# Colombian Tegus: A Comprehensive Guide



## m3s4 (Mar 23, 2012)

What's up all? 

_So I just wanted to create an informative and educational guide that everyone with colombian tegu experience can chime in on. 
A collective of information from everyone, if you will. _

Argentinian tegus get plenty of attention and love throughout the forum and they're highly sought after, but what about *colombians*? 

If you have had, still have or wish to get yourself a *colombian* tegu, this thread is for you. Here we can compile and conglomerate all of our experiences with these colorful, animated and often vocal tegus. 

If you have information you'd like to share with the rest of us, let this be the place to do it. 

*The basics:*

*1)* _Feeding_ - As a juvenile, sub-adult and adult what do you feed your colombian? How often do you feed him? What type of supplements are supplied with the food you give your *colombian*? 




*2*) _Housing_ - what do you consider a good enclosure for your *colombian*? Do you have an aquarium? A cage? A temporary hide? A complete room? What are the dimensions of it? Humidity and temp levels? Basking temp? Night time temps? Does your *colombian* get to free-roam? What type of lamps and what wattage? 




*3)* _Taming Procedures_ - do you interact with your *colombian* or does he/she just lounge around in his cage with little or no contact? Do you regularly handle your columbian? What techniques, if any, have you used to calm and tame your *colombian*? 




*4) *_Problems_ - What types of problems, if any, have you encountered with your *colombian*? Does he bite? Hiss? Gape? Whip? Is he unruly? Unmanageable? Unwilling to trust you? Has he stopped eating? Does he eat too much? If your *colombian* has developed a sickness or come down with a bacteriological infection, how was he treated? 




*5) *Success stories - while they are the most commonly seen tegus, in shops and as pets, *colombians* often get a bad wrap for being the most aggressive, most difficult and most problematic of all tegus. Do you find this to be true or are they truly even worthy of this stigma? Have you tamed/trained your *colombian*? If so, what has he learned ie; is he potty trained? Will he come when calling his name? 




*6)* Anything else - anything you'd like the members of our forum to know about your* colombian *goes here. 




I hope we can gather as much *colombian* information as possible here. That way, people can easily find one semi-goto, informative thread, lead by experienced *colombian* tegu owners.


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## m3s4 (Mar 23, 2012)

The basics:

1) Feeding - As a juvenile, sub-adult and adult what do you feed your colombian? How often do you feed him? What type of supplements are supplied with the food you give your colombian? 

I feed all of my colombians lean turkey. I'd say it makes up 50% of their diet. The other 50% is made up with raw eggs (when feeding them raw, I supplement with vitamins that give plenty of extra biotin) scrambled and hard-boiled. Juveniles and sub-adults are sometimes fed feeders, roaches, crickets and super-worms. It really just depends on their tastes but turkey and eggs seems to be a preferred food choice. 

**I try to ween my tegus off of live food asap because I feel it helps tame them by reducing an aggressive feeding response. They don't need live food - with supplements, food such as turkey, eggs, some lean beef and even fruits and vegetables (except for those high in potassium - bananas) are fine. Fish is also a good food for tegus. I've fed mine sardines and tuna before. 

Whenever I have a problem with one of them eating, I offer a 50/50 water/egg mix with calcium powder supplements and a powder vitamin that has additional biotin. 


2) Housing - what do you consider a good enclosure for your colombian? Do you have an aquarium? A cage? A temporary hide? A complete room? What are the dimensions of it? Humidity and temp levels? Basking temp? Night time temps? Does your colombian get to free-roam? What type of lamps and what wattage? 

I house my tegus together in small portable hides:






These are used as sleepers. They're easy to clean, extremely durable and can fit in almost any vehicle should you need to transport your tegu. Since tegus sleep most of the day away, I have these sleepers set up with small blankets and pillows. My tegus don't burrow - they simply make a bed under anything that's soft. When they want to come out, they're usually found laying on top of their beds looking out the mesh door at me. 

These are large enough for them to sleep (even my 8lb 5 year old B&W loves her hide) yet small enough where they feel safe in them. They get to a point where they KNOW this is home - this is where I go to sleep. I've had my tegus put themselves to bed by just walking right in and going under the blankets. Tegus in the wild have burrows or dens if you will, and they aren't very big - just enough for them to be cozy and be able to move around in. 

During the day, I have rooms they hang out in with a UVB light kept on and they go to it when they need to warm up or get more UVB. 

Aside from that, I let my tegus roam freely. They potty each 1x (in the tub) then they get to eat, roam, nap etc. I don't believe in caging because that's just a fancy term for prison imo. These animals are way too smart, way too curious and get way too bored to be kept in a cage 95% of their lives. 

As a result, I get tame tegus that aren't cage or food aggressive that get to live with me, not away from me. 

I use Zoomed Power Sun UVB lamps because they last and give off plenty of UVB for the rated 1 year. I use 160watt bulbs because these get hot enough to also act as a heat source. My basking temps are around 105 degrees and at night they are kept around 75 degrees. Whenever possible I let my tegus lounge around outside in my garden. Nothing beats the Sun's UVB range + intensity and they absolutely love basking outside. 

My humidity levels vary here in Colorado, but it's arid to say the least. I like to keep my humidity levels around 45-50% (for myself and my tegus) anything more just promotes mold. These levels are fine - I only increase the level when they are shedding and have had no problems doing this.


3) Taming Procedures - do you interact with your colombian or does he/she just lounge around in his cage with little or no contact? Do you regularly handle your columbian? What techniques, if any, have you used to calm and tame your colombian?

I find that interacting as much as possible with my tegus offers not only the best lifestyle for them, but also myself. I've seen tegus crave attention - as many others have. Knowing how smart they are, and also doing my own research into how they behave and react in the wild, I use different approaches to taming them. 

