# I need advice



## Guest (Sep 5, 2010)

Hello, my name is Rina, i am new to tegus. I have a lot of experience with animals and have many other reptiles, but i have never owned a tegu. Well my boyfriend and I have been looking around locally for a tegu, we live in Glendale AZ and haven't really had much luck. But today on craigslist someone posted about a black and white columbian tegu. He wants 100 bucks for the tegu (which is 3 inchs long ATM and a 55gallon tank which usually sell for more than that and we would see it anyway and build a custom cage) now that seems like a good deal to me, but the problem is that it is a columbian tegu which I know are "meaner" How hard are they actually to hand tame, since I have never had a tegu at all is it a bad idea to start with a columbian tegu? What would you "experts" recommend? Any advice is welcome! Thanks


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## TheTeguGurl (Sep 5, 2010)

well first of all welcome to the forum! I have heard that they can be alittle harder to tame, but with time and handling everyday with a proper diet and enclosure they can be as tame as a puppy! just make sure you have all the proper lights uvb/ uva and heat and humity for him. as far as the price go, they go for about 40 dollars where im from. maybe you can try and get the cost down a bit? And most important make sure the tegu is in proper health get all the informmation you can from the other owner. A vet check is a good idea.. How old is this tegu also? Good luck


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## chelvis (Sep 5, 2010)

Personally i would not recomend a columbian tegu as a first venture into the tegu world. They are more like whip tail lizards as in they will not run away from you after awhile and might not bite nearly as much, but they never really get as calm and i would never say as tame as an arg black and white would. Columbians becuase most are imports and wild caught can be tricky to tame and even with day to day dedication many owners find them to be too much work. The flip side is they do stay smaller and don't need fruits in thier diets. If you're really looking for a good pet tegu try hitting bobby up (varnyard herps) he iis out of black and whites for this season but might be able to stir you to another breeders. Or their is always kingsnake.com


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## JohnMatthew (Sep 5, 2010)

Welcome to tegutalk!! I would also suggest waiting for an argentine tegu since it's your first GU and you're looking for something easier to tame. Columbians are all imports and only run about $15 on wholesaler lists but being imports definitely need a fecal exam and possible purging of parasites. I've got nothing against columbians, they're very cool tegus, but you'll have much better odds of a healthy, tame tegu down the road if you went with an argentine GU. Whatever you decide, best of luck to you. If you have an more questions this is a great place to share and get answers.


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## slideaboot (Sep 5, 2010)

DEFINITELY wait.


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## Toby_H (Sep 5, 2010)

I agree with the others above...

I had a Columbian Black & Gold Tegu many years ago. It was insanely aggressive towards me as well as my other animals. After a very short time I decided it was simply too aggressive for me to keep and I returned it.

In my area 55 gal aquariums are commonly listed on Craigslist for $55 or less. I'm a member of my local fish club and I see people sell them or give them away very frequently.

I have an '08 Vanyard Black and White Tegu and I simply couldn't be happier with him. He is by far the tamest reptile I've ever owned or have ever closely associated with. I have several friends who have also kept reptiles for many years and all of them seem amazed by his friendliness. Several of them argued that a Tegu can never become as tame as their monitors, but now they no longer consider their monitors "puppy like" because they've seen a truly puppy like reptile (my Tegu). 

I do not mean to criticize other species, but instead I mean to speak very very highly of Argentinian Tegus. I suggest you wait until you can get a Arg Tegu from a quality breeder like Bobby Hill / Varnyard Tegus.


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## Guest (Sep 6, 2010)

Well i guess my boyfriend and the guy with the tegu got their signals mixed up. First off it is an adult tegu, she is about 5 years old and is already tame. The guy let her free roam thru one of the rooms in his house, but sadly had to get rid of her because his wife decided that it was either her or the tegu =/. She was happy to walk up to us and sit on our lap and chill with us. She is more tame than any of our other reptiles and we were joking around with the guy that maybe she wasnt a columbian. Right now we are going to have a "Trial period" so to say, get her set up here and see how it goes and if it doesnt work out the guy said he would gladly take her back. So hopefully everything will go alright and we won't have any major problems :-D


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## JohnMatthew (Sep 6, 2010)

Congratulations, let's see some pics!


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## Guest (Sep 6, 2010)

I have a baby columbian and he has not show any sort of aggression so far. I have only had him for 3 days though, so perhaps he isn't as tame as he already seems, but we'll see.


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## Guest (Sep 11, 2010)

I too have a new baby Columbian B&W and so far it is not aggressive at all. I have been able to handle it every day since I got it and it eats great and has even enjoyed swimming in the bathtub.


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## johnlebel (Sep 14, 2010)

ive had my columbian for a couple weeks now... an hes been awesome he sits on the couch with me never tried to bite an like to have his neck scratched like a dog!


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## Guest (Sep 22, 2010)

yeah..i been hearing alot of bad things about columbians but my two little ones have never acted agressive to me at all.the one i mainly look after site on my arms and cuddles up to my chest.=] the other one is a litle skiddish but likes to sit in my fiences arm.so maybe i got lucky but i dont like the though i people not getting columbians because of a bad rep.


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