The way my outdoor enclosures are set up.

The way my outdoor enclosures are set up.

As you can see by these pictures, my tegus when not breeding or hibernating have free roam between cages and outdoor access to large turn out lots.









they can also go underground.





this is one of the burrows, however I no longer use wood, but rather Rubbermaid tubs.


During hibernation outdoor access is shut off and the burrows are sealed with loose hay for insulation, the tegus actually do this themselves.

What are your temps like during winter Bobby?

It can and does get down in the 20s at times. I monitored the temps inside the burrows last year, the coldest part of winter was 20s outside, inside the burrow it was 53*F, the warmest was part of winter was around 70s, the temp inside the burrows was 57*f, so the temps changed only 4 degrees during winter here 2ft below ground.

I'm trying to plan my outdoor pens, how are you constructing the burrows with rubbermaid tubs?

The burrows go from the inside of the enclosure to the outside and down at a angle underground. The tubs have a hole cut out of the side of them. There is a tunnel made with hardware cloth and lined with indoor-outdoor carpet. It is attached to the bottom of the enclosure to the wire, and attached to the tub; this keeps them from going anywhere else.

This is a picture of the entrance, inside the enclosure.


This is a picture of the outside, I do not have pictures of the tubs.

All of my enclosures have wire bottoms except my breeding bins. They then have about 4 inches of top soil added, then a few inches of cypress mulch, and then topped with a thick layer of fine hay.

This is pictures without the substrate added.

Really nice looking Bobby, my compliments. If this seems like a stupid question, please excuse my ignorance on Tegu matters, but do they ever relieve themselves in their 'burrows' during their active season, or do they always do this outside?

Very nice indeed!

Originally Posted by TheFragginDragon

Really nice looking Bobby, my compliments. If this seems like a stupid question, please excuse my ignorance on Tegu matters, but do they ever relieve themselves in their 'burrows' during their active season, or do they always do this outside?

Thanks for the nice comments guys!!

Tegus are really pretty good about that, they do not go in the burrows that I have ever seen, and it is very rare for them to go in the water tubs, unlike monitors that most often use their water tubs and make a mess.