# Personality?



## TeguNovice (Apr 20, 2011)

I'm getting a Colombian Tegu but I've heard they aren't as friendly as the Argentines. How are your colombian's personalities?


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## Rhetoric (Apr 20, 2011)

I don't have colombians so I don't have any personal knowledge but some members on here seem to have pretty mellow colombians. I think its the same for any animal, most species have general characteristics but even those can greatly depend on the individual.
Some argentines don't tame/mellow down well others can be puppy dog tame. The majority of colombians aren't as easy going as the argentines but some seem to be pretty handleable. 
I think if you just work with it and take the time to teach it you aren't going to harm it and build trust over all you will be pretty successful.


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## AdrianPaul (Apr 20, 2011)

TeguNovice said:


> I'm getting a Colombian Tegu but I've heard they aren't as friendly as the Argentines. How are your colombian's personalities?



there is a reason why colombians go for $30-50 as opposed to 100 and up for argentines. That should answer your question.


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## Toby_H (Apr 20, 2011)

TeguNovice said:


> I'm getting a Colombian Tegu but I've heard they aren't as friendly as the Argentines. How are your colombian's personalities?



An Argentinean Tegu kept under "proper" conditions will be far easier to tame than a Colombian Tegu under the same care. Both can be tamed, but Argentieans are just much easier to work with.


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## brutus13 (Apr 20, 2011)

My friend has a Columbian and he works with it everyday and he has had no luck. The chances of getting it tame are really slim. It can happen but it's a huge gamble. I personally wouldn't waste my time or money but that's just me. My argentine is going through an attitude right now and I can't imagine that going on for its hole life. There bite is no joke...


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## TeguNovice (Apr 21, 2011)

Wow. Looks like I better save an extra $100 and stick with an Argentine.


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## Rhetoric (Apr 21, 2011)

I would lol. Ideally this reptile is going to be with you for quite some time, spending an extra $100 for something you REALLY want vs something you just "settle for" is completely worth it IMO.


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## hanniebann (Apr 22, 2011)

i had a gold (columbian) tegu for a while. and he was nothing but piss and vinegar. I could take him out for 30 mins and he wouldnt stop hissing, whipping and biting, no matter how still i kept. id swear i had tried everything with that little guy! he was just so incredibly frightened of everything i couldnt get him to calm down :/


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## Daenerys (Apr 25, 2011)

If you can find a B&W Colombian you may have better luck. I bought one and he is the sweetest thing, I have never had an attitude problem with him. But I have a gold one too and she is just not at all happy with being touched or even looked at the wrong way. Best way to go about getting a nice Colombian is to go to a show and hold them all to test their temperament. When I got mine I held him at the show and touched his tail and feet and near his face to see his reaction and he was ok with it all. Make sure they're warmed up a bit, though, because you might get fooled by a cold tegu.


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## slideaboot (Apr 25, 2011)

If you have the money, I'd HIGHLY recommend that you opt for the Argentine. They're two completely different animals and the payoff (at least for me, in having an animal that I trust and interact with on the daily) is SO much better with an Argentine. 

Colombians LOOK cool and CAN be tamed down, but Argentines are WORLDS apart from Colombians when it comes down to the benefits of keeping.


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## Olea (Apr 25, 2011)

we were looking for tegus, and wanted an Argentinean. then we went to a reptile show and saw all the columbians. we picked em up looked and paid attention to see personality. some were real jittery and skidish. but then we saw Zula. we held her and she stayed still in our hands. licked us and had no problems. we bought her for i think $15. i told my husband for that price there's bound to be something wrong... she wouldn't go back in her lil carton though. she sat on my husbands shoulder as we walked around the convention. then we got to a booth with supers in a bucket. then boom! Zula flies and lands in all the supers trying to get a free meal. she sat in the car on my lap the whole 10 min ride home. she is a golden columbian tegu, which are "stubborn". but so far so good with her  she has ran from us about twice when we weren't calm with her. she'll huff and hiss when we put our hand in the cage, we put our open hand in front of her, she'll smell and lick then climb on us or walk away. everyday we show attention at least by putting our hand in the cage and petting her. she's great! now we bought a dragon at the same time. and oh buddy he's been a lil jerk bitting and bearding. but he's learning he aint the boss.. i think just depends on the animals attitude and the time that the owner puts into it. but that goes with any living thing, right?


