This information can also help us accomplish the ultimate goal: keeping tegus out of Everglades National Park and other ecologically sensitive areas. They can sometimes be aggressive if they are not handled frequently from the time they are babies. Several animal species are able to hear frequencies well beyond the human hearing range. You can turn a tegu from a sweetheart into "hard to handle" in just a few weeks. Live tegus in the county have mainly been spotted near Washington Loop Road and Bermont Road in Punta Gorda, according to Tyson Dallas, a biologist for FWC’s non-native program. Even young lizards have large appetites and can easily put away 75 or so crickets a week. Tracking tegus teaches us which habitats they prefer, how far they travel, and where they go during the winter months. I have heard that Columbian tegus have a reputation for being more aggressive than the Argentines. Female tegus can lay about 35 eggs a year, which hatch in the summer. They will also accept pinkie mice. Juvenile Tegus will do well on a diet of crickets, provided these are dusted with vitamin and calcium powder. I am glad you reconsidered your outlook on the advice offered. Georgia officials are working to eradicate a lizard they say poses a major threat to some of the state's native wildlife: the Argentine black and white tegus. Elephants can hear sounds at 14–16 Hz, while some whales can hear infrasonic sounds as low as 7 Hz (in water). Adult Tegus can be fed a staple diet … Tegus first arrived in South Florida via the exotic pet trade about 2002. Keep in mind, you can feed live and that's your right, but you were merely being warned of what could result from it. And of course, a big aggressive lizard is not very fun to interact with - a good bite or tail whip WILL leave a mark! Tegus are omnivorous lizards eating a variety of prey, including birds, small mammals, reptiles and amphibians, fruits, vegetables, insects, and eggs. "Tegus can go through the water. Tegus grow fast. Native to South America, tegus are not supposed to be in Florida. They are very likely to be 'docile' as long as you put in a small amount of effort on your part. Tegus are very difficult to catch by hand and are much easier to trap using eggs as bait, according to Jake Edwards, a wildlife technician hired by FWC to capture the lizards in South Florida. They can eat a lot of fruit and veg when adult as they're omnivorous, much cheaper than a carnivore. However! Scientists track tegus using these transmitters and radio telemetry to locate their position in the wild. Some dolphins and bats, for example, can hear frequencies up to 100,000 Hz. They're very adaptable to a number of different habitats, which is why we consider them to be problematic." Adults can grow up to four feet, so they need transmitter size upgrades several times a year. Tegus are possibly one of the only larger reptiles that could be seen as a beginner pet. 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