# Is it possible to cross a Caiman Lizard and a Argentine tegu?



## Tropoddity (Jul 12, 2011)

There faces are almost identical and they fall under the same category of reptile?


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## laurarfl (Jul 12, 2011)

no. Not any more than it is possible to cross a deer and a goat. The DNA isn't a close enough match.


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## jmulley6 (Jul 12, 2011)

would be awesome but yes most likely genetically impossible and if it was they would most likely have issues or be unable to reproduce such as mules and ligers.


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## chelvis (Jul 12, 2011)

some female ligers can breed all the males are setirl- just a side note. But the gentics are too different too cross them, not to metion their behvaiors are way different.


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## laurarfl (Jul 12, 2011)

But ligers and mules started off with parents belonging to the same taxonomic genus. Caiman lizards and tegus may look sorta similar, but are really different.


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## Tropoddity (Jul 13, 2011)

They are sexed the same as well. The Caiman lizards have spurs at the vent just like the Tegu. Also the males have big cheeks. They are so close. They are from South America. It is almost Like a Tegu and a Croc had babies. Temperment is almost identical as well, all though the Caiman seems a little more docile, do to it main diet (snails). I may try this out guys. Lets see if it works, wish me luck. 

By the way I am also going to buy a Tegu from our buddy Mr. Varnyard ;-)


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## Strange_Evil (Jul 13, 2011)

Tropoddity said:


> They are sexed the same as well. The Caiman lizards have spurs at the vent just like the Tegu. Also the males have big cheeks. They are so close. They are from South America. It is almost Like a Tegu and a Croc had babies. Temperment is almost identical as well, all though the Caiman seems a little more docile, do to it main diet (snails). I may try this out guys. Lets see if it works, wish me luck.
> 
> By the way I am also going to buy a Tegu from our buddy Mr. Varnyard ;-)





No offence but man it won't work, listen to what the others are saying they look alike in some ways yes, but they won't match up genetically. They both have jowls(cheeks),get fairly large and have great temperament, but just look how different the care is for each one.

Besides even if it could be done (Not saying it can, because it can't) don't you think undergroundreptiles would of been all over that project bu now. They more than likely already know it will fail!

It's really not worth putting your lizards through the stress. 

But if you insist then good luck!


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## laurarfl (Jul 13, 2011)

I have brown anoles and green anoles in my yard. They ARE really close genetically and they don't interbreed.


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## Draco D Tegu (Jul 13, 2011)

Strange_Evil said:


> Tropoddity said:
> 
> 
> > They are sexed the same as well. The Caiman lizards have spurs at the vent just like the Tegu. Also the males have big cheeks. They are so close. They are from South America. It is almost Like a Tegu and a Croc had babies. Temperment is almost identical as well, all though the Caiman seems a little more docile, do to it main diet (snails). I may try this out guys. Lets see if it works, wish me luck.
> ...






I wonder if it could be done in the lab though. I doubt that a natural mating would produce offspring. But if we could transgenically engineer the same as mice ............. interesting thought.


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## Tropoddity (Jul 13, 2011)

One, I would never put them in a stressful state. Two, I have been doing some intense investigation on both species. Do to my research it may be impossible, but a 25% percent chance it may. I am making sure it will be safe in all aspects, before I pull the trigger. No offence taken, I respect everyone's opinion. It is kind of like the missing link in these two species in my opinion because of the close similarity of the two. Yes one is more aquatic, but Tegu are great swimmers as well. I think the caiman is a mystery, and still needs more research. Everyone here knows, just because you own a reptile does not mean you know 100% about. Half the species out there born from CB situations completely changes the species as well. 

I love reptiles!!! Especially the big lizards!


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## Draco D Tegu (Jul 13, 2011)

You're forgetting one thing, Caimans are great swimmers, yes, they can swim long distances. Tegus may swim for short periods of time, but they tire out more quickly.

Even at that, I work in research, what you're suggesting in doing via "natural pairing", given mendilian genetics has a very slim chance of success (which you admit), outside of a laboratory setting. Have you taken in to consideration such as pheromones, courtship behaviors, territorial aggression, incubation, gestation, egg size? Simply putting a male with a female probably won't have much success because the behavioral cues are different among the species. In fact, another issue would be housing them together even temporarily as they do have different environmental considerations. If you decided to just introduce them together to lock up, have you considered that they may either ignore one another or tear one another apart?

You may wish to collaborate with some scientists on this one.

I wish you luck.


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## chelvis (Jul 13, 2011)

In a lab you could do it, Thats how they made Geeps, a goat and sheep mix. Great example of how two very simaliar and closely related aniamls can breed and still will not produce an offspring. Its hard to tell if they are compatable becuase neither of their DNA has been mapped. 

On a side note. I own both a caiman lizard and a tegu, i would be worried a tegu would shred a caiman lizard or a caiman lizard would drown a tegu. The risk of injury is so high that i would never put my animals through that. My caiman lizard likes to be out in the mornign and evening, the tegu at the hight of the day. Tegu likes to be on the ground caiman lizard up in the branches. Camain lizard is docile around ppl but hates hates hates the other tegu... is fine around Bosco. As metioned thier cortship of caiman lizards is done in water, some deep enough to cause a heavy bodied tegu to drown. All things to consider before hand.


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## hoosier (Jul 19, 2011)

you must look at taxonomy. even though the two are in the same family they however are not the same genus unlike donkeys and horses (Equus) and lions and tigers (Panthera). the caman is Dracaena and tegus are Tupinambis making it even more remote for them to breed or have viable offspring. That is like asking if it was possible to cross a chimp with a silverback gorilla because they both are in the same family Hominidae. i mean no offense but just stating the facts. honestly i hope you do not try this because it could turn out very badly. in a lab it may be done but you have to ask the big question: 
"why?"


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## Draco D Tegu (Jul 19, 2011)

I can answer the "why" part...it's the same thing most scientists feel, "why not". Which, when done properly (to include scrapping the project and culling if the animal's welfare is endangered), can be a good thing....it's the same driving principle we have behind the many medical advances we have today (such as IVF, pig valve transplants, the potential to clone for organs etc). There are other reasons too, which I don't agree with, such as, "I could make a really neat lizard and charge a butt load of money for it" get rich quick schemes etc. I don't fault the drive, I do, however question motives (not in this case, I think it was random chatter).


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## hoosier (Jul 19, 2011)

one other question and really think about this one: what would this accomplish for you?

i had a lot more written but i deleted it because i didnt want to come off rude or a jerk because that is how it sounded to me when i re-read it lol but honesly i feel i must say it. please please please dont take this rudely:

For medical advances yes i can see the drive but for a pet? the funding would be massive and funds would be hard to come by for such frivolous research. the cost alone would drive the cost of the animal through the roof much less the unknowns of such a cross of genes. While we are at it can we cross a varanus panoptes horni with a tupinambis merianae? or maybe python regius and cross it with a Python reticulatus, ( the pythons are even in the same genus). i like both of them and they kinda look alike. i bet that would be neat too. but again, what would that accomplish for you?


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