# BEWARE OF THESE IMPORTS!!!



## VARNYARD (Apr 15, 2011)

People keep contacting me wanting me to match the price of these import garbage tegus that are hitting the market now. These animals are cheap junk. You need to beware of these so called CB tegus, and even CBBs *if seen before June* in the pet trade. These are tegus that are imported are not bred in the USA, they tend full of parasites and are not cycled to the northern hemisphere. If you buy one of these imports, they will try to hibernate this summer, it is the exact opposite seasons in Argentina as here, they have winter when we have summer. It is very hard to raise these imports with out vet bills and problems with hibernation in the wrong season. You will be lucky if they live and thrive at all.

These animals are cheaper in price, but after adding a vet bill they become more costly than a Captive Born and Bred tegu in the USA. You really don't know if they are healthy and free of inbreeding. Most of the CB, or even CBB imports are raised on farms for the leather trade; most go to make boots and belts, but a few find the way to the pet trade. When buying one of these animals you are supporting the breeders that raise tegus to be sold for leather, as well as animals raised to be butchered for food.

I will not try to compete with these cheap imports, and you will get what you pay for.


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## montana (Apr 15, 2011)

Ditto!!!


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## entropy (Apr 15, 2011)

What does the CB stand for? Just curious.


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## AvaHal12 (Apr 15, 2011)

Captive Bred


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## entropy (Apr 15, 2011)

Ah... how misleading. That's not good :/ Guess vets will get an influx of business this year.


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## laurarfl (Apr 15, 2011)

I was wondering about the high number of babies being sold in March/April


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## Riplee (Apr 15, 2011)

I totally agree. They can sell FB or CH tegu, but they CAN NOT put CB or CBB sign on it.


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## frost (Apr 15, 2011)

i saw a few tegus at the expo i went to a little bit ago.a b/w and a few reds.the people selling them said they were born a few months ago.i wanted them but that seemed like what bobby was talking about so i didnt.


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## slideaboot (Apr 15, 2011)

This crap happens EVERY year--there's a sucker born every minute. It sucks how these slimeballs capitalize on these situations. This is why it pays to do your research BEFORE you get into an animal, ya know?


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## chelvis (Apr 15, 2011)

I dont remember seeing CB (correct terms FB- farm bred) from imports for a long time. Has the importing laws in Arg losen up a bit in recent years. Maybe because they are farm bred. You deffently get what you pay for. I have never baught from Bobby but have been part of this fourm scense it started, all the animals he has sold he stands behind 100% not only in their health and temperment but also for any questions people may have. I like to see any wholesaler or importer match that.


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## VARNYARD (Apr 15, 2011)

There are several flippers on KS and a few on Fauna offering 2011 CB tegus, they are on there now, I just wanted to give everyone a heads up on these so-called great deals.


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## frost (Apr 15, 2011)

hey bobby any idea on when my babys are gonna hatch? im gonna go insane waiting for them..


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## VARNYARD (Apr 15, 2011)

frost said:


> hey bobby any idea on when my babys are gonna hatch? im gonna go insane waiting for them..



I still do not know an exact date, I am seeing a little courtship behavior in the tegus, but no eggs yet.


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## hanniebann (Apr 15, 2011)

I'm so excited!!!!! I've got a baby coming in June/July too!!! I want to start counting down the days, but we don't even know yet!!! it's driving me CRAZY! lol.


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## Rhetoric (Apr 15, 2011)

Good to know! I too was wondering about all these little guys popping up so early.


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## WildlifeLover429 (Apr 15, 2011)

hey Bobby when do you start sending out your babies? a day right out of the egg or several weeks old? just asking


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## laurarfl (Apr 16, 2011)

Could it be possible that they are captive farmed babies from import parents from the S hemisphere?


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## got10 (Apr 16, 2011)

laurarfl said:


> Could it be possible that they are captive farmed babies from import parents from the S hemisphere?



perhaps


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## Toby_H (Apr 17, 2011)

laurarfl said:


> Could it be possible that they are captive farmed babies from import parents from the S hemisphere?



They are farm raised in S. Hemisphere... from S Hemisphere parents...

But they cannot be farm raised in the N. Hemisphere from S. Hemisphere parents. Farm raised means outdoors and S. Hemisphere parents kept outdoors in the N. Hemisphere will begin to adapt to N. Hemisphere conditions and will not breed according to a S> Hemisphere schedule...

