# Golden



## jb62 (Oct 28, 2012)

Hi.

I've been looking at the golden tegu's and was wondering what max sizes they get to and what's the tipical temperament of them.


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## DavidRosi (Oct 28, 2012)

My male Colombian is 3 feet long (mostly tail) and temperament varies, also husbandry is a big factor
[attachment=5632]


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## laurarfl (Oct 28, 2012)

Same, I have two adult teguixin and they are both quite tame. The female is more flighty (usually because she is avoiding the male) and the male goes with me to the classroom and such.


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## dragonmetalhead (Oct 28, 2012)

Kodo is around three feet long and is exceedingly tame. I handle him daily and he's never given any display of aggression.


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## james.w (Oct 28, 2012)

They generally max out about 3-3.5' but can get a little bigger, have seen them as big as 4'. Temperament is generally going to be determined by the amount of time you are willing to put in to them. If you spend the time they can be just as tame as Argentines.


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## SnakeCharmr728 (Oct 28, 2012)

laurarfl said:


> Same, I have two adult teguixin and they are both quite tame. The female is more flighty (usually because she is avoiding the male) and the male goes with me to the classroom and such.



I biasedly say that Chester is the best colombian out there


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## jb62 (Apr 21, 2013)

So what size vivarium do you use?
Do you use a spot for hearing with any ceramic for night temps?
What prices do Golden's sell for?
What's best male or female?
Sorry to ask so much but I'm finding miss leading information over the net and I'd sooner know facts before I commit to owning one.


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## SnakeCharmr728 (Apr 22, 2013)

Golds are classified as colombians, both "black and white' and "golds" are the same species, so any information you find pertaining to colombian black and whites would be the same as a gold. 

6x3 would be the absolute minimum you'd want to house one in. Same type of basking area as with all tegus, but colombians are not as cold tolerant so its best not to let the cage drop below 80f degrees at night and you can use a black or purple bulb for night time heat if you needed, Im not a fan of ceramics as they dry out the cage and are horrible for keeping humidity. 

Average price of a colombian aka gold would be $40-100 depending on the age and where your getting it from. Keep in mind it will be an import, not cb. 

I find there is no difference in temperament between genders, its based on individual personality and they can be a little bit more difficult to sex than the argentines because their jowels are not as big. 

Hope this helps


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## Dirkthejerk41 (Apr 22, 2013)

SnakeCharmr728 said:


> Golds are classified as colombians, both "black and white' and "golds" are the same species, so any information you find pertaining to colombian black and whites would be the same as a gold.
> 
> 6x3 would be the absolute minimum you'd want to house one in. Same type of basking area as with all tegus, but colombians are not as cold tolerant so its best not to let the cage drop below 80f degrees at night and you can use a black or purple bulb for night time heat if you needed, Im not a fan of ceramics as they dry out the cage and are horrible for keeping humidity.
> 
> ...


 SnakeCharmr, is about 74-75 okay for night?? I've talked to several people who say that would be okay for night time temps?


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## SnakeCharmr728 (Apr 22, 2013)

it is OKAY but if you can do higher it would be better. A lot of time the colombians wont be as active as they should be if the night time drops too low.


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## kymzilla (Apr 22, 2013)

Both mine are male, 3ft long and are very tame. The only time they show aggression to me is right when they wake up and they're hungry. Or of course if i pester them. 

Mine are both in a 4x2x2 right now but were building a bigger tank starting next month.
They free roam the living room all day so are really only in the tank to sleep.

I disagree on the temps dipping too low at night leading to less activity. Sometimes mine gets to 70 and they will wake up the same time everyday and are always actively running around all day until they get lazy and nest in blankets or burrow into the couch.


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## jb62 (Apr 22, 2013)

kymzilla said:


> Both mine are male, 3ft long and are very tame. The only time they show aggression to me is right when they wake up and they're hungry. Or of course if i pester them.
> 
> Mine are both in a 4x2x2 right now but were building a bigger tank starting next month.
> They free roam the living room all day so are really only in the tank to sleep.
> ...



Kymzilla do you have photo's of your two male's..


