# New to the forums and to tegus



## bige85tegu (Mar 11, 2008)

I just recently bought a colombian black and white tegu and was interested in how much easier they are to tame than savannah monitors because I have one of them. I have had my savannah for 7 months and she is still not tame and tries to bite me every once and a while. I was just wandering if tegus act the same wy or are they much easier to tame than the savannahs? Also what are some foods that they eat besides crickets because thats all I have been feeding the tegu for the past couple of days. Is there a certain amount that I need to put in there or can I put like 10-20 of them in there at a time? Also do I need to seal the tank to get the humidity levels that the tegu needs? If there are any questions that anyone can think of that I did not ask, can you please answer them for me because I am trying to be able to take care of the tegu the best way possible. I have taken care of the savannah for 7 months and that was kind of hard put I am doing it she is growing and in extremely good health. Also to anyone who helps answers or can steer me in the right direction on these questions thanks a lot!


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## Lexi (Mar 11, 2008)

Hey welcome to the forums.. You should look around on the threads to help you out with your questions!


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## shiftylarry (Mar 11, 2008)

> I just recently bought a colombian black and white tegu and was interested in how much easier they are to tame than savannah monitors because I have one of them.


They're not easier, neither of them will ever be your lap pet. I'm very sorry if you were misinformed by the vendor you got them from. Go through the monitor section of this website and check out some of my posts and others.

I never use the word tame with large, potentially dangerous lizards. A lot of the "tame" savannahs you see have poor husbandry. If yours is aggressive/defensive, it just means it's healthy.

Give me some time and I'll make a "taming" post that will answer all of your questions.


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## bige85tegu (Mar 11, 2008)

Ok thanks! Yea she is very healthy and the vender never told me that they are tame or easy to tame they just said that everyone that they have dealed with are like big puppy dogs and I told them that mine is not like that at all. But was just curious on the two different temperments being either a lot a like or one is much easier than the other.


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## Lexi (Mar 11, 2008)

well i know that col. Tegus are terrors compaired to Arg b&w Tegus... I know nothing of Savs.


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## shiftylarry (Mar 11, 2008)

"they just said that everyone that they have dealed with are like big puppy dogs"
Puppy dogs with jaws powerful enough to break the bones in your hand. Be careful of those types of comparisons.

I can tell you that savannah monitors are smarter than tegus. That however, doesn't make them easier to tame. If anything, it makes them harder. The good news, is that you can have a very fun and rewarding relationship with your monitor by feeding off of tongs. He will learn to associate you with food and actually seek out your company when you come towards his cage. But, you have to stop handling him. And, if your far along in the tong feeding process and then start handling again, you may be back to square one. 

Sometimes getting him adjusted can take months or even years. If you're patient, you'll have a lot more success.


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## bige85tegu (Mar 11, 2008)

I have a lot of patients with the savannah because thats why I still have her and thats why I am trying to work on our relatinship. But it just sometimes makes me feel like I do all of this hard work and still she acts extremely agressive towards me.


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## shiftylarry (Mar 11, 2008)

Do you handle her? If so, that's the problem.

Monitors don't like being ripped from their favorite basking spot or hide. Each time I handle my monitors for vet visits, shipping, or what have you, it takes me months to build back that trusting relationship.

Keep it up.

-Chris


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## bige85tegu (Mar 11, 2008)

I know. I took my sav to the vet like 4 months ago and she was ok with me getting her there and everything but after the vet visit she was hard to get out because the vet gave her injections to treat some stomach parasites and they had to be given orally. That means that I had to get her to open her mouth and then hold it open long enough to give her the .05 mg dosage that the vet said to give for 7 doses to get rid of the parasites. It worked and madde her much better but ever since then she has been acting like everytime I take her out that I am going to try and mess with hermouth to give her an injection. I believe that is why is has been acting the way she has since then. But I still love her and she has bit me prolly around 4 or 5 times since I have had her. My finance said that I need to get rid of something that is that agressive because she does not want to be around it. But she loves the new tegu that I just bought on sunday because of how chill and calm the tegu is so far. I tried to tell her that the tegu can prolly get worse if it wants to than the sav but she does not care because of how nice the tegu is right now.


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## PuffDragon (Mar 11, 2008)

Hey welcome to the forums! There's alot of good information and answers to your questions in other posts. You can try running a search to find what you are looking for. Alot (not all) of the information on the Arg. Tegu's can go across the board in taking care of your columbian. Got any pics to share?


