Most visitors never meet most of this. Florida is a big state and its wildlife changes a lot from region to region - a cane toad is a South Florida backyard problem, a black bear is a central and north Florida one, and a crocodile only matters in the far south. These guides are here for the encounter you do have, not because one is likely.
Argentine black and white tegus are large invasive lizards, up to nearly five feet long, with breeding populations in four Florida counties and scattered sightings in many more. A tegu will generally try to get away from a dog, but a cornered one can bite and claw hard, so the rule is simple: short leash, no chasing, no investigating, and a vet visit if your dog gets bitten.
What a tegu looks like
Adults are heavy-bodied lizards with thick, long tails and mottled black and white coloring that often forms bands across the body and tail. According to FWC, they can reach nearly five feet in length. Hatchlings have bright green heads that fade after about a month, which confuses people who expect a baby tegu to look like a small adult.
Visitors sometimes mistake a tegu for a Nile monitor or a large iguana. Monitors are longer-necked and patterned with yellow bands or spots, and iguanas are usually green, gray or orange with a crest of spines down the back. The black and white banding is the giveaway. Our guides to Nile monitors and pets and iguanas and pets cover the other two.
Where tegus live in Florida, and when they are out
FWC lists reproducing tegu populations in Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Charlotte and St. Lucie counties. That covers much of the Tampa Bay area, the Miami area, the Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda area and the Port St. Lucie area on the Treasure Coast. Individual tegus have been reported in many other counties; FWC says most of those are likely escaped pets rather than breeding groups, but a single loose tegu can still turn up in a yard anywhere.
Tegus are seasonal. In winter they retreat into burrows for a hibernation-like rest called brumation, and FWC says they typically emerge in February in South Florida. UF/IFAS researchers describe the underground period as running roughly from October to February. So the months when a dog is likely to meet one are spring through early fall, the same warm months when many Floridians and visitors spend the most time outdoors. Tegus dig their own burrows and also move into the burrows of other animals, including gopher tortoises.
Why FWC treats them as a serious problem
Tegus eat almost anything: fruit, insects, eggs and small animals including reptiles and rodents. The concern is their appetite for eggs. FWC has documented them eating American alligator eggs and gopher tortoise hatchlings, and UF/IFAS researchers have documented them eating alligator and turtle eggs in Florida. They are also considered a threat to ground-nesting birds and to the nests of crocodiles and sea turtles. That is why FWC classifies the species as nonnative and invasive, and why it is on Florida’s Prohibited species list.
The same appetite matters to pet owners. FWC specifically notes that tegus may eat pet food left outdoors, and people who keep chickens should know tegus are egg thieves.
What a tegu can do to a dog
A big tegu has strong jaws, sharp teeth, sturdy claws and a muscular tail. It is not venomous, and it is not hunting your dog. The trouble starts when a dog corners one under a shed, in a hedge or at the mouth of a burrow, or grabs one. A tegu defending itself can deliver a painful bite that punctures and tears tissue, and it can scratch hard with its claws. Any animal bite can become infected.
If you see a tegu on a walk:
- Shorten the leash and bring the dog to your side.
- Back away and leave the lizard an open escape route. Most tegus will take it.
- Do not let the dog sniff, paw at or dig after it, and do not let it follow the lizard into brush or a burrow.
- If you can do it from a safe distance, take a photo for a sighting report.
If your dog is bitten, get it away from the lizard, check the wound and call your vet. Puncture wounds can look small on the surface and be deeper underneath, and bites to the face, eyes, legs or paws deserve a same-day visit. Watch any bite over the next several days for swelling, heat, discharge or limping, which can signal infection.
Making a yard less tegu-friendly
Tegus are not just a nature-preserve problem; they turn up around homes too. If you live in or are renting in one of the established counties, the approach FWC recommends is to take away food and hiding places:
- Bring dog and cat food and water bowls inside, especially overnight and when no one is watching.
- Clean up fallen fruit, and secure trash and compost.
- Remove debris piles, lumber stacks and dense clutter where a tegu can shelter.
- Cover or block openings under sheds, decks, porches and slabs where one could dig in.
- Collect eggs promptly and keep chicken coops secure.
Do not send a dog to flush a tegu out from under a structure. That is exactly the situation where the dog gets bitten.
What the law says about tegus
Tegus were added to Florida’s Prohibited species list effective April 29, 2021. Under FWC’s prohibited species rules, only people who owned a tegu before the listing can keep it, under a free grandfathered personal-use permit that comes with PIT tagging, caging and biosecurity requirements. A limited number of qualifying commercial businesses, research, exhibition and eradication or control work also have narrow exceptions. Breeding is limited to certain accredited zoological institutions.
Releasing any nonnative animal is illegal, and FWC says escaped and released pets are how tegus got established in the first place. If someone can no longer keep a tegu, FWC’s Exotic Pet Amnesty Program takes unwanted exotic pets with no questions asked and no penalties. FWC also says tegus can be humanely killed on private property with the landowner’s permission, and year-round on many FWC-managed lands without a permit; most pet owners will leave that to professionals.
Report it and keep walking
FWC wants every tegu sighting reported, with a photo if possible. Report through the IveGot1 app, at IveGot1.org, or by calling 888-IVE-GOT1 (888-483-4681). Then keep the dog moving. The short version: leash on, pet food indoors, no chasing, a photo from a distance, and a vet for any bite. For the bigger picture, see why Florida has so many exotic animals, our guide to Burmese pythons and pets, and the Florida wildlife emergency checklist for pet travelers.
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