www.herphabitats.com AKA Richard Brooks/ Reptile Information Database

Anyone have any info on this guy? I have a problem with him using my name on his site: Reptile Information Database, Helping to R.I.D the internet of inaccurate husbandry information. .

Some of the information on these care sheets is mine, but much of this information is just not true. On the top of each care sheet he is saying: Author: Varnyard. I also have a problem with him using my name and information for personal gain, he has this on the bottom of each page:

Did this information help you? Do you want to now help us? Donate Now!

I have screen shots of all of this.

Here is the link:
http://www.herphabitats.com/reptile_...ation/tegu.htm

At some point this thread might need to be moved to the BOI.

I have not heard of him, Bobby, nor anyone I talked to in thetegu.

Thanks Curtis!!

I have tried to contact him, I even contacted a Admin on one of the sites that supports that one. I have not gotton a reply.

Given the... copyright information and reprint permission he has on the front page of the reptile information section, I'd say it probably belongs on the BOI right now if you never gave him permission to use your information, or he has edited it heavily enough to ruin what you wrote.

Originally Posted by Seamus Haley

Given the... copyright information and reprint permission he has on the front page of the reptile information section, I'd say it probably belongs on the BOI right now if you never gave him permission to use your information, or he has edited it heavily enough to ruin what you wrote.

Yes it is far from my care sheet now. I agree, it needs to be on the BOI.

Originally Posted by Seamus Haley

Given the... copyright information and reprint permission he has on the front page of the reptile information section, I'd say it probably belongs on the BOI right now if you never gave him permission to use your information, or he has edited it heavily enough to ruin what you wrote.

Lets look at a few facts:

Species: merianae


Other Common Name for the Blue Tegu: Powder Blue Tegu, Blue Albino Tegu, Albino Tegu and Snow Tegu

Remember the Blue Tegu is considered a color phase (morph) of the Argentine Black & White, so all information is the same for both tegus.

The Argentine and Blue Tegu are native to Eastern Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Columbia and Southern Brazil. They live in the tropical rainforests, tropical woodlands and arid scrublands. They are terrestrial but enjoy climbing and swimming when given the chance.

All of the above is false about the Blue tegu. This is also not on my care sheet.
It is not T. merianae, it is unclassified by science.

It is also not found in these areas that I know of, it is found in French Guiana.

Colorization:

Argentine Black and White Tegu while young are black and bright green. Through shedding the tegu color changes until it reaches the adult color of black and white. The Argentine has distinctive spots that form a line down its back.

More false info found on the blue care sheet, blues do not have green heads.

The same is said about the red tegu care sheet, they do not have the green either.

It is also said on the Colombian sheet, The Argentine Black and White is the only one of this group of animals to have green heads.

In addition to the list mentioned previously, your adult Columbian or Golden Tegu might enjoy the following: cooked ground turkey, fresh fish (not from a pet shop, due to the chemicals used in these tanks), baby chickens, grapes, tomatoes, strawberries, melons, and just about any other soft fruit. Bananas can be given as well, but not as a staple diet, only in moderation. This is just a suggested list, each tegu will have his or her own likes and dislikes.

I do not suggest cooked turkey or any cooked meat at all. Tegus do not need cooked foods, except eggs.

Also Colombian tegus are carnivores, unlike Argentines they do not like fruit.

There is much more, but this is a start.

Hello,

Varnyard, this is Rich from HC. I own the R.I.D as well as Herp Habitats and Herp Center.

What gives with this thread dude? YOU posted the caresheets I have listed as you. You posted them on Herp Center. You actually posted 2 caresheets. One of them is still on the site and wasn't removed because the one being displayed had more info and replaced it.

The thread I am referring to is here:

http://www.herpcenter.com/tegu/10078...are-sheet.html (I just undeleted it.)

Lets be realistic here. Why would I add a caresheet, saying its by you (whom I don't know personally) when you are a member of the site? That would just be asking for copyright issues as you are certain to come across it.

When the caresheet above was posted, it was added to the R.I.D. Later on, you submitted the one being displayed now except it was all on one page. All that was done to that caresheet was the separation of the pages. Nothing more except perhaps the taxonomy info if it wasn't already there.

That version replaced the thread one above.

Once i add something someone has posted, we remove it from the site so we know it has been done. The reason the initial submission was still around was because a staff member had soft deleted it and listed this as the reason: Duplicate Post

Soft deleted threads can be undeleted, so that is why you see that thread above.

If you didn't write those caresheets, or add them to HC, then someone else knows your username and password. I never would have added them to that resource when we are trying to get people to read it. I would be asking for those copyright issues.

I am going to remove them though since now they seem to contain bad info and you are claiming you didn't write them. Sorry about the mess, but I would change your password on HC if you didn't post those.

That is correct, this is my care sheet before it was altered by you. Also why did you use my name on the care sheet you changed? I also never gave you permission to use it for personal gain on R.I.D.

Written By Varnyard;

Care sheet for the Tegu. Note some species will differ some on requirements.
This care sheet will be for four of the common species available in the pet trade.

Hatchling tegus will all take the same food up until about one year in age. Of these the Tupinambis merianae, Common name (Argentine Black and White), (Giant Tegu) And the Tupinambis rufescens, Common name (Argentine red Tegu), (Red tegu) will change feeding habits.
The Blue Tegu (It is said to be Tupinambis teguixin, but the classification has not been scientifically determined.) And the Tupinambis teguixin, Common name (Colombian Black and White), or (Gold Tegu) Will stay on a carnivorous diet throughout their life.