It is theoretically possible to have S. Hemisphere parents kept indoors in the N. Hemisphere and keep them on the S. Hemisphere cycle. But it would create increased costs in cooling the animals in the (N.Hemi) summers and extra heating in the (N.Hemi) winter. Which is just illogical. 


The only thing that makes sense is these animals are bred and born in the S. Hemisphere... most likely Farm Raised...


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## laurarfl (Apr 17, 2011)

Duh! S Hemipshere parents wouldn't cycles with the N Hemisphere temps, light cycle, barometric changes, etc. Makes sense. I must have had a moment of insanity. Thanks.


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## carcharios (Apr 17, 2011)

I for one probably purchased a tegu that was from the southern hemisphere from Petco two years ago and it's true that it hibernated the entire summer the first year I had it - and it was scrawny, lost lots of weight, cost me a trip to the vet, etc. ,etc. However, this grunt turned out to be a beautiful specimen (in fact, I believe it's an extreme based on it's markings, coloration, etc. If you want to see a pic of Diego, do a quick search on my posts for the thread, "What kind of tegu is Diego" and you can judge for yourself what type of tegu he is. 

I purchased this specimen "Diego" in June of 2009 and it never came out of hibernation for an entire 11 months! Of course, over that time period, it lost quite a bit of weight too. However, last summer I moved it outdoors into the rabbit hutch enclosure I have and it aligned itself to the northern hemisphere cycle, growing three to four times it's initial size in only a few months! Last Fall, it hibernated with my other two CB tegus and is just coming out of hibernation now, so it is possible to realign them with the northern hemisphere but it may take a season or two for this to happen and it can be touch and go during that time in terms of their health. During that first summer I had Diego, he refused to come out from under the cyprus mulch, even with a lamp, etc. 

I didn't purchase Diego because I was ignorant though. I had never seen a tegu before seeing him at Petco and he was absolutely exquisite, so my wife purchased him for me for Father's Day. Next time I purchase a tegu though it will most likely be through Bobby because I'd love another extreme to pair mine up with!


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## AvaHal12 (Apr 28, 2011)

VARNYARD said:


> frost said:
> 
> 
> > hey bobby any idea on when my babys are gonna hatch? im gonna go insane waiting for them..
> ...



Hey Bobby... Any updates? If nothing yet... try playing them some Barry White or Neil Diamond.


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## hanniebann (Apr 28, 2011)

genius idea ;D I'm dying to know so I can start counting down incubation days. lol.


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## VARNYARD (Apr 28, 2011)

I have three clutches so far, two Extremes and one normal clutch. I will tell you, I cannot tell your when your baby is going to be ready by going by user names on the forums, how am I going to know who you really are?


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## nicklotz (Apr 28, 2011)

i bought a tegu from the mass reptile expo, not realizing it must of been "farm" produced. honestly its doing great, its on the same feeding schedule as my other tegu, isnt mean at all its even getting used to free roaming already. i can understand the concern for parasites but from my experience i wouldnt give this little red guy away at all.


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## herpgirl2510 (Apr 28, 2011)

My tegu is is about 2 1/2 months old. I bought him at NERD in NH they are a very reputeable reptile establishment. I was told mine were bor and bre in the us. Does what your saying mean they may have misled me. 

He also was not a bargain at $150. I am however having major issues getting him to eat.


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## frost (Apr 28, 2011)

ugh all this talk of babys is making it harder to wait for my pair of normals from bobby...


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## james.w (Apr 28, 2011)

herpgirl2510 said:


> My tegu is is about 2 1/2 months old. I bought him at NERD in NH they are a very reputeable reptile establishment. I was told mine were bor and bre in the us. Does what your saying mean they may have misled me.
> 
> He also was not a bargain at $150. I am however having major issues getting him to eat.





Because you have a hatchling this early in the year, I'm gonna guess it is from the S. hemisphere.


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## hanniebann (Apr 28, 2011)

agreed. I'm so anxious to even know what month I'll be getting mine in


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## Rhetoric (Apr 28, 2011)

have u guys had tegus before? theyre such a blast youll love every minute of it!


