to ensure they don't get MBD. When feeding make
sure you place them in a rubbermaid tub or even the bathtub to ensure
they don't learn to associate you with food.

Reds and Giants are the largest getting commonly to 4.5 - 5' for males,
black and whites are generally 4'-4.5' and blues 4' or so. Females are
usually 6" smaller on average. The only difference between males and
females other then size is the males get the big cheeks or jowls.

You can't really go wrong with any of them, all of them have the same
calm demeanor and are easygoing as adults, the biggest difference of
course is price. For CBB hatchlings expect to pay $150 for a Black and
white, $250 for a red, and $350 for a Blue or Extreme Giant. I buy my
tegus from Bobby Hill at Varnyard herps, he breeds the best argentines
around he just doesn't breed blues.

Your timing is actually perfect if you are looking for a tegu because
most the eggs are hatching around this time of year so it is the perfect
time to get a US bred baby. I know Bobby has black and whites available
and maybe some giants left this year. He actually sells out every year
so I would get ahold of him now if you know what you want. Let him know
I sent you and be sure to check out the Tegutalk Forums for more
specific information about anything.

Thank you for the advice Dave, I really appreciate it. I have enjoyed seeing your Tegus at the herp meetings and it has interested me, into doing more research on keeping them. I think they are amazing lizards and I think they would be a lot more enjoyable to have than a timor monitor or savannah monitor for example. I am going to build a small reptile building this fall in my back yard and would like to build a custom enclosure at one end of the building for 1-3 tegus possibly, so I will have to wait until next Spring to get them.

Most tegus actually hibernate and are less then 36" at the year mark. Mine all stay in 4x2's still, they don't really need a huge enclosure till they get towards the 3.5-4' mark. Just a warning though tegus are very addicting so don't be surprised if you end up with more then you planned.

I think the addiction just comes with reptiles in general. I want my building so bad right now, and I keep having to resist since my wife won't let me keep anything else in the house except for my Ball python, but she wants him to move to the building once I get it built.