Food:
All Tegus are carnivores as hatchlings, which means they only eat meat. Crickets dusted with vitamins dust , Captive raised roaches, Mealworms, Super mealworms, ground turkey dusted with vitamin dust, Pinkie mice and cooked egg (Not raw) scrambled or hard boiled.
Please remember to remove any food that is not eaten right after your tegu has eaten his/her fill. Insects are well known for stressing reptiles. This also will help keep their cage cleaner.
Adult tegus, For the Argentine Black and White and the Argentine red Tegu. They will take ground turkey, cooked egg (Not raw) scrambled or hard boiled, rodents, fresh fish (Not from a pet shop, due to the chemicals used in these tanks), baby chickens, grapes, tomatoes, strawberries, melons, and just about any other soft fruit. Bananas can be given as well, but not as a staple diet, only in moderation. This is due to the high content of potassium (Known for not binding with calcium). Not more than once every couple of weeks. They also tend to have a very high phosphorous levels.
The Blue Tegu, and the Colombian Black and White, or (Gold Tegu) will take all of the above, except fruit. Also I suggest feeding only killed rodents. Live rodents can bite your animal. Dead do not, it is just not worth the chance.
My choice of vitamin dust is Herpitive or Fluker's.
A side note on feeding: Tegus can get cage aggressive. They can get to where they will associate their keeper with food. There are a couple of ways to keep this from happening. The first is to feed your tegu in a separate cage or area than his home. Have the food there when you put him with it.
Another way, would be to feed him at night or when he is in his hide. Then he will not see you with food. The first suggestion is the best for a few reasons. One you handle him every day, which helps with the taming process. Another reason would be to remove all chances of him ingesting substrate. And last, but not least, the food would be fresher than feeding at night.

Water:
Tegus require fresh water on a daily basis. It also would be recommended that their water dishes/bowls be big enough to soak in.

Housing:
Hatchlings will do great in a 20 long tank, but they will outgrow these fast. As an adult they require a much larger enclosure. I house mine outside in a 8 ft x 8 ft enclosure. Inside I use a 400 gallon showcase. If building your own cage, remember that these lizards are terrestrial (ground dwelling), So height would not be a necessity. I recommend at least a 6 feet long, 3 feet wide and 3 feet high.

Humidity:
Tegus require high humidity level 60%-70% for proper shedding as well as proper health. Misting on a daily basis is required. If you have another way to raise the humidity, that is fine. Remember not to have the substrate tacky.

Substrate:
I recommend using cypress mulch, orchid bark, Lizard litter, Repti-bark or eucalyptus mulch. These should not be dusty dry or wet. You can mist them a little to keep the dust down, this will also raise the humidity. Make sure it is not tacky, as to stick to their feet. Also your tegu needs to be fed where he will not ingest these substrates. You do not want him to have a intestinal blockage.

Lighting:
Ultraviolet light with a full-spectrum of light is recommended. Lights that emit UVB is a must for this species of reptile. Ultraviolet lighting is important in the production of vitamin D3, which is necessary for calcium metabolism. There are some people that claim added vitamins of D3 would be a good substitute, however I do not. I do use multi-vitamin dust. But I do not depend on it for a substitute for UV lighting.

Hibernation:
Tegus hibernate up to seven months in the wild. They will also do this in captivity if given the chance. However, tegus do not have to hibernate. If they do not hibernate, they may still slow down on feeding during the normal hibernating season. Note the Argentine species are the only ones to do this that I know of. The Colombians are not known to hibernate.

Hello,

The caresheet posted, minus the page separation and possibly the taxonomy, was what was donated to us. Herp Center has always had a donation link at the bottom of the caresheets. This has always been the case. If you didn't want there to be a donation link Varnyard, you shouldn't have donated it. Or you should have at least told me you didn't want it.

I didn't alter that caresheet as I have never owned a tego and know nothing about them. If I were to have added anything, it would be he taxonomy and I would be done.

I was directed to this thread by someone that joined to post about it. If there were ever an issue with this, I could have been contacted through either of the site using the PM system or the email. I was never informed there was any issue until it was posted on my site.

Again, I have to go back to logic here. Why would I add your name, someone I don' know, to an innaccurate caresheet when you belong to my site as a member? We link to the caresheets all over the site. Do you honestly believe that I would be o naive to do that in hopes that you didn't see it?

What we had posted for info was what was donated to us for info. I am 30 years old and the father of 2. I don't have time to play games "stealing" peoples info or altering peoples info with bad info and slapping their name on it.

If I were in the habit of doing that, why wouldn't i just write the caresheet myself and slap my own name on it? Doing so would make me look more knowledgeable about more species. I wouldn't give someone else the credit. (See what I mean?)

I resolved the issue before ever even hearing from you Varnyard. I removed it the moment I was made aware that it was being questioned.

You said you contacted someone on HH about it but never received a response. Who did you contact?

Guys, this appears to be a rather innocent case. While I do not believe for a second that Bobby would write a care sheet with such inaccurate information, I also do not believe that Rich would post one as that would ultimately defeat his purpose. Where the inaccurate information came from is anyone's guess but there certainly does not appear to be any malice here. From the sounds of it, Rich removed it so all should be well. No need creating any hostilities over something this minor.

Griz