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## Gandolf38 (May 5, 2011)

Ok, to everyone who makes the generalizations about Colombians--don't. At least not for the black&white colombians. The golds seem to be aggressive by nature, but if I had listened to all the naysayers when I got my B&W Colombian 10mos ago, I would have really missed out on my sweet pet. I had so many negative comments from people, that I almost sold him instead of sticking in there with him--I chose to give him the benefit of the doubt and gave him love, patience, & attention. They may require a little extra work in the beginning, but handled daily, and on their own terms, they can become a loving pet. I have 3 pets, a sweet Colombian boa, a red argentine tegu, and my Colombian B&W, and my Gabriel( the B&W ) is my favorite. 

I really wish any comments about Colombians would be restricted to only those people who have personal experience with them as PETS; not ones that friends of friends own, or vendors at reptile shows, or ones that are at the pet store that one works at, or even breeders that simply breed and sell, not keep their animals as pets. 

A disservice has been done to Black & White colombian tegus by people who only know them on a second hand basis. That's my 2 cents, for what it's worth.


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## slideaboot (May 5, 2011)

Gandolf38 said:


> Ok, to everyone who makes the generalizations about Colombians--don't. At least not for the black&white colombians. The golds seem to be aggressive by nature, but if I had listened to all the naysayers when I got my B&W Colombian 10mos ago, I would have really missed out on my sweet pet. I had so many negative comments from people, that I almost sold him instead of sticking in there with him--I chose to give him the benefit of the doubt and gave him love, patience, & attention. They may require a little extra work in the beginning, but handled daily, and on their own terms, they can become a loving pet. I have 3 pets, a sweet Colombian boa, a red argentine tegu, and my Colombian B&W, and my Gabriel( the B&W ) is my favorite.
> 
> I really wish any comments about Colombians would be restricted to only those people who have personal experience with them as PETS; not ones that friends of friends own, or vendors at reptile shows, or ones that are at the pet store that one works at, or even breeders that simply breed and sell, not keep their animals as pets.
> 
> A disservice has been done to Black & White colombian tegus by people who only know them on a second hand basis. That's my 2 cents, for what it's worth.



A lot of us HAVE had these guys as pets...and, we've also (in addition to keeping them in the past) heard about other people's experiences with them. And, the general consensus has been that they are far more challenging to tame. There are people with tame Tokay Geckos, but on the whole, those lizards are MEAN. By the same token, you may have a tame Colombian...there are others who have tame Colombians as well. However, that doesn't change the fact that there are a LOT of people who have had less-than-desirable experiences with Colombians. Further, a lot of people aren't willing to take the risk on buying an animal, an enclosure, supplements, lights, substrate, etc...only to end up with an animal that they can't interact with--even after working with the animal (which is an occurrence that has been discussed a plurality of times before). THAT is what makes an Argentine Tegu a better choice for many people (note: not necessarily ALL--you've proven that). I appreciate your loyalty to your pet, but loyalty doesn't change facts. Personally, I'm impressed that you managed to tame a Colombian--that's impressive!


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## Gandolf38 (May 5, 2011)

Thank you, it really wasn't hard, it just took time, which fortunately I had. He's never bitten me or even tried to bite, even in the beginning when he would threaten by just letting his mouth hang open. I would rub his ears and he'd close it. That was back when I'd only had him a month and less. 
I didn't mean to say that there is no truth in the reputation of colombians, just that in my case, I bought him cheap from a pet store that was going out of business, and realized after that he was a Colombian. He was skittish, but no more than a lot of baby lizards. When I tried to get advice on the differences between them and Argentines, all I heard was negativity. I do have experience with reptiles, so I was ok with waiting to see for myself. If I hadn't, I never would've known. And I heard not ONE good thing about them when I inquired of people. 
My point in all this is just to say that they have a very bad rap, and potential owners should be made aware of all the success stories as well as the difficulties


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## slideaboot (May 6, 2011)

Gandolf38 said:


> My point in all this is just to say that they have a very bad rap, and potential owners should be made aware of all the success stories as well as the difficulties




Absolutely! I agree. Like I said...you've done something that not a lot of other folks have been successful with. The more that people like you with these stories share their experiences and the details of those experiences, the more likely people will be to try and attempt to repeat the results.