Most importantly, I think you have to have a natural affinity towards animals. If you don't, you're going to have a hard time dealing with and taming a colombian tegu. These aren't beginner reptiles and they can often lash out with no apparent cause. You have to be acutely aware of your tegus disposition, body language and eye contact. 

When it comes to my approach, it's very, very hands on. You can't just reach in and grab a tegu however, if he isn't watching you it will startle him and that's just not a good way to go about it. You have to be gentle. You have to use slow movements when they're young so they don't have a fight or flight reaction every time they see you or your hand. 

To warm up new tegus, some people use articles of clothing with their scent on it and keep it in their tegus cage. I don't do this. I'm sure it works quite well - but I've never seen the point. I let my tegus seem me then lick me 90% of the time *before* I pick them up just so they know it's me. Then, when I'm holding them, I let them lick me as much as possible. 

When holding them, I gently clasp them around their mid-section with a very light grip. I rub them on their necks and back and talk to them. They get used to my voice, my scent and how I smell (hopefully not like Armani all the time) and it isn't long before they begin to accept you, trust you and build a relationship with you. 

For problematic tegus, I recommend bathing them in warm water where they are forced to be near you, can't run off and are way less likely to bite. When they are forced to swim, they aren't ever going to try and bite. They have no balance, they have to stay afloat and they don't want to gulp water or risk going under. Let them swim around awhile, get tired then you can pet them, talk to them and come to your hands/arms to get out of the water. Perfect way to form trust - you force them to use you as a platform and come to you. Works wonders with bad-boys and girls. 

Taming is really a no-brainer - you just have to stay committed, be patient, be gentle and use a little common sense. Respect them, don't mistreat or handle them and you should have no problems. 

Chances are, if you don't interact with your tegu, keep him caged all the time, feed him live food all the time you'll have a miserable, mean, aggressive tegu all the time. Do the opposite, you'll likely achieve significantly better results. 



4) Problems - What types of problems, if any, have you encountered with your colombian? Does he bite? Hiss? Gape? Whip? Is he unruly? Unmanageable? Unwilling to trust you? Has he stopped eating? Does he eat too much? If your colombian has developed a sickness or come down with a bacteriological infection, how was he treated? 

My first colombian, Sam, was a jumper. He absolutely loved to jump. For me, this was a problem. He tried to jump out of windows, he jumped in my plants and subsequently knocked them over, he'd jump out of his rubbermaid food bin...Man he loved to jump - and he was goooood at it. That was a problem that went away with age, I couldn't do much about it so luckily he grew (literally) out of that stage. 

He bit me maybe 3 times. Why? My own foolishness. He'd love to go under my bed and try and go under my throw rug all the time. At night, with a light on, it was dim in my room - under my bed even worse. A few times I had to reach under there to get him and when I did I was bit on the thumb. Nothing major but Sam couldn't see what was grabbing him and he was still young and learning. After the last time, I was never bit by him again. He outgrew that little "not knowing" stage as well. 

He used to "stand tall" and puff at me when he was around a year old. I attribute it to being an adolescent and just being cranky. He was a very independent lizard that liked *attention*, but he learned how to huff and never stopped. It was just part of him and while some people see it as a problem, I absolutely loved it. He had different types of huffs too - and you could tell the "half-assed huffs" from the "I mean business huffs". But even with that, he would never ever, gape at us, whip us, bite us or generally be mis-behaved. He was incredibly tame and trusted me 100% - as I did with him. 

I can honestly say I had no problems with Sam - or my new baby golds for that matter. 


5) Success stories - while they are the most commonly seen tegus, in shops and as pets, colombians often get a bad wrap for being the most aggressive, most difficult and most problematic of all tegus. Do you find this to be true or are they truly even worthy of this stigma? Have you tamed/trained your colombian? If so, what has he learned ie; is he potty trained? Will he come when calling his name? 

I think colombians get a bad wrap for being aggressive because they are so cheap (compared to blues, reds, b&w's) and so readily available at pet stores across the country. Couple that with owners who know little to nothing about reptiles and you get a nasty situation with an aggressive tegu and a ticked-off owner. Does this mean they are all mean? Of course not. Actually, on this site, there is a thread about biting. I have to say I'm surprised to see how many people have been bitten by B&W's, blues and reds - as opposed to colombians. 

So again, lots of colombians in the hands of lots of people which more then likely don't know much about common tegus = problems. Most people that look for argentinians KNOW about tegus, have done research about them and will offer them good homes. 

Joe-blow off the street doesn't do this, goes into Pet Heaven, sees a colombian, thinks "wow that's a cool lizard", buys him for 45$, throws him in a 20 gallon tank with a heat lamp, water dish and pinkie. Then just watches him from outside the tank from time to time until the novelty wears off and one day he goes to pick him up. He gets bit. The tegu flips out. You know where this is headed.......Multiply this by the thousands and you can see why they get a bad rep. 

Speaking for myself, my colombian tamed down just as much if not more then my B&W and I'm seeing the same incredible results with 2 new babies. 

Also, Sam was potty trained. He would wait to go to the bathroom in the tub - like many tegus. 




6) Anything else - anything you'd like the members of our forum to know about your colombian goes here. 

Tegus are smart. Real smart. They know their names, they know how to get your attention and they get used to routines - just like we do. In life, I believe you get out what you out in and raising a tegu is no different. 

I'll leave you all with this. And you let me know if you think this is trust and intelligence. So I took Sam to vet a couple years ago for a check-up. 
I had him in a small carrier like the one pictured in "housing". 

