Calling All Colombian Owners!

[dragonmetalhead]

I am giving a presentation on Colombian tegus to the local herp society and I was wondering if you guys could help me out in the following ways.

1) I need pictures of pet Colombians for my Powerpoint. There are so many images on Google. I promise you will all get proper photo credit and that I won't use the pics for anything else.
2) Since Kodo is so mellow, I have basically no experience with Colombian tegu aggression. A few descriptions of angry body language would be helpful.
3) I don't know about taming Colombian hatchlings since Kodo was about a year old when I purchased him.
4) I know what foods Kodo likes, but I want to know what else captive Colombians will eat. I've recently read something about them having addiction to eggs? Some clarification on the egg matter would be appreciated (Kodo's only had egg once, BTW).
5) Any interesting personal stories you'd like to share would be great.

Thank you all for your help!

 

[laurarfl]

Sure, let me get back to you this afternoon

 

[Gandolf38]

I know the egg thing is true for my Gabriel; she's wayyyy too addicted to eggs!! I don't have any experience with the aggressive behavior, bc she's never been...I've had her a year and a half now, & when I first got her, she was squirmy, but would never try to bite. She's very calm, especially I the water...a total baby!
I'd give you pics, but I don't know how to post them

 

[MadameButterfly]

I am giving a presentation on Colombian tegus to the local herp society and I was wondering if you guys could help me out in the following ways.

1) I need pictures of pet Colombians for my Powerpoint. There are so many images on Google. I promise you will all get proper photo credit and that I won't use the pics for anything else.
2) Since Kodo is so mellow, I have basically no experience with Colombian tegu aggression. A few descriptions of angry body language would be helpful.
3) I don't know about taming Colombian hatchlings since Kodo was about a year old when I purchased him.
4) I know what foods Kodo likes, but I want to know what else captive Colombians will eat. I've recently read something about them having addiction to eggs? Some clarification on the egg matter would be appreciated (Kodo's only had egg once, BTW).
5) Any interesting personal stories you'd like to share would be great.

Thank you all for your help!

You are welcome to use this pic of mine if you want, his/her name is Kiff

She is about 4 months old so still get's agitated very easily especially if suprised, So far since Saturday she has bitten me 5 times and at times if I put my hand in her tank she will attack it so I have taken to just placing my hand in the tank and not approaching her in any way,just sitting there and my hope is that eventually she will get use to it and maybe even approach it but I am expecting that to take some time.

As for agressive behaviour if she feels threatened she will breath really fast and snorth it out through her nose (I assume thats some kind of warning) and if I move my hand towards her she will move her head to follow it and the closer it gets the wider her mouth will open and if it gets to close she will snap at it.

Her current diet is Large Brown Crickets but I was told by the person I bought her from that she also eats boiled eggs and Paak Choi (a type of Chinese cabbage) but I haven't tried her with either yet because I'm still trying to find somewhere that sells Paak Choi and I'm not to sure how to offer her the egg i.e. whole or mashed up in a bowl

I only have her a few days so no intresting stories yet other than her prolapse last night (which she seems to have fully recovered from) but if there are any questions you want to ask about her work away and I'll try answer them. Also I am not sure if she is a she, I just refer to her as female out of habit of doing the same with my snake, she is to young at the moment to tell her real gender (just thought I'd mention that so that you don't get the impression that her agression might be because she is female, right now for all I know she could be a he).

 

[laurarfl]

1) I need pictures of pet Colombians for my Powerpoint. There are so many images on Google. I promise you will all get proper photo credit and that I won't use the pics for anything else.
Sorry, my afternoon turned into a week!!!

2) Since Kodo is so mellow, I have basically no experience with Colombian tegu aggression. A few descriptions of angry body language would be helpful.
Raised, arched back, lowered head, loud huffing breaths. Tail raised and ready to whip. A slow, purposeful, tensed to fight, but also can run away very quickly.

3) I don't know about taming Colombian hatchlings since Kodo was about a year old when I purchased him.
Our tegu was about 6-9 months old when we got her. She was not very accepting of people and likely a wild caught import. She was a pet for my 12yo daughter and I. The tegu was kept in my daughter's room at first, but we later moved Oreo into the living room so that she could see activity and be around people. We handled her every day (even if we had to wear a leather glove and catch her) and fed her outside of the enclosure to make coming out a positive experience. My daughter would read books or watch tv with tegu under the blanket with her. We would also put worn Tshirts in Oreo's enclosure to keep our scent around her. It took a few months, but soon Oreo was coming to the corner of her enclosure looking to climb up our arms and come out to roam.