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## brutus13 (May 6, 2011)

Correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding that the golds are just another name for black and whites. As I may have never own a Columbian nor do I ever care too. I don't think you should disregard people's knowledge about them because they have never had one. I have seen first hand what a typical Columbian can be. My friend works with his gu everyday with no progress. That is great that you are one of the few to have an amazing Columbian and I applaud that. I have to agree with slideaboot. Especially about Tokays, I have seen ONE tame one that was holdable. That doesn't mean they are all goin to be that way. 


Gandolf38 said:


> Ok, to everyone who makes the generalizations about Colombians--don't. At least not for the black&white colombians. The golds seem to be aggressive by nature, but if I had listened to all the naysayers when I got my B&W Colombian 10mos ago, I would have really missed out on my sweet pet. I had so many negative comments from people, that I almost sold him instead of sticking in there with him--I chose to give him the benefit of the doubt and gave him love, patience, & attention. They may require a little extra work in the beginning, but handled daily, and on their own terms, they can become a loving pet. I have 3 pets, a sweet Colombian boa, a red argentine tegu, and my Colombian B&W, and my Gabriel( the B&W ) is my favorite.
> 
> I really wish any comments about Colombians would be restricted to only those people who have personal experience with them as PETS; not ones that friends of friends own, or vendors at reptile shows, or ones that are at the pet store that one works at, or even breeders that simply breed and sell, not keep their animals as pets.
> 
> A disservice has been done to Black & White colombian tegus by people who only know them on a second hand basis. That's my 2 cents, for what it's worth.


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## adam1120 (May 6, 2011)

i think theres a differnmce ingold and white and black colmbians the gold are more deffensive i think and the white andblacks even tho they do got a lil gold but mine is fading quick there can be tame i have one hes tame as it can get inside and out the cage roam or no roam i think it all depends they all got differnet brains soo


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## Gandolf38 (May 6, 2011)

slideaboot said:
 

> Gandolf38 said:
> 
> 
> > My point in all this is just to say that they have a very bad rap, and potential owners should be made aware of all the success stories as well as the difficulties
> ...



Yes, that is true!! I hope that more people will share the positive results they've had with Colombians.


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## herpgirl2510 (May 8, 2011)

I think it would be great to hear positive stories too there have to be some.


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## laurarfl (May 9, 2011)

I have a pair of wonderful Colombians. They are not the same as Argentines and people who purchase them thinking they will be are often disappointed. It's not that thery are more agressive...they are often preyed upon and more defensive and skittish. But they are not as sought after and usually ranched, so the price is cheaper.


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## JakRyne (May 13, 2011)

When I bought my Columbian from a nearby pet store, she was about 6 months old (from what they said anyway). I had never owned a Columbian before, but was well aware of the conventional wisdom regarding their hostility relative to Argentines. The employee warned me that she was agressive, bites workers often and couldn't be handled and so on, and he then proceeded to violently dig her out of the substrate and squeeze her with both hands into submission. 
My point is that much of their eventual temperment is dependent not just upon interaction with them, but HOW you interact with them. I've had her about 6 months now, and she is as tame as I could imagine. Responds to my voice, has never once even suggested biting, and claws at the glass when I get home and she wants to be let out and held. She gets along just fine around my other reptiles, enitrely uninterested, and also has this strange companionship with the cat of all things. Since I live in San Diego, I let her out often on my balcony and her and the cat sleep together out there. She's also just fine when anyone else unfamiliar handles her.
The only problem I have ever really had, aside from a little huffing and skittishness at the beginning, is that she VERY determined when she wants something. The enclosure I originally had her in had a mesh top, and when she finally got big and strong enough, she broke right through it and rolled up under the couch.


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## adam1120 (May 13, 2011)

yea but if you see a PURE gold colmbian tegu and BLACK AND WHITE 

if you look at gold colmbian tegus there different that black and white tegus I THINK. ive had both and the gold never calm down the black and white got very tame and very easy to handle with everyday handling and feed out of the cage.


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