So the vet calls us back into her room and ask us to place Sam while still in his carrier on the table. I do, of course. What happens next is remarkable. She unzipped the front door and Sam cocked his head and puffed up. She was apprehensive at this point but we assured her it was ok to pick him up - so she did....

At least she tried! She grabbed him and took him out of the carrier and he started doing barrel roll after barrel roll, squirming and trying everything he could to get away from her! Clawing, lashing, writhing, hissing. He was totally freaking out and I'd never seen him do this before. So, I took it upon myself to go up to them both, reach for Sam (at which point she handed him over to me) and he (instantaneously) totally calmed down 100%...he just sat in my arms...Content. At this point I knew he felt safe again and that he was in the arms of familiarity, trust and love. 

Even the vet made a comment that what she had just seen was remarkable and that she had never witnessed it before with reptiles - only dogs and some cats. 

I was a changed person after that. My fondness for Sam grew 1000x in 5 minutes and I knew right there and then that tegus were more astonishing then even I gave them credit for. 

So, you tell me if that's a trusting, loving, highly intelligent colombian tegu. 

I firmly believe in yes to all the above. 

Good luck with all your colombians and remember, if you need any help, this forum is filled with information regarding these magnificent lizards. 



Read more: http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=11113#ixzz1pxm3NSkm


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## m3s4 (Mar 30, 2012)

Any interest in this at all ? 

BUMP


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## dragonmetalhead (Mar 30, 2012)

I'm in the process of typing up my response. I've been on vacation in Florida the past week and haven't had time just to sit down and answer all your questions. As soon as I'm done with it, I promise I will post.


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## Rhetoric (Mar 30, 2012)

gorgeous first pic


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## m3s4 (Mar 30, 2012)

that first pic was found using the google image search, and I totally agree.


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## Grendel (Mar 30, 2012)

Wrap
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You may want to change all the 

Wrap to rap



WRAP
Not to be confused with Rap (disambiguation) or Rapt (disambiguation).
Look up wrap in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Contents  [hide] 
1 Storage and preservation
2 Media and the arts
3 Marketing and finance
4 Products and services
5 Other
6 See also
Wrap or WRAP may refer to:
[edit]Storage and preservation

Overwrap, a wrapping of items in a package or a wrapping over packages
Plastic wrap, a thin, clear, flexible plastic used to cover food
Shrink wrap, a polymer used to bundle boxes on a pallet for transport
Gift wrap or wrap paper, used to enclose a present


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## Bubblz Calhoun (Mar 31, 2012)

*1* _Feeding_ - As a juvenile, sub-adult and adult what do you feed your colombian? How often do you feed him? What type of supplements are supplied with the food you give your *colombian*? 

_Diet wise I don't change anything both of mine (B&W / Colombian) eat the same thing. That varies from mixed meat meals with fruits and veggies (sometimes) to whole prey. I'm not big on feeding eggs Korben is a year old, he's only had one egg and that was raw. I used what left over calcium supplements I had from my previous tegus when I got Korben until I ran out and haven't used any since. All of his meaty meals have bones cut up into it so the supplements are not needed. _




*2* _Housing_ - what do you consider a good enclosure for your *colombian*? Do you have an aquarium? A cage? A temporary hide? A complete room? What are the dimensions of it? Humidity and temp levels? Basking temp? Night time temps? Does your *colombian* get to free-roam? What type of lamps and what wattage? 

_He's currently in a Exo Terra terrarium with a 160w Mega Ray MV bulb. Humidity and temps are currently at 63% with a basking gradient of 98*-107.6*. The humidity changes since I let his substrate dry out at times, the only time it goes above the 60s is when he's in shed. He's still small enough to fit places he shouldn't be so no free roaming with out his leash and harness in the house or the backyard.
_

*3)* _Taming Procedures_ - do you interact with your *colombian* or does he/she just lounge around in his cage with little or no contact? Do you regularly handle your columbian? What techniques, if any, have you used to calm and tame your *colombian*? 

_He didn't do well with forced handling so I switched to hands off like my AA Tricky. Which is letting him approach me and or come out of the enclosure on his own. Usually when he's already antsy and wants out anyway. He has his days where he'll climb onto my hand and up to my shoulder to hang out. While others he'll jump over my hand to get out and doesn't want to be touched. But I still have to get him and put his harness and leash on. _



*4) *_Problems_ - What types of problems, if any, have you encountered with your *colombian*? Does he bite? Hiss? Gape? Whip? Is he unruly? Unmanageable? Unwilling to trust you? Has he stopped eating? Does he eat too much? If your *colombian* has developed a sickness or come down with a bacteriological infection, how was he treated? 

_I haven't had any issues with him being sick or anything like that. He has the typical Colombian don't underestimate my size attitude, with huffs and puffs. But hasn't tried to bite since he was little. Even then I would have gloves on and let him bite it. Hang on shake it or what ever until he calmed down. Just so he learned that biting won't stop anything._


*5) *Success stories - while they are the most commonly seen tegus, in shops and as pets, *colombians* often get a bad wrap for being the most aggressive, most difficult and most problematic of all tegus. Do you find this to be true or are they truly even worthy of this stigma? Have you tamed/trained your*colombian*? If so, what has he learned ie; is he potty trained? Will he come when calling his name?

_He's not trained in any way but I don't think they deserve their rep. Most people don't know or just fail to realize that they are the smallest therefore lower on the food chain. Fight or Flight is a part of survival and when you have an animal in a situation where they can't run anymore then some will choose to fight. Which can take quite a bit of time to work through and get past it. On top of that most are wild caught or farm raised anyway. So still closer to wild than not._


*6)* Anything else - anything you'd like the members of our forum to know about your* colombian *goes here.

