this is what I have to work with

[tegu_man]

at that age you'll want to offer mostly meat, bugs, and smaller rodents. I tend to lean toward a couple rodents in a week as they are whole prey as opposed to trying to mix liver and turky and cod liver oil. we can't match what whole prey can offer nutritionally, however an all rodent diet wil make them fat and unhealthy. they don't really start eating too much fruit until they are older because they need so much protein to grow that fast. it will be 3 or more feet after 2 years old. be ready for it. when it comes to shedding there is NO substitute for good humidity. you may want to talk to jim at J&J reptiles about the bulbs he had them for about $60 at one time and may help you find what your looking for. when dealing with this little one trying to build trust remember, your a predator to him in his mind, I always approach with my hand in a fist knuckles down to present a large target in case one decides it'll bite, it's a lot harder to get a grip on the back of a hand than a finger. when trying to pick them up scoop under them not grab from the top, and I grab the tail as close to the back legs as possible with the other hand to help controll. DON'T pick it up by it's tail, controll the tail tucking it under your arm whil holding under the front legs will help when it flails around. watch out for the tail whip and barrel roll they squirrel out of hands so fast it's rediculous. my gold tegu once got away from me did a lap around the house and then climbed the curtains and looked at me. hope you enjoy your little one I'm a bit jealous I've wanted to get more for a while.

Edit- watch how often you offer banana's the high Potassium I believe it is binds to calcium and makes it unusable for the animal. too much banana can lead to calcium deficiency and MBD. in addition to the meat you offer, I cut my own steaks from big roasts so I offer them some of the more meaty trim, I offer smelt size fish I get from t&t, shrimp, scallops if they happen to get too old in the freezer, pretty much any kind of meat I have around that isn't getting eaten by me, always with calcium and d3. experiment your tegu will tell you what it likes. as for your lid I would make it solid out of wood and seal it with varathane diamond finnish indoor. then cut holes and cover with screen or metal construction mesh would be better they can tear screen like nothing. open holes slowly to get your proper humidity. it's easier to cut another then to plug one up, then you can get a small computer fan and put it in the hole on one end to help circulate air through to the other end.