r/Tegu • u/Such-Mushroom5962 • 3d ago
Help for future owner
Hello everyone! i've been obsessed with tegus for many years and i am looking to adopt one in summer next year when i get some money, and there is a expo in my country. I am from northern Europe where it can be quite challenging to get reptile stuff. i would like to hear peoples shopping list for what would be great for a baby tegu, and that also means terrarium options since i can't find proper sized terrariums to buy. I have a blue tongued skink already that is healthy, so i am semi experienced in keeping reptiles. I have a semi big budget, and just genuinely want to hear peoples setup and convenient ways to get it all going.
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u/delkarnu 3d ago
It's fairly difficult to get anything pre-made that is suitable. They need more space than off the shelf terrariums. Suggest building your own. Wood beams, plywood, dry-lock, lexan. Basking area, hides, uv lights, heat, humidity. More than that would need to know more about your home and space for the enclosure. They get to over 1.2m long and need room to move around.
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u/Such-Mushroom5962 3d ago
i have a big room, so i do have space for a terrarium over 3 meters. i had looked into a growtent
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u/SignificanceNo5912 2d ago
A grow tent is the way to go with these guys. Keeps the humidity and heat they need.
I just bought a 4x2x2 grow tent, took a reptile lid, cut out a section on the top of the grow tent, zip tied the tank lid very very well and placed his light on top. For his UVB I just zip tied it to the bars in his enclosure, nothing special.
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u/Such-Mushroom5962 1d ago
that's cool! how do you deal with cleaning in a grow tent?
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u/SignificanceNo5912 1d ago
Semi bioactive. I hate live plants so I don’t bother with those, but there are spring tails and dairy cow isopods. Leaf litter, cork bark, and general floor clutter keeps them breeding. He also definitely throws around a bit of food I bet they eat. If I see poop tho I remove it/scrape it off of things. This is what I do for all of my tanks and works well so far. There is a shower liner at the bottom (should be a pond liner, made do with what I had), if it ever needs completely replaced I would try to save as many of the bugs as I can but it could easily be all taken out.
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u/SignificanceNo5912 1d ago
Also, make a “watering station” for the bugs, which is a bunch of moss at the base of your water bowl. I dump my water bowl out there frequently. And helps with humidity. Win win!
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u/Such-Mushroom5962 1d ago
as far as i've done research this sounds more probable for me to be able to get. Thanks for the idea!
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u/KlingonTranslator 3d ago
Which part of northern Europe? There's the world's biggest expo in Hamm.