_Other than that they have different personalities and not all will react the same in every situation. But I do love  the little bit of attitude that some of them retain. They may be smaller but no always easier to handle._


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## m3s4 (Apr 3, 2012)

BUMP for more Colombian owner contributions.


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## MadameButterfly (Apr 5, 2012)

*1)* _Feeding_ - As a juvenile, sub-adult and adult what do you feed your colombian? How often do you feed him? What type of supplements are supplied with the food you give your *colombian*? 

Mine is only about 8 months old so I generally feed her pinkys, boiled eggs, ground turky and ground chicken. The odd time I'll feed her a furry but after that she generally won't eat then for a few days it's only once or twice a month. Most calcium she gets from the chicken and turkey because I ground it bones and all.

*2*) _Housing_ - what do you consider a good enclosure for your *colombian*? Do you have an aquarium? A cage? A temporary hide? A complete room? What are the dimensions of it? Humidity and temp levels? Basking temp? Night time temps? Does your *colombian* get to free-roam? What type of lamps and what wattage?

I have a custom made avarium that I am always adding to,it is built in a way I designed so that it is always expandable and can have as many levels added as I like. It's 6 foot long, 2 wide and 4 high, her and my snake also have their own room that is sun facing all day. As for her heat lamp I haven't a clue what the wattage is, I think about 160 and my snakes tank connects to the top of it so the other end of the avauium the snakes heat mat is in between both tanks and is on 24hours a day so the avarium is always warm. It's a foot off the floor but I have detatchable netting she can use to get in and out and free roam in the room when I am there.

*3)* _Taming Procedures_ - do you interact with your *colombian* or does he/she just lounge around in his cage with little or no contact? Do you regularly handle your columbian? What techniques, if any, have you used to calm and tame your *colombian*? 

Usually I handle her everyday but I just moved recently and am still trying to get my things together so don't have as much time as usual but I still try spend and hour a day quiet time with her

*4) *_Problems_ - What types of problems, if any, have you encountered with your *colombian*? Does he bite? Hiss? Gape? Whip? Is he unruly? Unmanageable? Unwilling to trust you? Has he stopped eating? Does he eat too much? If your *colombian* has developed a sickness or come down with a bacteriological infection, how was he treated? 

She's the tasmian devil, I stopped trying to catch her ages ago and now let her come to me, she use to bite but not anymore although she will still hiss at times. As for sickness she had a prolapse when I first got her but it was fine the next day and 2 lumps on her back once which cleared up the next day too

*5) *Success stories - while they are the most commonly seen tegus, in shops and as pets, *colombians* often get a bad wrap for being the most aggressive, most difficult and most problematic of all tegus. Do you find this to be true or are they truly even worthy of this stigma? Have you tamed/trained your *colombian*? If so, what has he learned ie; is he potty trained? Will he come when calling his name?

She can be agressive at times but as bubblz said they are low on the food chain so it is to be expected. I'll just give her all the time she needs because at the end of the day it's all any of us can do.

*6)* Anything else - anything you'd like the members of our forum to know about your* colombian *goes here. 

Most old timers know it but as a new person toTegus I've learned NEVER disturb them if they are burrowing even if they haven't shown their face in a few days, all you'll do is disturb their safe space and lose any trust you've built up and when trying to pick them up don't try grab them, let them come to you because grabbing them is another sure fire way to lose their trust and if they snap at or bite you don't pull away. The quick movement will scare them and besides it doesn't hurt. A paper cut would hurt more.


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## m3s4 (Apr 5, 2012)

Glad to hear your little guy is doing fine now and there are no more bumps. 

Thanks for sharing your colombian tegu information with us and best of luck with him in the future.


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## hyperhitman7 (Apr 15, 2012)

m3s4 whats the name of that portable housing pictured?


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## m3s4 (Apr 15, 2012)

hyperhitman7 said:


> m3s4 whats the name of that portable housing pictured?



It's known as a "Canine Camper" 

Canine Camper


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## xzombiex (Apr 22, 2012)

The basics:

1) Feeding - As a juvenile, sub-adult and adult what do you feed your colombian? How often do you feed him? What type of supplements are supplied with the food you give your colombian?

When he was just a month or so old, I was feeding Django a little bit of everything, testing what he liked, didn't like, etc. Now that he's a little over a year, he has a steady diet of hard boiled or scrambled eggs, lean ground turkey, and sometimes chicken. He will not eat veggies or fruits, I've tried to mix them up in his scrambled eggs and he just eats around them. I always use supplements to make sure he's getting enough vitamins and calcium. I never fed him live, as I have done this before in the past with my nile and savannah monitors and feel that it tends to make them more aggressive. 



2) Housing - what do you consider a good enclosure for your colombian? Do you have an aquarium? A cage? A temporary hide? A complete room? What are the dimensions of it? Humidity and temp levels? Basking temp? Night time temps? Does your colombian get to free-roam? What type of lamps and what wattage?

For his housing, I have a 6' long x 2' high x 2.5' deep with locking sides for the top. For substrate I prefer CareFresh, which is a recycled paper product. It's easy to clean and he loves to burrow in it. I try to keep his humidity around 70, his warm side at around 100 during the day and 80 at night, cool side is usually around 70. Basking temp is around 108-110. I let him free roam in the upstairs hallway, that way he can't wedge his way under or behind anything (they're good at that). Usually he spends his time climbing on me. 



3) Taming Procedures - do you interact with your colombian or does he/she just lounge around in his cage with little or no contact? Do you regularly handle your columbian? What techniques, if any, have you used to calm and tame your colombian?

