Colombian Disposition

[Murkve]

Having recently begun sharing my life with an Argentine Tegu, and experienced the trials and tribulations of a skittish young Tegu, I'm wondering how different Colombians are?

I'm particularly interested if you have both, and can compare their attitude similarities and differences from your experiences. I've always read that Colombians can be little spitfires, but I don't quite believe it.

 

[m3s4]

To answer your question, I have both and they are quite different in terms of personality and disposition.

Colombians are generally more skittish, tend to be more aggressive and are in some ways, a little trickier to tame and build trust with.

Where juvenile args. are pretty mellow, will allow for easy handling and are usually chilled out - the same is not true for most Colombians, but of course there are exceptions to the rule.

Args. are just more people friendly from the get-go and for lack of a better word, I'd say they're just more domesticated.

That being said, I wouldn't trade my Colombians for anything...They have such cool personalities and once they calm down (generally with lots of hands-on training and of course, age) and they come into their own, they're, imo, some of the coolest reps on the planet.

Unlike most Args., they have a bit more flair, quite a bit more attitude, like to make "huffing" noises to let you know they don't like something and will eventually build and bond with you and have enough trust to make for awesome companions.

 

[Scott Hogge]

I had a gold columbian when I was a little kid and sadly he didn't last long because I had no idea wtf I was doing. This was before the age of the Internet so I just copied the setup I saw at the pet shop I bought him from. I fed him live mice cause thats what the dude at the shop told me to do and he was always agressive.

M3S4 obviously sounds like the exception, but I think columbian owners in general are more likely to be people who were at petco to buy goldfish and saw a cool looking lizard they opted for instead. Because argentines are significantly harder to come by and more expensive, argentine owners tend to be people who had an idea of what they were getting into beforehand. Argentines are more likely to have been handled as hatchlings also, whereas columbians tend to be under-cared for wild caught yearlings in a 1x1.5 aquarium at the local pet shop.

I'd be interested in hearing how captive bred columbian hatchlings are if anyone has any experience.

 

[DavidRosi]

My Colombian is CB; he was a little skidish at first but never bit or tail whipped; in time with a lot of patience he's become a mellow and enquisitive member of the family; and for under a year old, I'm very happy about that.

 

[james.w]

David - are you saying your Colombian was captive born or captive bred and born?

 

[DavidRosi]

Captive born and bred, forget details when posting from my phone.

 

[james.w]

Who was the breeder if you don't mind? I have not heard of anyone breeding Colombians.

 

[DavidRosi]

I'm not 100% sure, but it was here in the uk.

 

[Murkve]

Maybe it was a hobby breeder? Not really an "operation" but a "hey, maybe we try this?" type shindig.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Colombians are and have been successfully bred in captivity just not on as large a scale as the other tegus. I've seen it more so on the UK forums, other than that the only other person I've seen that bred their Colombians is laurarfl. But that doesn't mean there isn't more people out there doing or at least trying it.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

A video from a member that hasn't been here in a while
[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VrzXWxikJo&feature=relmfu[/video]

But this is one of the threads I was thinking of over on the UK forum.

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/8964773-post175.html

 

[DavidRosi]

What's with the stripes?

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Be more specific, all tegus have stripes. But over time as they grow their pattern changes a bit and the stripes can break up. They get lighter in some places and darker in others. From what I've noticed the black stripes usually stay the same but the colored stripes break up more often, brighten or darken no matter what type of tegu it is.

If you look at pics or threads of tegus that show progression from when they're young to adults or just as they age you'll see what I mean. Sometimes they get shades of lighter areas (blushing), spots and more color where they didn't have it before.

At times in certain light or if you look close enough you can see where the pattern will change.

Like this thread of Mila, with the younger shots you can see light gray shades on her head that later grew and turned black. Plus the changes the rest of her body pattern went through. From high yellow head and waist to mid tail, with a darker mid section, that has evened out over time.

http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=8873#axzz24aDr9QEP

 

[DavidRosi]

Appreciate the info-storm ! Love learning new things regarding my tegus.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Kodo has never displayed any of the aggression Colombians are infamous for, nor does he eat with the violent feeding response some larger lizards are known for. He's a tad high-strung at times and really doesn't like to sit still, but he is so mellow and sweet. He will even let my dachshunds lick him in the face. I would totally get another Colombian after my wonderful, life-changing experiences with Kodo.