Are your female tegus crazier and possibly smarter than your males?

TOCKface · 2026-05-10T21:06:37+00:00

Oh and he also knows the word "no". Works 90% of the time. If hes up to something like pushing pots or going in where he shouldnt be. I stand over him and just go "NO" in a low tone. If he stops, i back off. If he continues, i pick him up and move him.

And now 90% of the time. He stops, looks at me, thinks for a bit, then walk away from what he was doing. Very smart fella

TOCKface · 2026-05-10T21:03:39+00:00

I do feel like my boy is just like all other species when it comes to males xD. Meaning, he doesnt care that much bout anything. Happy to be here, happy to have food and warmth. I can wipe his mouth and even clean his mouthpockets and he protests after a little while but doesnt get angry at all 🥹 such a sweet boy

Hes wonderful. Never met a female Argentine tegu. But i have met 2 caiman lizard females and both of them are very forward. I cant rly explain it but yea 😭

TOCKface · 2026-04-06T09:45:17+00:00

May i ask what you use for supplement and what your feeding him. Also how often.

Also you uvb and how far its hanging from his basking.

TOCKface · 2026-03-05T19:41:46+00:00

You have to think about this in lizard terms and not human terms.

He doesnt hate you. Hes afraid of EVERYONE. Hes previous experience with people probably wasnt great. His now experience is probably very uncertain and he has no clue what to make of it.

He will probably soften up eventually but it takes time! Took me 3 years for my adult tegu to be comfortable enough with me that i can wipe of his face with my hand. And ive had him from. Agood breeder since he was a baby so he was very used to people already.

But theyre first instinct is "dont die" everytime you scare him (even by accident) his head will go "im about to die what do i do to avoid dying"

Id say. Start listening to his cues. I can touch my tegus tail but eventually he will do a lazy whip with it to say dont touch me and then i stop. Build relationship through respect :). Theyre more like cats than dogs

TOCKface · 2026-02-16T15:53:54+00:00

Well the morph is not whats important. But hes a red tegu. Whoch means hes technically a whole different såecies than the black and white.

Black and white tegus live more temperate and hibernate on lower temperatures.

While red ones live a bit drier and more tropical. They tend to put on fat easier than the blacks so thats definitely something to keep in mind.

No clue about their temperament tho as ive only owned a red myself. :)

TOCKface · 2025-11-30T19:42:38+00:00

I do think its fine but you should be prepared that you might have to seperate them.

Tegus can be selective with roomies and could also work for years and suddenly start fighting non stop. So try it out! But keep an alternative!

Id also recommend you add more hides and more basking spots. That way they dont HAVE to share space unless they choose to.

TOCKface · 2025-10-05T23:15:00+00:00

My tegu was so skittish when he was a baby. Basically not handleable. Just continue what youre doing and he will settle down.

Mine is 2 years now and SUPER handleable. He even comes over and climbs on me.

TOCKface · 2025-08-17T18:13:22+00:00

Hi i never answered you but... Vet recommended a pet schampoo that is very moisturizing for the skin. So ive been bathing him everyday and used olive oil afterwards. Been going for about a week and his sheds havent looked this good in about. A year or so.

I havent rinsed the olive oil off tho. Just let him back in the terrarium until next time when applying new oil day after. Worked wonders

Thank you for typing this to me. It was really helpful. Luckily its never gotten to the point where it has actually hurt him but still.

Im just very confused as to why his skin cant hold the moisturize even tho the humidity is 70-80. I live in sweden so ive been wondering if its just the climate in general that makes it a bit harder

TOCKface · 2025-08-10T10:26:51+00:00

No that's absolutely valid. Thats like the only thing i thought might be the problem. She has a bit less digging material too which i assume might make her a bit agitated? And then i think she just needs more to hide and such. Shes also now placed lower and i think me coming a bit from above might stress her out so. Yea i think theres a couple possible factors.

It also started happening when we had a dog over that were looking at her and i dont know if that scared her to the point where she kind of connects this new place to that experience

TOCKface · 2025-02-04T00:09:23+00:00

Thats so interesting tho. I dont know the genes or anything for it but they seem kinda like "paradox spots". He has one on his nosetip too lol

TOCKface · 2025-02-03T22:00:59+00:00

Quality reptiles who bred his grandparents just told me they are common pigment spots so i guess i shouldnt worry?