We are inseparable, unless I'm at work. He will lay in bed with me, walk around the house on my head, we eat together sometimes. I've done this since I got him, when he was a hatchling. As far as taming, he's never really shown any aggression, this is probably due to the amount of handling. Occasionally when I wake him up he'll huff but I pick him up and he's fine. Since he was younger I made it a habit to keep my hands around his food. This may be foolish, but it's gotten him used to me being around his meal. I can wipe his mouth off while he's eating, I can put my fingers on his plate and move his food around. I haven't been bitten yet, maybe one day but so far I've been lucky. 



4) Problems - What types of problems, if any, have you encountered with your colombian? Does he bite? Hiss? Gape? Whip? Is he unruly? Unmanageable? Unwilling to trust you? Has he stopped eating? Does he eat too much? If your colombian has developed a sickness or come down with a bacteriological infection, how was he treated?

The only real problem I've had with him is having to amputate part of his tail. I don't know how it happened, but I came home from work one day and the last inch of his tail was bent in half. I took him to the vet the next day and had it taken off. It was pretty easy to take care of, I scrubbed it with the medicine the vet gave me, along with some silver ointment stuff. He was very well behaved and let me clean the wound with no problem, he even sat still while I did it.



5) Success stories - while they are the most commonly seen tegus, in shops and as pets, colombians often get a bad wrap for being the most aggressive, most difficult and most problematic of all tegus. Do you find this to be true or are they truly even worthy of this stigma? Have you tamed/trained your colombian? If so, what has he learned ie; is he potty trained? Will he come when calling his name?

I find it completely false. My Colombian is extremely tame, sometimes hyper, but never aggressive or the least bit problematic. I used to have him climb to my shoulder when I'd say "shoulder" and tap it, but we haven't done that in awhile. 



6) Anything else - anything you'd like the members of our forum to know about your colombian goes here.

He is by far the best reptile I've had. He is the sweetest, funniest not-so-little guy I've come across. I got him at an expo (wasn't planning on it at all), and asked to see the tegus, so the guy brings out this container-ish thing with a bunch of them in it. He opens the top and out jumps a baby tegu right on me. And that's when I fell in love 

Read more: http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=11113#ixzz1spfSb14D


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## m3s4 (Apr 23, 2012)

That's awesome - sounds like when he jumped on you, it was something that (for the both of you) was meant to be. 

Like you, I also keep my hands near their food, hand feed them on a regular basis and wipe off any food that didn't manage to make it into their mouths. I also agree they are the best reptile(s) I've had. 

Thanks for sharing and if there's ever anything else you'd like to add as time goes on, please do so.


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## xzombiex (Apr 23, 2012)

I would like to clarify that when I mentioned we sometimes eat together, it is NOT off of the same plate lol. Just side by side at the counter...he has jumped into my food on more than one occasion though, had to throw out almost a whole plate of food quite a few times. So just a word of advice, don't trust them around your food if they aren't eating too because they WILL go for it!


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## dragonmetalhead (May 1, 2012)

Here's my contribution. Sorry it took so long, life's been a little crazy lately.

1. Kodo is fed a diet consisting of the following: turkey, lean beef, lean pork, gizzards, liver, snails, silversides, rats, chicks, quail, and hard-boiled eggs. When he was young, his diet was mostly insectivorous: crickets, snails, grasshoppers, nightcrawlers, silversides, and mice. Sometimes he gets a treat like lamp chops or roast beef, and I am always looking to add more variety to his diet. I try to feed him at least a small portion every day, but sometimes Kodo doesn’t come out of his burrow or I am out all day so he sometimes goes a day or two between meals. This doesn’t seem to bother him or cause him any health issues. Kodo has grown roughly an inch a month in my care on this diet. I try to feed whole prey more often than I do other meats, as they have the most balance nutritional value, and as a result I use minimal supplementation. Sometimes I coat the meat is crushed eggshell for added calcium.

2. Kodo lives in a custom-built vivarium that measures 60 inches long by 30 inches deep by 24 inches high. It’s slightly smaller than the minimum recommended for a tegu, but Colombians don’t get as large as the Argentines or reds and I couldn’t fit a 6x3 tank in my room. I use a 24-inch 10.0 florescent UV bulb as the primary light source, and have a basking spot with a 100-watt Powersun UB bulb and a 100-watt infrared bulb. The infrared is never turned off and I use it as a nightlight. All the bulbs are Zoo Med. With this setup, I can keep the temperature on the cool side in the low to mid 80s with the warm end at around 107 at its hottest. The coolest it ever gets is around 75 at night. I mist the entire tank thoroughly every morning to maintain proper humidity levels, although I mist more heavily when Kodo is in shed. For substrate, I prefer Zoo Med’s eco-earth as it holds moisture, is great for digging, and won’t impact your animals. Kodo is allowed to free roam my room, but only under my supervision. He does not come out when I am not home.

3. I try to take Kodo out for at least 30 to 60 minutes every day. The only times I don’t take him out are when he stays in his burrow (I don’t like to dig him out) or when I’m out of the house all day. As a result of regular handling and being treated with good old-fashioned TLC, Kodo has become very docile and friendly. He enjoys coming out and socializing, although he is more of a walk-around-and-explore lizard than a stay-in-one-spot-for-extended-periods-of-time lizard. I treat him with respect and may close attention to his body language and I can read Kodo like a book at this point. I know his limits, but he is unbelievable tolerant of not just people but he will even allow my dachshunds to interact with him. If he doesn’t like a situation, Kodo just turns around and walks away or tries to get back to me. Nothing seems to rile him up. I did not use gloves and do not believe in them unless the risk of injury is sufficient. Skin-to-skin contact familiarizes your reptiles to your scent and touch, and a bare hand is less intimidating to a lizards or snake than a big, bulky glove. Offering your tegu your hand to smell, much as one would with a dog, is an excellent way to build trust.