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## kymzilla (Apr 22, 2013)

There's a thread somewhere under this one called "a serious update on my boys" there's pics in there


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## jb62 (Apr 23, 2013)

SnakeCharmr728 said:


> Golds are classified as colombians, both "black and white' and "golds" are the same species, so any information you find pertaining to colombian black and whites would be the same as a gold.
> 
> 6x3 would be the absolute minimum you'd want to house one in. Same type of basking area as with all tegus, but colombians are not as cold tolerant so its best not to let the cage drop below 80f degrees at night and you can use a black or purple bulb for night time heat if you needed, Im not a fan of ceramics as they dry out the cage and are horrible for keeping humidity.
> 
> ...



I thought the golden were the smaller of them all!..
Didn't know that columbian b&w were the same species!..
Is this also true with Columbian Black's ?


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## jb62 (Apr 23, 2013)

DavidRosi said:


> My male Colombian is 3 feet long (mostly tail) and temperament varies, also husbandry is a big factor
> [attachment=5632]



How long have you kept your golden David


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## SnakeCharmr728 (Apr 23, 2013)

yes, there are a bunch of different names for colombians but they are all Tupinambis teguixin


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## jb62 (Apr 24, 2013)

SnakeCharmr728 said:


> yes, there are a bunch of different names for colombians but they are all Tupinambis teguixin



Yeah I read on a forum that the b&w are most likely Argentin and other's say they are cross bred as the true golden has no black and white .. Other's say the true golden never grows over 3ft!.


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## SnakeCharmr728 (Apr 24, 2013)

There are argentine b/w and colombian black and white, but golds and colombian b/w are the same animal, just different color variations.


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## jb62 (Apr 26, 2013)

Tegus EU on Facebook have a conflict as some agree with you and some don't!
They keep referencing to Argentine b&w.


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## jb62 (Apr 26, 2013)

SnakeCharmr728 said:


> There are argentine b/w and colombian black and white, but golds and colombian b/w are the same animal, just different color variations.




This is from the first guy to breed Columbian Golden's.. When I put your reply to him. He said.. "" no they are not the same in any way at all, except the fact they have 4 legs and a tail. ""


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## laurarfl (Apr 26, 2013)

Perhaps this is the confusion: _T. teguixin_ is not sold as "Colombian black and white" any longer and are sold as "gold tegus" instead. When _T. teguixin_ was first sold in the US, they were labeled Colombian tegus or Colombian b/w. Word of mouth got around that they were ill-tempered and poor choices to purchase. So the name was changed to just "black and white" or "gold" so that they could be sold and maybe even at a higher price. To add to the confusion,_ S. merianae_ are not referred to as Argentine black and white tegus around the world. So sticking with the scientific names will clear up any confusion.


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## SnakeCharmr728 (Apr 26, 2013)

So hes saying that they are different species? I'd like to see some documentation that they are not the same thing because that is news to me and everyone else.


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## laurarfl (Apr 26, 2013)

That is what I am understanding, but maybe I am not interpreting it correctly.


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## jb62 (Apr 27, 2013)

laurarfl said:


> Perhaps this is the confusion: _T. teguixin_ is not sold as "Colombian black and white" any longer and are sold as "gold tegus" instead. When _T. teguixin_ was first sold in the US, they were labeled Colombian tegus or Colombian b/w. Word of mouth got around that they were ill-tempered and poor choices to purchase. So the name was changed to just "black and white" or "gold" so that they could be sold and maybe even at a higher price. To add to the confusion,_ S. merianae_ are not referred to as Argentine black and white tegus around the world. So sticking with the scientific names will clear up any confusion.



Yeah that I can understand..
But on Facebook there's a tegu eu group and they posted a Columbian b&w that is black and white.
The same as merianae from what I can see.
Then they posted a Columbian golden and this was black with gold/yellow !.
So I asked the same question and was told the golden is also called b&g or golden . .and this is from other american owner's and the b&w and g&b don't look the same at all.
This is the problem with being told they are both the same species!.
I've also seen British owner's posting goldens and again they are b&g no white and still don't look at all like the Columbian b&w!!


