# rescued chacoan



## White_Lotus (Dec 7, 2009)

now my gf and i went to a local pet store in Greece, New York...we went to the reptile section to see what they had and we noticed 2 irregular reptiles...the first was a juvenile Australian Water Dragon something i have wanted for a few months but nothing i was going to buy...the 2nd animal was an animal i never expected to see in a pet store EVER!! A chacoan extreme giant tegu(labelled Choan Giant Tegu) now at first i was thinking wow the dopes got tricked into buy a high white b&w tegu...then as i asked a sales rep they told me it was actually given to the store from a private owner named FRank who had lost his arm in a car accident(made me feel bad for my 1st thought >.<) and he had to get rid of his larger reptile and only keep his corns and geckos...Now me being over cautious me told my gf hell no i aint buying it....a week passes, another week passes, 2 weeks pass and that tegu is still there..i also noticed it wasnt growing...i began to ask about it's husbandry...it wasz kept on the pelts rabbits live on the layer was and a centimeter thick, they had a uvbstrip light going across the top and a 80 watt light, the cage was FILTHY poo every where, pelits stuck together with urates, and it was being fed 2 hoppers and 5-6 crickets...this poot tegu had a log in the middle of the cage and no real hide...children would stick their hands in its hide and drag it out, pet it poke it, tap on the glass while its sleeping and now she(i think its a she) is extremely defensive and has an aweful feeding response i can't even walk by the bin i have her in w/o her jumping at me to bite me, she's in a bin because the cage i bought doesnt have a lid yet so until i buy one she's in the bin...its more than big enough for right now and i have a 100watt powersun light bulb i bought brand new for her...her are some picture of her i want to make sure its a chacoan and not a high white argentine



















the guy who dropped this beauty off was named 
Frank but they don't know his last name and i'm waiting for him to email me some information on this GU, it just broke my heart to see such a friendly tegu go from uber friendly to super defensive because a store doesnt want to take care of it the proper way because and i quote "It's to expensive." Why except an animal if its too expensive and doesnt seem worth it to you..really shows that they care about animals =(


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## whoru (Dec 8, 2009)

aww so so sad but nice lookin gu


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## txrepgirl (Dec 8, 2009)

What a sad story  . I'm glad you took him/her home ( congrats ). It's hard for me to say if it's a chacoan or not because I haven't seen one in real live yet. It looks like one but I'm not sure. I have two black and white Tegus that have a lot of white on them, too, and are not chacoans. I would ask Bobby.
I don't want to be rude but I don't recommend having a card bord box in the bin because the mulch needs to be moist for the humidity and when the card board box stays moist or wet for to long it can mold and the Tegu can get sick. Thanks for posting those very nice pictures of him/her. It's a very nice looking Tegu.


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## JohnMatthew (Dec 8, 2009)

It looks very chacoanish.. it's not a deciding factor but check for the "V" under it's chin.. most chacoans have it I believe.


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## Quijibo (Dec 8, 2009)

Looks very Chacoan to me. Chacoans seem to be more mottled/grainy in their patterns, they also don't seem as brownish dorsally as normal B&W's. 
BTW, my Jango has the "V" and she's a "normal.


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## White_Lotus (Dec 8, 2009)

i know about the cardboard box issue, its only their temporarily in there tbh the whole cage she's in is temporary until i can find a lid or build the custom enclosure, everythingin her cage(aside from the water bowl)isnt meant to last past december 31st i called bobby already which is why i made a post and he told me that she is indeed a chacoan which breaks my heart even more...because all of bobby's GUs are friendly but this one is extremely defensive and became that way at the pet store.


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## Quijibo (Dec 8, 2009)

With a little patience, I'm sure she'll come around.


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## JohnMatthew (Dec 8, 2009)

Yeah, that's why it's not a deciding factor. The same goes for using loreal scales to determine argentine vs columbian. Your tegu also has more of that creamy color seen in chacoans. Chacoan or not, it's a nice tegu, grats!


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## White_Lotus (Dec 9, 2009)

i love this chacoan as much as i love any of my other animals but she's got an attitude as bad as a blood python man, she's gotten a lot better and now she's slightly more curious about me, i catch her investigatingmy hands as i clean up her messes. She smells the tub of water right after i put it in, and the best part is she no longer jumping at me for food xD because that use to scare the crap out of me


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## lazyjr52 (Dec 10, 2009)

White_Lotus said:


> i love this chacoan as much as i love any of my other animals but she's got an attitude as bad as a blood python man, she's gotten a lot better and now she's slightly more curious about me, i catch her investigatingmy hands as i clean up her messes. She smells the tub of water right after i put it in, and the best part is she no longer jumping at me for food xD because that use to scare the crap out of me



My normal female was just like your's. I bought her from the pet store and she was very cage agressive. She used to get up and run towards from the far end of her 8 foot cage to try and bite my while I was cleaning and she succeeded a couple times. She also used to huff and puff at me and would crap on me when I picked her up. She got this way from being fed in her cage and was never handled coorectly at the pet store. They would always "grab" her and restrain her when they picked her up. 