4. I have literally had zero problems with Kodo. He has never given any display of aggression. No gaping, no back-arching, no tail-whipping, no hissing, no biting, no NOTHING. He doesn’t even feed with the aggressive response common to tegus and monitors. Kodo is regularly taken to the vet and is quite popular with the technician staff; as of this writing he has a clean bill of health and has never had any major health issues.

5. Kodo is my far the best reptile I’ve ever owned. I would ever go so far as to compare him to my first dog, Tawny. I am still not used to having a reptile that gives back so much, even after almost a year. His behavior is, for lack of a better word, mammalian. Kodo reacts to all manner of auditory and visual stimuli that most other lizards would ignore and he displays a well-developed sense of curiosity. His awareness of his environment is astounding. All the bad things I have read on Colombian tegus have so far seemed to be untrue. Even my peers in the local reptile are stunned at Kodo’s tamness and how he interacts with me. I have become a genuine “tegu person” much like some are “dog people” or “cat people.” Kodo behaves very differently when I am not around, or so I am told. He apparently looks for me, sulks when he doesn’t find me, declines to interact with even people he knows and likes, and doesn’t eat much. He is much calmer in my arms than while being held my others, although he does enjoy attention when he is in the right mood. All my friends adore him. Kodo displays intelligence on par with my dachshunds. He can problem solve, knows that my fingers are not food so I can safely hand-feed him if I wish, responds to his name, and looks people in the face and observes them back. I love him very, very much.

6. This species does not deserve its ill reputation and if you are looking for a larger lizard that is a bit of a challenge at times but tremendously rewarding, I highly suggest you get yourself a Colombian tegu.


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## m3s4 (May 1, 2012)

Nice to see your contribution. 

Indeed, Kodo sounds like a great example of a well cared-for, quite tame Colombian.


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## dragonmetalhead (May 2, 2012)

m3s4 said:


> Nice to see your contribution.
> 
> Indeed, Kodo sounds like a great example of a well cared-for, quite tame Colombian.



Yeah, Kodo is great. I take pride in his upkeep and he's my #1 reptile. I use the fact that he's so tame to tach people that not everything written about reptiles is correct and you should give them the benefit of the doubt before giving in to ignorance-based fear. Like I said, sorry it took so long to get my post up. Parents have been out of town, my sand boa got sick, and I was just let go from my job so this hasn't been a priority. I still felt compelled to contribute, as there isn;t a lot of good Colombian-specific info out there.


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## DavidRosi (Jun 12, 2012)

Really appreciate you putting the time into writing this. Valuable, honest and easy to read but 'bang on the money' info. If this were eBay; A****. Cheers'en bey !


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## JtotheLord (Jun 18, 2012)

http://www.ehow.com/boards/columbian-goldblack-tegu-care-tupinambis-teguixin-627110/


1) Feeding - 

My tegu's (Donny) diet hasn't changed much with age, just quantity. He seems to prefer to feed little and often and will refuse meals that are too large. He's fed on a variety of pre-killed animals (baby quail, mice, rat pups/weaners, day-old chicks, hamsters). He also likes a bit of fruit every now and again, preferably mangos, strawberries and bananas. To keep him nice and active and give him an opportunity to hunt, I also feed adult locust and hide eggs and small pieces of lean beef steak around his vivarium as a treat.

With every meal (3-4 small meals a week) I supplement with Komodo's 'Calcium with vitamins for carnivores' or Nutrobal. 


2) Housing - 

As a juvenile, Donny was in a 4ft x2ft x 2ft exo terra viv. When he outgrew it I bought a similar viv and attached them to give him more floor space.

http://spark-img.ehowcdn.com/spark-post-image/ehowcdn~images01/spark/d9/9d/d99d2acc8e46ee4813ee4d7910328a54.jpeg

I keep him on a coarse orchid bark with moss and general forest debris (reptile safe) for him to dig around in. He also has a large cork bark hide, plenty of plants (to jump at at me from behind!) and a big heavy (un-tippable!) water bowl and feeding dish (he's a little 'enthusiastic' even with forceps...)

His day temps are around 80f at the back of the viv. I use an exo terra heat mat and infra red bulb for basking. I usually try to mist a couple of times daily, but at least several times a week. 

Since he has a great deal of floor space in front of it, I leave the viv open a fair bit and he comes and goes as he pleases.


3) Taming Procedures - 

I interact with my tegu, but very much on his terms. He lets me bath him and check his toes with few issues (maybe the odd accidental scratch) and if I'm lucky, I may get the privilege of him sitting on my lap and letting me stroke him. If I push my luck though, it's a hard smack with the tail as he scarpers! 



4) Problems - 

As a baby, he was a little snappy, but now even the threat of a bite is very rare. Generally, he'll get a little 'huffy' and dish out the odd tail slap, but generally with some perseverance, he calms down. 

The main problem is his nails. It's a nightmare to keep him still to clip them, but a little while ago he seriously injured his foot when an unruly nail got caught in his runners and panic ensued. With cleaning and dressing, it's healing fine though with little lasting damage.


5) Success stories - 

I find that Donny is very responsive to noise/voices. If my voice isn't calm and low, he becomes visibly panicked. He also comes towards me if 
I call him, mostly because that's the same routine as feeding time I think!

He's also very fussy about his toilet habits. Recently, he's taken a dislike to pooing anywhere but in the bath. To be honest, it's a blessing- far easier to clean!



6) Anything else - anything you'd like the members of our forum to know about your colombian goes here. 

