Tegus Tegu Lizard

Well first let's start out with what a tegu is, specifically the argentinian tegu. They are an omnivorous species of lizard, although they primarily eat meat. Tegus are very docile animals, which makes them great pets, they build strong bonds with their owners and often times seek out affection. Tegus are also unusually smart they have been said to be the smartest lizard and may be even smarter than dogs. These amazing lizards have been known to come on command and even be house trained. Tegus can make great companions living 15-20 years or maybe even more in captivity.

Now before I did say Tegus are omnivorous so let’s talk about their diet. The tegu Lizard eats variety of things when they are younger they will mainly eat insects, fruits and seeds. When the lizard gets older they will require a higher protein diet including raw turkey (with bone meal/ calcium added) and eggs (with shell), they will still need some fruit with that said. One plus side to the tegus diet is that they can eat rats but the fur isn't very good for their digestive system. When to feed them has been subjective in my research some people say to feed them whenever they will eat but others give specific days.
For the substrate it is often recommended Orchid bark, cypress mulch, and coconut husk to help increase humidity. So since we’re on the topic of humidity, the humidity of the enclosure is recommended to be around 60%-80% which can be acquired by simple misting of the enclosure with room temp water. Now lighting/heating, The ambient temperature in the enclosure should be around 80 to 90 degrees, the basking spot should be around 100 degrees or slightly above. For lighting UV bulbs or other methods of delivering UV light is a must, The lizard needs