Needless to say now she is alot better now and does none of those things stated above. I just took it slow with her and now I can even take her outside without a leash and she'll just fall asleep in my lap. 

Sorry for the long story but I think you're gu (which is very nice BTW) will come around with some time as she gains trust with you. And one good thing is that you got her while she is still young. Hope this helps and good luck


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## White_Lotus (Dec 10, 2009)

its a success story that keeps my hopes up ^.^


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## White_Lotus (Dec 17, 2009)

small update on my chacoan..i decided on a final name if it turns out to be a boy i'll change it to something else but i named her Bella(just based on my past luck i'm assuming its a girl) but here's an update on her, she is eating me out of house and home with no signs of letting up...she pounds down turkey, mice, and fruit..today was a fruit and mouse day i dont like posting pics of my animals eating mice but heres some of her eating fruit(honeydoo melon/cantelope)
















she is still SUPER defensive but i just moved her into a new 50gal wide tank which is way bigger than the bin i had her in =P when i get paid i'll be getting her a new hide and all that jazz =) it'll be her christmas present...she's coming along she is starting to show an interest in what i'm doing, i think she's starting to realize that i'm respecting her "personal space bubble" and that is building trust between us. I wont lie though its hard to not pet her but its the best way to make a friend :hug


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## White_Lotus (Jan 4, 2010)

ok so its 2010 now and i figured i should do a nice update on my tegu Bella...he/she is now not defensive she will let me pick em up...actually there have been multiple occassions when he/she'll slimb right up my arm and sit on my shoulder(a few times it actually jumped off my shoulder which scared me immensly)i can transfer it to it's feeding bin with NO problems at all and Bella has just finished up it's first shed with me and it went perfectly











i dont take pictures with bella because i'm still worried about it bolting so i hold Bella while my gf is around so she can be my extra set of eyes(since i need glasses)


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## mis jaksin (Jan 4, 2010)

glad things are going well with bella! she sure is a cutie!


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## bubbategu2 (Jan 4, 2010)

Did you ever find out who "Frank" was?


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## bubbategu2 (Jan 4, 2010)

Did you ever find out who "Frank" was?


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## bubbategu2 (Jan 4, 2010)

Did you ever find out who "Frank" was?


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## White_Lotus (Jan 4, 2010)

actually yes he's a very experienced reptile keeper, he has a vast collection and has actually claimed to have met Bobby at i believe it was the Daytona Reptile Expo.


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## White_Lotus (Feb 24, 2010)

update pic on my chacoan gal Bella who is now completely hand tame. I recently took her for a visit to the petstore i got her from because the people there got so attached to her. Here is a really recent pic showing some calm coolness






A little later i was awakened by a tongue in my ear lol I love this Gu and it has to be my most well behaved tegu when we went to the petstore she didnt try to squirm away as she usually does at home(which i then let her roam for a while) but instead she was very well tempered, allowed a few kids to pet her as i told them a thing or 2 that i've learned :woot 

successful taming of a tegu big big big thank you to Bobby for the night phone calls and help! And for producing such a beautiful Gu! :cheers


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## txrepgirl (Feb 24, 2010)

I love that photo and the name. God bless you for doing such a great job with her  . Bobby is a great guy. I wish more people would be like him. You can tell that he loves his animals and he is not out to just make some money.


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## Marlene (Feb 25, 2010)

Congrats on your "little" rescue! Bella sure is a cutie!


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## White_Lotus (Mar 12, 2010)

Well some more success, Bella has become very attached to my argentine black and white tegu Akira...i catch them basking together and laying together...heck they'd eat together if Bella wasnt so greedy and if i would let them lol here's a couple pics of them in the new enclosure they live in for now...it's 7x3x3 with 2 45w flood light and 1 150w Solar Glo(soon upgrading to a Mega Ray)












^.^ they've really bonded together in a way i didn't think was going to happen..it almost seems like a big brother little sibling relationship where ever Akira goes Bella follows, even when Akira is going to bed lol But it doesnt seem to bother him =) They both eat like pigs and i don't think that'll ever stop lol


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## Jefroka (Mar 13, 2010)

Such love birds. Kinda makes me feel guilty for just having one!

...Jefroka


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## reptastic (Mar 13, 2010)

looks good. they are absolutly gorgeous; love how they just snuggle up together aawwww!!!! i hope at least two of my tegus get along like yours right now nero ignores achilles(achilles loves nero ....sorta) achilles hates pyro, pyro is terrified of nero.


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## Utahraptor (Mar 13, 2010)

ahh that is cute! I'm glad you picked her up from that shop. It's a shame about the previous owner, though.


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## White_Lotus (Mar 13, 2010)

reptastic said:


> looks good. they are absolutly gorgeous; love how they just snuggle up together aawwww!!!! i hope at least two of my tegus get along like yours right now nero ignores achilles(achilles loves nero ....sorta) achilles hates pyro, pyro is terrified of nero.




Just gotta give it time...to be honest i didn't think they were going to get along. Their first meet Bella hated Akira, her tail was waving and she was quite defensive but Akira ignored it lol 

It is a shame but the guy is awesome and filled with reptile knowledge! He was actually going to start breeding tegus before the accident >.<


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