Argentina red tegu.

[VickyChaiTea]

I highly reccomend a uromastix OR a bearded dragon! The only protien the beardie really needs is crickets/roaches with the ocasional young mouse. Althuogh they do eat a LOT and food cost with them can be kinda sucky.

You could also do Red Foot Tortoises, they do eat the ocasional cricket or earthworm.

Blue tounged skinks are also an option, but they are not primarily insectivores. They need a lot fo veggies.

Also, what is it with people and having overweight tegus??? Seriously. So many people overfeed theirs, it's amazing.

 

[skippy]

Also, what is it with people and having overweight tegus??? Seriously. So many people overfeed theirs, it's amazing.

have you kept tegus before? they build up a considerable bulk in preparation for a 4-6 month hibernation every year, even the ones that skip hibernation slow down on their feeding quite a bit in the winter- my pair eats 1/5 as much this time of year.

 

[Jacobchinarian]

Never mind I think I read somewhere iguanas need 15 by 15 by 9 feet of space. Must of read it wrong if tegus take more space than that.

 

[the toe cutter]

RoachGirlWren that is a super nice Uro! Is that Uromastyx ornata? I'm trying to work on getting some Ornates, hopefully by next year.

 

[skippy]

iguanas take more space than tegus. a tegu will do ok in a 6x3 but a 8x4 is better, iguanas are more active and need more vertical space in particular but you would be fine with a 8x4x6 for a large adult.

 

[RoachGirlRen]

Jaco, there are no uniform standards for enclosure size for herps in private collections; everyone has a different opinion on them. One person will tell you that a leopard gecko can be kept in a tiny drawer in a rack system, another will tell you that any less than a 20g long is inappropriate. However, no matter how you slice it, both tegus and iguanas are big lizards that should ideally be kept in big enclosures. A full grown tegu isn't half tail like an iguana, either; it is a bulky, muscular, massive animal. I think the problem is that so many people keep theirs severely obese that they aren't the active, muscular, fleet-footed, burrow digging machines that they should be. I definitely suggest watching footage of wild tegus and then considering if you really feel you can provide an adequately sized environment in the space you have available.