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## bige85tegu (Mar 11, 2008)

No pics yet. But I will have some soon. Thanks again to all of you for you help.


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## VARNYARD (Mar 11, 2008)

Welcome to the TeguTalk community, glad you came and joined us!!


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## angelrose (Mar 11, 2008)

:welc bige85tegu I have a colombian tegu Angelrose and a savannah monitor Bear both with me for about 3 yrs. and just got a male & female args for valentines day 8) 
* pls don't jump on me everybody* :-D they are tame in different ways. Angelrose has free roam and I let her come to me (hand feed comes in the kitchen & walk up to the stove, step over me, lay on top of me) _when she wants to_ she knows by now we are not threats to her and we are inseperable :-D the args come right up to ya and you can pet them whenever you want. Bear (savannah) when I first got him he use to open his mouth as if to bite me and make this horrible hollow sounding hiss (scary, right). he has free roam in a different room (door closed) so they don't both meet :shock: . ( he is about 3 ft now and Angel is about 2 1/2 ft. ) and yes Bear is very powerful :!: you can hear him crack the rats head and bones and he tends to knock things over :roll: . the only time I have to be careful is if I have not been home and he is very hungry he will go for anything that moves. (that is rare). it's actually very cute in the morning he will stick his tongue out half way or if he is laying on the sofa he will lick ya  and Bear sleeps most of the time with my daughters (he's a sleepy guy) Bear is more quiet and Angel is more outgoing :-D 
the only thing both had in common when I got them was the place where I got them were just feeding them *lots* of crickets and thats it. I started right away with the pinkies, fuzzies, hoppers etc. they were starved  * they love their meat *


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## ColdThirst (Mar 11, 2008)

Ha! that reminds me of my Arg. B&W, I thought mine was just being mean, but when its really hungry, and out and about, he will rush ANYTHING that moves. He will chase your toes all the way onto the couch until you restrain him. My roomate hates it, and it just makes me laugh until i can't breathe, cuz he only does it if you don't have socks on, and afterwards my roomates like, I think it hungry with this look on his face. Sry, just throwin that out there cuz it made me laugh.


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## bige85tegu (Mar 12, 2008)

Thanks Varnyard. Angelrose my savannah used to act like a puppy dog that like to nip every once and a while but nothing serious. I used to be able to take her out of her tank, put her leash on her and walk her around and take her everywhere with me at all times from day one. Now she does not want to wear the leash or just sit and chill on my shoulder, chest or hand anymore. Thats funny ColdThirst because if my tegu does that I think that I may have a heart attack laughing so hard.


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## gotherps? (Mar 12, 2008)

welcome to the forum!

the dealer most definitly misinformed you about the columbian tegus ability to be tamed. i cant speak from years of experience but ive had a young gold columbian for several months and it is far from "tame" and i doubt it will ever be anything more than cautiously shy in my presence. there are a few people like anglerose, tupifan, and AB who have adult columbians who are generally managable but from what gather from friends who have savs and what ive seen so far from my columbian and what others report, the columbian tegu is one of the most difficult tegu/monitor species to form an understanding relationship with. (excluding croc and nile monitors and the like)

however dont give up on it. i suspect i will develop a mainly "look at but not handle very much" relationship with my columbian which isnt necessly a bad thing. aside from interaction when feeding and ocasionally sitting on my hand my young columbian is far from even being "generally managable." people pay $2000 for exotic green tree monitors and they are a look not touch species. the $40 gold tegu is almost as beautiful so i dont see much of a problem having a look not touch relationship.


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## bige85tegu (Mar 12, 2008)

I just would like to be able to hold my savannah and tegu with out them trying to bite my fingers off. I think that with time it will happen though.


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## angelrose (Mar 12, 2008)

:dan the only thing I can think of that I did different was give them what they wanted ...meat and lots of it in the beginning, from mice, chicken, turkey, steak, rats even hot dogs all the way up the meat ladder :lol: 
the place where I got Angelrose had nothing but nasty things to say about her, they even said that she bit them and they wanted to get rid of her. I would go there often for other supplies and look at Angel then I brought her home in a box lifted her up with my hand and placed her in her big new home :-D the worst thing Angel does is hiss and that's if she is sleeping 8) 
I went away for about ten days and had a friend come stay and babysit everybody well, Angelrose hid the whole time and Bear looked so stressed when I got back. it took a couple of days to get back in their graces :-D 
I think there is just something about reptiles, hmmm  
give them food, time and space and they will come around, yes :-D


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## angelrose (Mar 12, 2008)

oh and I know the colombian gold are not expensive but I lov'em, I like the color alot maybe one of those will be next :roll: perhaps I like them a lil' spunky :lol:


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## gotherps? (Mar 12, 2008)

yeah i happened to get a real beaut gold even tho its psycotic and will hold its ground and then spring forward and bite a gently advancing hand. oh well im still working on developing the trust and relationship with it, superworms seem to be doing wonders tho lol. wish i had a dam camera, ill get some pics soon. heres a really old one from when i first got it.