4) I know what foods Kodo likes, but I want to know what else captive Colombians will eat. I've recently read something about them having addiction to eggs? Some clarification on the egg matter would be appreciated (Kodo's only had egg once, BTW).
I don't know about addiction, but Colombian tegus do like eggs and will prefer them over other food sources. I have an adult male who came to me a couple of years ago and for a while it seemed he only wanted to eat egg. I feed my adults ground turkey or beef, chicken or fish fillets, chopped chicken necks, F/T rodents, egg, mango, papaya, bananas, berries.

5) Any interesting personal stories you'd like to share would be great.
Hmmmm, nothing in particular. I think there is a lot of misinformation about Colombians out there. They aren't agressive like people say. They are flighty, being a smaller species of tegu and often prey for larger animals. They can be defensive and their behavior reflects that fact. They can be arboreal, so they jump and like to climb to the highest spot, like your head. They do eat plant matter and aren't strict carnivores.

I'll post photos when I make it to my desktop rather than the laptop.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Thanks, Laurafl! Your info is very helpful. I've recently uncovered a couple of stories about Colombians eating fruits/veggies, but it appears that this is on an individual lizard basis like with water dragons.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Is there a dead line that you need the pics by? I have new pics of Korben from last week but he was pretty brown, and shed a few days later. So I'll get some more when he's out and post a few of both.

I think laurarfl pretty much covered everything behavior, food and taming wise since it's pretty much the same as any other tegu. Out of fear or aggression they also roll their tails like a snake moving on the ground. Could be for a warning to back off and precedes a tail whip or a distraction depending on the situation. By distraction I mean to get the attention off of their body and on to their tail since they can drop some of it if need be.

Taming,.. I had to try something different with each one to see how they reacted, some were more hands off in the beginning than others. Till this day even with their reputation the tegu that gave me the hardest time through this process was Tricky my AA. I've never been bitten by any thing so many times in my life other than mosquito's.

With food I think there should be a variety early on (including fruit) especially when they're young since they are learning what to eat. In captivity they can afford to be picky especially when people give in and stick to what they like. When or if they stop eating or don't eat as much. So they don't learn or have to be opportunistic and willing to try different things as they should be. Vegetables I don't worry much about but I still mix them in just not as often as fruit.

But for now this was Spaz my first Colombian;

Short story she took a turn for the worst shortly after I got her and she almost didn't make it. I had to tube feed her to keep her a live and help fight what ever she was going through since the vet visits were inconclusive. But on the bright side she made it and I think the whole process made her trust me more.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

My talk is on February 1st, but please don't rush on my account. I appreciate all of your help, really I do. Bubblz, from your numerous posts you always seem to have solid advice so I'm just glad you contributed anything. The snake tail thing was really confusing me; I didn't know if it was undulations of the whole tail or just rattling the tip like a kingsnake. Kodo is so mellow and I honestly hope I never see this behavior. Do you still have Spaz? The patterning on her face is gorgeous.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Unfortunately she passed on just over a month after that last pic. She was about 16 mths old. She started my tegu addiction back in 05' and I haven't gone too long with out having at least one since.

 

[laurarfl]

I've seen hatchlings do the tail tip rattling to rustle leaves, etc and I have seen larger tegus undulate the whole tail as a sign of irritation. I don't know if tail undulation is meant as a warning or a distraction from the head.

---

Oreo (F) 6yo
6mos-9mos old

18mos old

3yo
we feed her outside of the cage on newspaper

chillin' on my daughter's head

5yo

Chester (M) age unknown, came to me as an adult. I've had him for a couple of years and he was full grown when he got here. He has to be at least 5 years old.

enclosure

---

If the photos are too small, I can enlarge them with tinuyurl

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Yeah,.. I remembered the tail tip just after posting while prepping food. It ranges from whole or half the tail undulating to just waving the tip. Usually when I see it, they posture and their body is still, the only thing moving is their tail.

I'm sure there's a number of reasons why they do it and for different situations. Since some other lizards do it as well including monitors.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Laurafl, I actually recognize a few of your photos from my Google searches. I know for a fact I've seen that first one of Chester several times before when I searched "black tegu." Your animals are are gorgeous, by the way. I especially love Chester's coloring.

 

[laurarfl]

Hmmm...well that's interesting! Thanks! He came from Snakecharmer in CA. I loved the photos she used to post of him and the stories she would tell. When she couldn't keep him, she contacted me about taking him. I love him. He went to class with me recently to teach kids about S American animals and he was so laid back. Great, great tegu.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Korben,.. he changed so much he doesn't even look the same;

 

[laurarfl]

Awww, he's such a cutie!

 

[Gandolf38]

Bubblz & Laura, they are so cute!! I want to post pics of Gabriel, but don't know how; I've tried the "attachment" thing, but can't get it to work

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Thanks Laura

@ Gandolf are you trying to use a site like photo bucket or directly from your computer?

 

[Nos]