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## hanniebann (Apr 28, 2011)

i have yet to get mine from bobby in june/july. i'm so psyched i'm going bonkers


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## herpgirl2510 (Apr 29, 2011)

Because you have a hatchling this early in the year, I'm gonna guess it is from the S. hemisphere

Read more: http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=7975&page=2#ixzz1KuwSsIr3

Very surprising such a reputeable place would lie to me. NERD is very well known in reptile circles. Seems silly that they would lie to make short change on me. The guy who runs the reptile dept has bred and kept tegus for 10 years. He breed them at off times so he has babies available when others do not. I have brought up what people have said about him being from S. hemisphere they have reassured me numerous times it is not.


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## VARNYARD (Apr 29, 2011)

Everyone that is selling these imports right now are claiming to breed/get them from a breeder. As for this 10 year breeder, who is he? I have never heard Kevin say anything about a tegu breeder working for him??? I find it amazing how these so-called breeders have babies at the exact same time as when all the imports hit the market..


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## chelvis (Apr 29, 2011)

It would be very hard to cycle a northern tegu onto a souther tegu time frame. Think about it, you can change the temp thats not too hard, you can change the lighting time (make sure there are no windows or that will mess things up), but how do you change the Barmatric pressure. This seems to be somthing that would impossible (unless working in a pressure controled room) to be able to replicate. Now i will not doubt after a few decades one might be able to get two cycles out of a tegu by selective breeding, look at dogs and wolves. Dog decended from wolves and wolves only breed in the winter and birth in spring but dogs can breed twice in a year. But that was selected for and it took many many many generations (not enough in 10 years). 

Now they might be captive breed (some people stretch farm bred to mean captive very diceptive) but they were not concived here in the US. 

Now if they are true CBB USA tegus another thing might be they were un sold hatchlings before they hibernated and rather than say they are small 2010 tegus you can market them as large 2011 tegus. If a tegu hibernates it will not grow so it can still look pretty small. But by this time they around around 6 to 7 months is age. This is a far cry from the 2.5 months you have been quoted.


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## herpgirl2510 (Apr 29, 2011)

Would Kevin have his employees give out false info like that. I would hope they know who they are buying their herps from I am having alot of trouble getting this guy to eat anything nothing in at least a week. They also have reds they are saying are born and bred in the US. I will be furious I have told them what everyone has been saying on the forums and they flatly deny that they are imports. I wonder if I could get a hold of Kevin personally and ask. I figured if I went to a reputeable place like NERD I would be safe. I also understand what captive bred is these were sold to me as bred and born in the US. Meaning the parents were mated in the US and born. Mike is the one who runs the reptile dept has been saying this to me. My tegu is about 16 inches.
He has the most woderful temperment He is chilling with me in the window now I am worried. I wish I had seen all this info in the beginning .I also noticed tegu terra has babies available not my guy does not have green anymore like they do. They are saying they are born and bred in the us too.Mike is the one who said he has had his pair for ten years and has bred them before and is going to this year.

Tegu terra had them available in the beginning of March.


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## VARNYARD (Apr 29, 2011)

herpgirl2510 said:


> Would Kevin have his employees give out false info like that. I would hope they know who they are buying their herps from I am having alot of trouble getting this guy to eat anything nothing in at least a week. They also have reds they are saying are born and bred in the US. I will be furious I have told them what everyone has been saying on the forums and they flatly deny that they are imports. I wonder if I could get a hold of Kevin personally and ask. I figured if I went to a reputeable place like NERD I would be safe. I also understand what captive bred is these were sold to me as bred and born in the US. Meaning the parents were mated in the US and born. Mike is the one who runs the reptile dept has been saying this to me. My tegu is about 16 inches.
> He has the most woderful temperment He is chilling with me in the window now I am worried. I wish I had seen all this info in the beginning .I also noticed tegu terra has babies available not my guy does not have green anymore like they do. They are saying they are born and bred in the us too.Mike is the one who said he has had his pair for ten years and has bred them before and is going to this year.
> 
> Tegu terra had them available in the beginning of March.



Well it is not hard to put two and two together... I have no babies yet, and I live in Florida, I have babies before everyone else due to it being warmer sooner here than most other places. Bert was in Alabama, he was having babies at least a month after me each season, he did not flip imports either. 





I was just looking at Johnny's site: Tegu terra, he does not have fresh babies listed on his site, they all say 2010s.


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## herpgirl2510 (Apr 29, 2011)

I m confused by that response. Terra tegu(is that who Bert is) have tegus available in early March the ones he had available were clearly much younger thaan mine you said if they are available before June they were most likely imports. My tegu was not bred at NERD. Please remember I am new to tegus and I have no knowledge about breeding them. I understand the concerns about the ones available at shows early that is why I went to a reputeable place. I think the person who told me the were 2-3 months old was incorrect. I emailed Kevin so hopefully I will have more insight.