I first got my Columbian when somebody got spooked when they found what they thought was a 'lovely tame Argentine' turned out to be 'an aggressive Columbian'. It just goes to show that time, patience and the individual temperament of an animal has considerably more impact than tegu species on behaviour.

A few pics of my spoiled boy 

http://spark-img.ehowcdn.com/spark-post-image/ehowcdn~images01/spark/ab/5d/ab5d82394110b915c8a6916d37570b4c.jpg

http://spark-img.ehowcdn.com/spark-post-image/ehowcdn~images01/spark/b9/ac/b9accf50e83787b79a0a65d3b388a0f5.jpg

http://spark-img.ehowcdn.com/spark-post-image/ehowcdn~images01/spark/65/43/65434a2737dd60c4bb890ae49b91eebc.jpg

:heart:


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## DavidRosi (Jul 16, 2012)

1) Feeding - As a juvenile, sub-adult and adult what do you feed your colombian? How often do you feed him? What type of supplements are supplied with the food you give your colombian? 

Kara is 10 months old and her diet consists of ground turkey and also her "green mix" which is keil, spinach, turkey mince, a bit of carrot and vitamins... I also add cod liver oil as it aids shedding. She goes absolutely mad for her green mix.

2) Housing - what do you consider a good enclosure for your colombian? Do you have an aquarium? A cage? A temporary hide? A complete room? What are the dimensions of it? Humidity and temp levels? Basking temp? Night time temps? Does your colombian get to free-roam? What type of lamps and what wattage?

At the moment I have a 5' x 2' x 2' Vivarium. Basking spot is 105' and temps at 70-75' at night. Her viv layout is deep substrate at one end where the heat lamp is as well as her hide, and the cool end is home to a large water container that she likes to bathe in every few days. I have an automated misting system which keeps humidity at 60', but I increase it during shedding periods. The viv is at floor level and has a 'run' attached to it which comes out into the room, it allows her extra space to explore when I'm not with her.


3) Taming Procedures - do you interact with your colombian or does he/she just lounge around in his cage with little or no contact? Do you regularly handle your columbian? What techniques, if any, have you used to calm and tame your colombian? 

When it comes to feeding time, she'll be waiting for me. I sit with her on the floor and she'll eat next to me. 

I found the best thing was to spend a lot of time just being near her. I would put just my hand in her viv, let her lick me and get used to me, and to learn that my hand and my presence isn't a threat to her. She won't let me hold her yet as she is always on the move, but is slowly but steadily getting there. I also talk to her frequently so she learns the sound of my voice.


4) Problems - What types of problems, if any, have you encountered with your colombian? Does he bite? Hiss? Gape? Whip? Is he unruly? Unmanageable? Unwilling to trust you? Has he stopped eating? Does he eat too much? If your colombian has developed a sickness or come down with a bacteriological infection, how was he treated? 

Kara has never bitten or tail whipped. She's been very good in that sense. There was an occasion where she ate some of her substrate and I was very worried... but later fecal investigation showed that she passed it, and have made changes to ensure that doesn't happen again.


5) Success stories - while they are the most commonly seen tegus, in shops and as pets, colombians often get a bad wrap for being the most aggressive, most difficult and most problematic of all tegus. Do you find this to be true or are they truly even worthy of this stigma? Have you tamed/trained your colombian? If so, what has he learned ie; is he potty trained? Will he come when calling his name?

All over Youtube, and the internet in general; Colombians get bad press. Based on mine though, this isn't deserved. When I first got her she was very skiddish, but now every day I see improvements in her behavior and she actually climbs on me by choice. As far as biting and tail whipping go... she's never done it, not once. If I wake her she occasionally hiss's or puffs up, but will stop as soon as she realizes it's me.

6) Anything else - anything you'd like the members of our forum to know about your colombian goes here. 

Kara is a beautiful, beautiful tegu. She's clever, so... so clever. and if anyone can say they are unruly and aggressive, they should prove themselves wrong and own one; then they'd see the wonderful creature a Colombian tegu can be.


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## TheTwiggsMGW (Dec 1, 2015)

Resurrection bump so I can hear more stories! These cutie patooties get such a bad rep but I know they're just misunderstood!


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## DougK (Mar 19, 2016)

I've been meaning to post something like this since I joined here a while ago!


*1) Feeding*

When he was younger, he was really picky so it was a combination of eggs, various meat, and frozen mice, but I'd have to really coax him to eat, and usually had to dip things in egg yolks for him to care about them. Now he's not fussy at all, and I can just put a bowl of mice in his tank and he'll find and eat them right away. I can also sometimes just hold a mouse out to him in my hand and he'll just take it.

*2) Housing*

I've got a weird setup, added a photo below. In his original enclosure as a baby, he spent a huge amount of time in his big water dish, so I looked into whether it was safe for columbian tegus to have a partially aquatic enclosure. I found a few people advocating it so I set up my 75 gallon aquarium to have about six inches of water with a raised tile platform. He seems to split his time between burrowing in the bin of sphagnum, inside the plastic hide, sunning up top, and floating around underneath the platform. I made sure there's tons of things in the water for him to climb out or rest on.

I've got two fluorescent UV lights (a bar along the back and a compact one in a dome) and 150w incandescent on the sunning area (gets about 95-105ish F.). I've got a 100w ceramic heat emitter over the sphagnum, hooked up to a thermostat to make sure there's a spot that doesn't get TOO cold even at night in the winter. Then I've got a 75w incandescent on the cooler side just for light. Temperatures range from about 80 away from the lights to the 90-100 basking area.

The cannister filter keeps the water perfect -- he'll poop right in the water sometimes but the cannister is rated for a lot more water than is actually in there so it stays clean with very little maintenace. The one difficult thing is the sphagnum, which he kicks all over the place and clogs the intake if I don't keep an eye on it.