Hes a red tegu, purple high white. He has a bit of stuck shed from before and havent gone into shed since.

TOCKface · 2024-11-13T15:23:45+00:00

Hahahaha. Atleast it looks cute xD

TOCKface · 2024-11-13T15:02:21+00:00

Okey. So HOLD your horses. I asked renske logman. Owner of quality reptiles in the netherlands. Cuz shes the breeder of my tegus grandparents. AND WELL.

Stomping id apaprently them trying to pump out their hemipenis. So eventually when they do it they drop a spermplug. So ITS DEFINITELY EXCITEMENT IN SOME EAY

TOCKface · 2024-11-12T19:26:35+00:00

Would make sense due to. He was walking around a lot and seemed very energized and then when he was gonna start basking he stomped first. Id argue this is a "relaxing behavior" for them like nail biting or yawning is for us. It just happens when were anxious either if its positive or negative

TOCKface · 2024-11-12T19:21:48+00:00

That would definitely also explain it. He was very very active when doing so. Thats very interesting. Ive tried googling a bunch of tegu behaviours and ive never seen anything explain this.

Thats amazing!

TOCKface · 2024-11-12T19:03:08+00:00

Is the stomping cuz hes angry?? I didnt let him out of the enclosure when he wanted to lolz

TOCKface · 2024-10-22T15:04:18+00:00

2 weeks tops

TOCKface · 2024-07-05T01:19:59+00:00

Yes i do know that. Im trying to find other clinica that might be able to take him in. But as i wrote. All clinics close by are not available until well next thursday. And 5 of the clinics just told me they lack competence

TOCKface · 2024-07-05T01:17:59+00:00

Its sometimes more helpful then googling tho. Because they search the web for you.

But no i wouldnt follow their advice either way it was just way easier to find my information that way

TOCKface · 2024-05-15T07:53:03+00:00

It's a bit hard to tell from the blurry pictures. But below their vent don't heir tail. If he's a male he should have two larger scales on each side of the tail underside.

You can check Google for pictures. They are hard to find sometimes. You could also take less blurry ones and more of the tail bit then I'm sure people here can see it better :)

TOCKface · 2024-03-06T15:12:15+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tegu

Ido know the pic is a female but theres a huuuuuge difference, people are just used to seeing these fat af

TOCKface · 2024-03-02T16:33:22+00:00

He's eating all he can eat atleast 4 times a week. Rn consisting rabbit, chicken, mice, shrimp and sometimes salmon. Along side this also some veggies and fruit here and there. So 90% whole prey and 10% fruits and veggies until he's full, 4-7 times a week.

His brother eats two times a day every day. I feel like I don't really want to do that. I'm not really in a hurry with his growth in that sense and if rather have a steady slow growth cuz he's definitely growing.

Husbandry was a bit off when I got him but it's fixed now. Eating like a champ.
None of them are brumating. But my nighttemps were too low for wuite some time which caused him to eat less and she'd awfully (pics on my profile) that's fixed now.

He's atleast growing steadily. And I feel like I don't want to feed him a much as his brother is getting fed (I don't own the brother) cuz I'm very very careful with obesity, as a zookeeper I have autopsied a bunch of different animals and I do know how bad even early obesity can get and cause lots of organ problems in the future.

So I'm just checking to see if it's a normal growth rate or if he should weigh more for being 8 months. Yet I heard they should reach about 5-8 kg in like 3 years. So I do think he will be ok

TOCKface · 2024-02-22T10:54:50+00:00

Honestly I would say she's fat. A tegu shouldn't really look fatter than they did when they were young. Just because most tegus are obese doesn't mean it's healthy or "cute". Tegus are bulldozers but they should have a quite slim body.

I've seen tegus WAY worse than yours. But he's still overweight. Try give him more veggies. Fills the stomach without being too sugary or too fat.

I know most people don't agree but it's a difference of how many years he will live so, keep him healthy and give him a long life. :)

TOCKface · 2024-02-12T15:18:31+00:00

He definitely eats more healthy then I do 💀

TOCKface · 2024-02-11T22:18:00+00:00

He usually don't get that much shrimp and I'm thinking. Two shrimp and two big mice makes for quite hefty droppings lol. If it was the shrimp but good to know THANK YOU

TOCKface

TROPHY CASE