Mine was not a new hatchling he is 16" long. He also does not have that bright green head


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## reptastic (Apr 29, 2011)

I think your tegu is much older than 3-4 mos., it could be a 2010 that hibernated....teguterra is a supposed tegu breeder ran by jonny larroca(theres a discussion on the boards about them) bert passed away in august/09

I think your tegu is much older than 3-4 mos., it could be a 2010 that hibernated....teguterra is a supposed tegu breeder ran by jonny larroca(theres a discussion on the boards about them) bert passed away in august/08 i believe


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## herpgirl2510 (Apr 29, 2011)

I think that he is older too. I have been checking out young tegus they seem to have a very vibrant green head mine does not. Regardless he is an awesome lizard the past few days he has totally mellowed out comes to the enclosrue scratches to come out and is not afraid. Minus the eating issue maybe he has thaat because he was just semi hibernating still . I just don't like the idea of being sold something under false pretenses.


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## james.w (Apr 29, 2011)

Herpgirl. Based on how big your Gu is, I would guess he is 2010 baby.


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## herpgirl2510 (Apr 29, 2011)

Good to know I can stop obsessing about it now.


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## frost (Apr 29, 2011)

i have nerd on here at least 5 times.what is it?some reptiles store or rep site that knows alot about reptiles?


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## reptastic (Apr 29, 2011)

Does he eat at all I know my b/w hasnt been eating much since i picked him up last friday and he is a '10 baby from bobby so im guessing he still needs to adjust


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## herpgirl2510 (Apr 29, 2011)

Someone said they saw my posts and called NERD and they told her their tegus were from a wholesaler in Florida so they are most likely imports. I am really angry I specifically asked about that and was not given that answer.


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## james.w (Apr 29, 2011)

frost said:


> i have nerd on here at least 5 times.what is it?some reptiles store or rep site that knows alot about reptiles?



Nerd is known for their work with albino water monitors. 


herpgirl2510 said:


> Someone said they saw my posts and called NERD and they told her their tegus were from a wholesaler in Florida so they are most likely imports. I am really angry I specifically asked about that and was not given that answer.



It sucks when you find out you didn't get what you paid for, but unless you hear it from nerd's mouth there is no way to know for sure where he came from.


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## herpgirl2510 (Apr 29, 2011)

NERD is also known for their work with ball python morphs. Kevin McCurley wrote the book. "the complete ball python a comprehensive guide to care, breeding and genetic mutations. They are in plaistow New Hampshire


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## VARNYARD (Apr 29, 2011)

Looking at the website it does not say a thing about tegus.


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## herpgirl2510 (Apr 29, 2011)

I know zoo creatures is part of NERD. Zoo creatures is where you go to buy their lizards, ball pythons , reptile supplies etc. I know they have a pair of argentine tegus they have had together to mate at least since I got mine a few weeks ago. I don't know if this is the first time they are breeding them themselves.Someone n the the other tegu forum called them today because the were curious about where they got there tegus. They told her they were from a wholesaler in Florida. I specifically had asked whether mine came form that situation I was told it did not. However they told the person today that the ones they have had for the last few months are from a wholesaler which probably means they were farmed in S america. Basically I was given false information by two people there.

That is pretty much a deal breaker on trusting a place. Hopefull Kevin will return my email.


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## Rhetoric (Apr 30, 2011)

Hopefully you're tegu is healthy, it looks like it is from the pictures. It will probably be a bit more work if it is a S. hem. baby. I'm sorry that you're having to go through this, its ridiculous that people can be so shady when it comes to making a profit. I had skimmed their website before a couple months ago and I'm fairly confident I remember seeing a tegu or two on their available section.


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## herpgirl2510 (Apr 30, 2011)

I am wondering if they were more honest with the girl that called yesterday because I have been questioning them so much. I am lucky except for the eating part he is super friendly does not even wiggle anymore when I pick him up and scratches to come out. They have had red tegus, argentine, and columbian tegus available for a few months. I am so surprised they are supposed to be such a reputeable business. I feel like calling and telling them how they told the girl yesterday a different story than they told me. I wish I had seen the vanyard posts earlier but I just found this site.


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