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## shiftylarry (Mar 12, 2008)

bige85tegu: If your monitor just sits on your shoulder, there's something wrong with it. Trust me. That's just not their nature. A healthy monitor is curious and constantly on the move, searching for food or interesting hides. There is a big misconception out there about how these animal behave. 

Don't try and mold something that doesn't act how you want into the pet of your dreams. It is what it is. I've seen very trusting relationships with a savannah and their owner, but it takes years of non forced handling. Whatever happens between you and the monitor, if it's not on the monitor's terms, you're not getting anywhere.

Leashes are not for monitors. That's another bad idea.

This is not a bash, I understand there is a lot of bad information out there. It's not your fault.

PM me if you need some help.

-Chris


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## angelrose (Mar 13, 2008)

gotherps? I think he is a beautiful color. I like the gold 8)


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## bige85tegu (Mar 13, 2008)

shiftylarry said:


> bige85tegu: If your monitor just sits on your shoulder, there's something wrong with it. Trust me. That's just not their nature. A healthy monitor is curious and constantly on the move, searching for food or interesting hides. There is a big misconception out there about how these animal behave.
> 
> Don't try and mold something that doesn't act how you want into the pet of your dreams. It is what it is. I've seen very trusting relationships with a savannah and their owner, but it takes years of non forced handling. Whatever happens between you and the monitor, if it's not on the monitor's terms, you're not getting anywhere.
> 
> ...



Ok thanks, everything that I am telling yall about my savannah is coming from the pet store that I bought her from. They told me that savannahs love leashs and that I should hold her everyday so she will get use to me but that only made her worse as she grew.


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## bige85tegu (Mar 13, 2008)

The pet store I bought the tegu from told me that it was a colombian black and white tegu and mine looks different than your gotherps or is that because yours is a golden? How do you tell the difference between a argentine and colombian tegu? Just curious.


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## DZLife (Mar 13, 2008)

shiftylarry said:


> Do you handle her? If so, that's the problem.
> 
> Monitors don't like being ripped from their favorite basking spot or hide. Each time I handle my monitors for vet visits, shipping, or what have you, it takes me months to build back that trusting relationship.
> 
> ...



Maybe, but I would like to partially disagree. I know several people who have Savannah Monitors who seem to actually ENJOY being taken out. I am not speaking for all monitors, but some are handleable if worked with properly....then again, others will never be OK with being handled.


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## bige85tegu (Mar 13, 2008)

I agree with both of you because I have seen ones on youtube that are just as calm and nice as they can be and I have seen ones like mine that can be nice when they want to.


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## shiftylarry (Mar 13, 2008)

Savannah monitors are naturally solitary animals, so let's be careful before we attach human emotions to them. I have seen "tame savannahs" and I've seen sick savannahs that are passed off as tame. They just don't have the energy to act like a monitor.

I don't advertise the "tame" side of monitors, because it misleads people into thinking they're going to have a lap pet. It aint gonna happen. You may have a healthy savannah that chooses to climb up your arm and then settle on your lap on its own accord, but I disagree that a spunky savannah will just allow itself to be picked up, plopped in your lap, and just sit there behaving itself. 

youtube sucks. It's not a good reference. Before we start talking "dog tame" savannahs, let's consider that 90% of all imported savannahs die within their first year of captivity, if not while being imported. Then consider that well over 99% will never reach full adulthood. Monitors are just one of those creatures that people don't have the care or the patience to take care of properly. It takes a ton of dedication. You wanna know how many times I've heard "I had a pet savannah, but it died of old age" only to find out that it lived only 3-5 years? Too darn many. The truth is that they can easily live 15 if taken care of properly. Imagine the kind of uproar that would occur if your dog died at age 3 from poor care. Unfortunately there just isn't the same consciousness with monitors.

So, to answer your question, yes, your savannah can become tame. However, if you go it with the expectation that it will be tame, this is not the animal for you. They are very smart animals, and they make decisions for themselves. Unlike other reptiles, consistent handling doesn't always help. In most cases, it just makes them resent you more.