But this was all just originally a temporary thing because I had acquired a 75 gallon that someone was throwing out. I'll need to build something bigger within maybe a year or it'll start getting cramped for him.

*3) Taming Procedures*

When he was a baby, he was extremely skittish and bit me a few times, and it was nearly impossible to interact with him. I had to lock him and myself in the bathroom if I wanted to try to hold him without fearing he'd disappear into a crevasse, but even then his favorite thing was to climb up onto my head and try to leap onto nearby objects.

He's definitely mellowed out as he's gotten older (he's a little under two years old now I think?). Doesn't show any aggression and doesn't show any inclination to bite or even threaten to bite anymore, and though he's still got moments of spring loaded excitement, I'm able to open the tank and interact with him without him going crazy, and I can take him out and walk around with him on my shoulder or arm. He'll huff a bit if I'm interrupting him, but the most he'll do is squirm a bit.

I can't say any method helped tame him, because it's most likely just him getting older and feeling more secure. But I tried to usually interact with him for a bit just before I'd feed him, which may have helped him tolerate it in hopes of getting food. I also found that showing him an upraised palm in front of him would sometimes get him to just climb up onto my arm calmly, while any other orientation of my hand would make him start acting scared.

*4) Problems*

Used to bite and gape, but has completely stopped, and he's not even aggressive around food. The biggest problem I have is that he likes to make wild leaps occasionally, so I just have to be wary when holding him.

*5) Success stories*

While he's definitely skittish, he's not mean or aggressive or unruly like I've read. I don't think I even take him out of the tank as often as I probably should, but he still seems to be getting more and more tame as time goes on.

*6) Anything else*

Still don't know his actual gender! I'm suspecting female from the lack of pronounced jowels and the relatively small size for his age, though I keep calling him a 'he'. I've tried to examine his underbits for some of the supposed tell-tale scale arrangements or bumps but haven't been able to figure anything conclusive out.


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## Michael Graham (Mar 20, 2016)

Looks healthy and very tame! I want to share my thoughts here as well but my goldens are still small so I'm allowing a little time first. I like your enclosure as well. I'm also building a bigger one so please share that when you finish.


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## MorganM (Sep 2, 2016)

*The basics:*

*1)*_Feeding_ - As a juvenile, sub-adult and adult what do you feed your colombian? How often do you feed him? What type of supplements are supplied with the food you give your *colombian*?
I have a sub-adult (2.5 yrs) female colombian tegu. She gets fed currently every day trying to get her weight back up, but typically every other day. Her diet is a variety of turkey meatballs with calcium powder, soft-boiled or raw eggs (washed raw, of course), or frozen pinkies (moving to large pinkies because she has a bigger appetite). 



*2*) _Housing_ - what do you consider a good enclosure for your *colombian*? Do you have an aquarium? A cage? A temporary hide? A complete room? What are the dimensions of it? Humidity and temp levels? Basking temp? Night time temps? Does your *colombian* get to free-roam? What type of lamps and what wattage?
Our current housing situation isn't _ideal_ for a tegu, however she spends minimum time in the housing. She mostly just goes in there to sleep or heat soak. She is in a 36x18 reptile aquarium, however has free access to my apartment whenever I am home (including heat access). She is fairly lazy and doesn't move around too much anyways. 


*3)*_Taming Procedures_ - do you interact with your *colombian* or does he/she just lounge around in his cage with little or no contact? Do you regularly handle your columbian? What techniques, if any, have you used to calm and tame your *colombian*?
Since she was a baby, she has been handled regularly. When she was younger, she cared a little more, but now she seeks attention. She loves to be pet under the chin and around her auricles. She is held regularly while I'm walking around the apartment as well. 



*4) *_Problems_ - What types of problems, if any, have you encountered with your *colombian*? Does he bite? Hiss? Gape? Whip? Is he unruly? Unmanageable? Unwilling to trust you? Has he stopped eating? Does he eat too much? If your *colombian* has developed a sickness or come down with a bacteriological infection, how was he treated?
She has never bitten me, however she has bitten my brother but after fair warning and when she was in pain (recovering from severe nose rub). Occasionally, if her nose rub (still recovering) is irritating her, and I'm putting on the antibiotic, she will open her mouth, but never in an aggressive way. I've never had her be unmanageable in any way I would have thought about after reading online. She is actually really docile. Due to previous owner mistreatment, we are working on infection recovery from the nose rub, as well as some snout problems because all of the scales were gone. basically, she's been really responsive to bacitracin (neosporin), and regular soaks. 



*5) *Success stories - while they are the most commonly seen tegus, in shops and as pets, *colombians* often get a bad wrap for being the most aggressive, most difficult and most problematic of all tegus. Do you find this to be true or are they truly even worthy of this stigma? Have you tamed/trained your *colombian*? If so, what has he learned ie; is he potty trained? Will he come when calling his name?
While I don't think she would ever actually come when I call her name, sometimes she does pretend she hears me and acknowledges my existence. I really think she is comparable to a cat. She is the most docile reptile I've ever owned. I've never had an issue with aggression, even towards complete strangers wanting to hold her or pet her. I am starting to work on potty training (I just hope it isn't too late), but it seems to be just identifying when she is going to need to use the restroom.


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## nepoez (Mar 8, 2017)

I've had mine for only 2 months. So not too much to say but I'll share my setup.

Here's his setup. I have him in a pretty small cage. I don't have too much room but it's bio-active, sustains a 70-90% humidity. Basking temps are 110-135C, depending on which spots. Substrate is natural soil, sand, clay, moss. I ordered a grow light for hydroponics so I will be growing grass and stuff in there soon!


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