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## jb62 (Apr 27, 2013)

SnakeCharmr728 said:


> So hes saying that they are different species? I'd like to see some documentation that they are not the same thing because that is news to me and everyone else.



Hi.
I found this!!

Higher Taxa	Teiidae, Sauria (lizards) 
Subspecies	Tupinambis teguixin sebastiani MÜLLER 1968
Tupinambis teguixin Teguixin (LINNAEUS 1758) 
Common Names	E: Black Tegu, Golden Tegu
G: Schw.-Weiss oder Bänderteju 
Synonym	Lacerta Teguixin LINNAEUS 1758: 208
Seps marmoratus LAURENTI 1768: 59
Laacerta tupinambis LACÉPÈDE 1788
Lacerta monitor — SHAW & NODDER 1790: plate 21
Lacerta monitor LATREILLE 1801a: 220
Tupinambis monitor DAUDIN 1802a: 20
Monitor meriani BLAINVILLE 1816
Monitor (Tutor) americanus GOLDFUSS 1820: 168
Teius monitor — WIED 1824
Tupinambis nigropunctatus SPIX 1825: 18
Monitor teguixin FITZINGER 1826
Podinema teguixin WAGLER 1830
Lacerta Teguixin — CUVIER 1831: 113
Teius teguixin - GRAY 1838: 276
Salvator nigropunctatus - DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 90
Teius nigropunctatus - GRAY 1845: 16
Teius teguexim - BATES 1864: 233
Tejus teguexin [sic] — DOLLO 1884: 68
Tejus tequexin [sic] — COPE 1885: 189
Tupinambis teguixin — BOULENGER 1885: 335
Tupinambis nigropunctatus — BOULENGER 1885: 337
Tupinambis tegnixin [sic] - MÜLLER 1912: 24
Tupinambis teguixin — PETERS et al. 1970: 272
Tupinambis teguixin nigropunctatus - MÜLLER 1971: 24
Tupinambis teguixin - PRESCH 1973: 741 (part?)
Tupinambis nigropunctatus — HOOGMOED & LESCURE 1975
Tupinambis teguixin — DUELLMAN 1978: 223
Tupinambis teguixin - CEI 1993
Tupinambis teguixin — DIRKSEN & DE LA RIVA 1999
Tupinambis teguixin — MCNISH 2011
Tupinambis teguixin — HARVEY et al. 2012 

Does this help?


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## jb62 (Apr 27, 2013)

Also on here the is the black and gold that I've seen and been told is the golden tegu!..
As you can see there is no white !..
Is the b&w and b&g the same?

http://www.thetegu.com/showthread.php?12183-all-those-names


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## laurarfl (Apr 27, 2013)

the black tegu, the black and white tegu are the same....and the black and gold tegu is the same, and the gold tegu is the same. ahhh...the confusion of common names.


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## jb62 (Apr 27, 2013)

laurarfl said:


> the black tegu, the black and white tegu are the same....and the black and gold tegu is the same, and the gold tegu is the same. ahhh...the confusion of common names.



Yes common name's are such a pain in the backside!..


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## jb62 (Apr 27, 2013)

SnakeCharmr728 said:


> So hes saying that they are different species? I'd like to see some documentation that they are not the same thing because that is news to me and everyone else.



You were right and it was the fact that other's do not realise the Columbian has two forms .. Like the P.subfusca tarantula has a light phase and a dark phase .
So over here the golden is known and the b&w are known because of Argentine .
But I was informed by tegu owner's in america that the golden was only one!..
Not that there were two colour phases!.
My apologies


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## laurarfl (Apr 27, 2013)

No apology necessary  I think we were just a bit confused about what you were saying and trying to help.


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## jb62 (Apr 28, 2013)

laurarfl said:


> No apology necessary  I think we were just a bit confused about what you were saying and trying to help.



Oh yeah I see that it was that I saw a golden ( black and gold ) tegu and was reading that they were small and could be made tame and go in a 4x2x2 viv and thought I'd get more information before I decided to get one.
But then it got confusing when I kept being told it was a b&w and this got alarm Bell's going as I thought how can this be!..
Then I joined other tegu forum's and started getting mixed info again!..
So this is why I used everything to find why it was a b&w as well as a b&g.


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