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## bige85tegu (Mar 13, 2008)

I never thought that my savannah would be so aggressive because the savannah is the first reptile that I have ever owned and the tegu is my second. The pet store where I bough her from and the tegu both told to handle them a lot and they would be tame as a puppy dog as I said before. When I got the savannah home it was a different story, she was hissing, slapping and running away. So because I had never owned a reptile before I did what the pet store told me to do and as she got bigger I stopped because of how aggressive she got. Now I can finally walk up to her tank and talk to her and rub the side of tank where her head is with out her going crazy about it. But ever since I have stopped trying to hld her see has calmed down a lot. The pet store also told me to do the same with my tegu and they said that it was a colombian b&w but when I was looking on varnyards website a saw a couple of small argentine tegus that look a lot like my tegu. Can someone help me with that one? Do argentine tegus cost more? Because if they do I only paid like $63 for mine.


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## shiftylarry (Mar 13, 2008)

Argentine's usually cost 75-150 for normal babies.

Concerning your savannah, I'm glad he doesn't whip you as much. Try not to think of him as an aggressive animal, think of him as a defensive animal. He doesn't seek you out to try and hurt you, he only puts on a show when he feels threatened. 

I'll send you a PM later tonight.

-Chris


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## bige85tegu (Mar 13, 2008)

shiftylarry said:


> Argentine's usually cost 75-150 for normal babies.
> 
> Concerning your savannah, I'm glad he doesn't whip you as much. Try not to think of him as an aggressive animal, think of him as a defensive animal. He doesn't seek you out to try and hurt you, he only puts on a show when he feels threatened.
> 
> ...



Ok, but I am not sure on which one I have. Yea I know that she is being defensive and trying to hurt but she is telling that if I come closer then she will defend herself. Ok cool.


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## shiftylarry (Mar 13, 2008)

If you post some pics, we can tell you for sure what your tegu is.


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## bige85tegu (Mar 13, 2008)

Ok I will tomorrow while I am at work. Thanks everyone for yalls help.


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## angelrose (Mar 13, 2008)

:cheers I agree and disagree 
many years ago before I got my savannah I knew someone who had one (big) and I can't tell you enough how *mean this one was* it was scary to even look at.
and the *only* reason I bought this one is because I like a challenge.
out of all the reptiles I brought/bring home I was scared of this one the most and now look.
you cannot put a leash on them, no way. they do like to seek out hides and no he is not 'tame' but he lets me handle him. I gave my savannah alot of attention in plain view where he would stick his head out and watch everybody. and mine is a lap lizard as long as he can hide under a blanket or something maybe because ever since I bought him I would bring him out and when it was time to go back in, I fed him.
oh and the vet says he's a healthy big boy :-D[/i]


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## bige85tegu (Mar 14, 2008)

shiftylarry said:


> If you post some pics, we can tell you for sure what your tegu is.



Here are some pics of my tegu and savannah.


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## angelrose (Mar 14, 2008)

:-D they are adorable, I lov'em :-D very nice pics :-D 
they remind me of when mine were babies 8) are you feeding the savannah any mice (fuzzies,hoppers) yet ? it looks like he can handle it  
the tegu looks like a an eye catching gold :-D


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## bige85tegu (Mar 14, 2008)

They both are eating mice, the tegu is eating just pinkies and crickets. The savannah is eating hoppers and fuzzies depends on what she wants. These are my first pets and I have had them for almost 4-5 years. My ferrets, Hurley, who is the albino red eyed, Roxy, who look like a criminal with her color scheme, and Spaz, who likes to thing that he is a dog.
Hurley




This is their mansion.




Roxy




Spaz


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## COWHER (Mar 14, 2008)

:fiwo :woot :welc :woot :fiwo


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## bige85tegu (Mar 14, 2008)

COWHER said:


> :fiwo :woot :welc :woot :fiwo



Thanks.


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## PuffDragon (Mar 14, 2008)

Hey big,
As for your tegu...it is def. a Columbian. Keep up the good work!


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## VARNYARD (Mar 14, 2008)

Awesome pictures!! I agree with Joe, it is 110% a Colombian.


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## bige85tegu (Mar 17, 2008)

Thanks, I bought the other Colombian b&w that they had there at the pet store because they were both together all the time according to them. So now I have two of them and they are very hard to tell apart. Also, a quick question, how do you get the humidity up to 60-70% in the tank for the tegus?


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