# male or female tegu



## adam911 (Feb 17, 2007)

hi

i was told when i brought my lovley tegu that it maybe female but it bit me last week and made me bleed. then looked in its mouth and he/she has teeth do just males get teeth?
Thanks

Adam


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## Skar's Royals (Aug 24, 2007)

I don't know who told you females don't have teeth, but i'm afraid they do, and as you know, Tegus can bite hard!


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## adam911 (Feb 17, 2007)

o ok. yer did bite hard but didnt hurt that bad quite a bit of blood tho. so whats the best way to tell with out going to the vets?


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## Skar's Royals (Aug 24, 2007)

How old is the Tegu? as its very difficult to determine sex when they are young. You can tell visibly when the males Jowels start to bulge. This won't be til its a couple of foot long.


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## adam911 (Feb 17, 2007)

its about 1.6 foot long not to shore on the age under a year. got it eating day old chicks


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## fastbaz (Aug 12, 2007)

the jowels will be the real way to tell male from female the only other way is to have him/her probed by an expert which is very stressful for the animal... best to wait till its older and watch for the jowels you could also have a look at the tegu forum which has really useful hint, tips etc but i think most people would say wait till its older and watch how its jowels develop .. is that nose to tail lenght or nose to vent length..


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

adam911 said:


> its about 1.6 foot long not to shore on the age under a year. got it eating day old chicks


Once they hit two and a half to three feet long it's pretty easy to tell. Males look like they have HUGE heads, because they've got really bulgy jowls; females have much more slender heads and necks.

I wouldn't feed too many day old chicks - they're not very high in calcium (needed for a growing tegu) and fairly high in fat, which can be hard on the kidneys. You're better with feeding dusted insects, plenty of fruit and veg, and mice of the appropriate size.

Oh yeah. Anyone who tells you that female reptiles don't get teeth... needs to stick their hands in a female reptile's mouth. Our Domino most certainly has teeth and can absolutely bite.


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## Skar's Royals (Aug 24, 2007)

My big tegu would only eat mango & strawberries any other fruit and veg he would not touch, meat is a different story, anything and everything, was partial to mighty meaty pizza


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## fastbaz (Aug 12, 2007)

Ssthisto said:


> Oh yeah. Anyone who tells you that female reptiles don't get teeth... needs to stick their hands in a female reptile's mouth. Our Domino most certainly has teeth and can absolutely bite.


our little tegu is about 2 feet nose to tail and certainly has teeth afew times when i have placed a frozen thawed mouse in his/her viv with the tongs he/she has leapt out of the susbstrate and grabbed the mouse but sometimes his/her teeth have caught the tongs and made a clonk even at this size they pack a punce... so yep they do all have teeth


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## Johelian (Nov 25, 2006)

Look for cloacal spurs on the tegu - they appear like 2 little raised spots, one either side of the vent on the tail. A bit like a small ball bearing under the skin. If your tegu has these, its a male. They become present as the tegu reaches a year old or so generally.


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