# Red Tummy



## ToadHallBetty (Mar 22, 2021)

Little Buddy has become friendly enough to walk all over me. Last night I noticed some orange red coloring on his belly scales. His scales are fine, he's not injured. I'm just wondering if B&W tegus all have some red orange color on the belly or is Little Buddy expressing hi creative side?
Thanks, Betty Morgan


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## TheTeguNovice (Mar 22, 2021)

Some Morphs have orange underbelly's. My female Kieko is one of those morphs and has a orange underbelly which I think looks great!


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## ToadHallBetty (Mar 22, 2021)

Hmm Little Buddy was wild collected in Florida. Your right it is very handsome. Do you know the name of the red belly morph?


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## LizardStudent (Mar 23, 2021)

My girl is about 12% red, genetically, and she has little orange/red scales scattered on the bottom of her feet and her belly, mostly the feet. Maybe at some point one of your gus relatives was a red! If its not a very red belly and is just some bits of scales are


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## TheTeguNovice (Mar 23, 2021)

ToadHallBetty said:


> Hmm Little Buddy was wild collected in Florida. Your right it is very handsome. Do you know the name of the red belly morph?


Unfortunately I don’t I know mine is a mixture between red,blue, and B/W. Like @LizardStudent said yours definitely has to have some red in it somewhere down the line.


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## ToadHallBetty (Mar 25, 2021)

Th


TheTeguNovice said:


> Unfortunately I don’t I know mine is a mixture between red,blue, and B/W. Like @LizardStudent said yours definitely has to have some red in it somewhere down the line.


Anks


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## ToadHallBetty (Mar 25, 2021)

Thanks everyone,
I've done some online searching and evidently I have a "Florida Firebelly" 
Some of the Florida Tegus have this trait, no way to know what may be in the mix, but that's okay. Little Buddy is fine just the way he is.


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## Debita (Mar 31, 2021)

Typical firebelly from Florida wild caught. It's almost an orangey-coraly color, that distinguishes them from other Tegus. My Skully's is almost gone now - as he gets older, it has faded.


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## ToadHallBetty (Apr 1, 2021)

Debita said:


> Typical firebelly from Florida wild caught. It's almost an orangey-coraly color, that distinguishes them from other Tegus. My Skully's is almost gone now - as he gets older, it has faded.


Orangey-coraly is a good description .I didn't notice the color when I got Little Buddy but I didn't look for it. Not until he got tame enough to come out of his inclosure on his own.


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## Phlip5150 (Apr 15, 2021)

My Girl Sketchy is a wild Florida caught as well. Her belly has reddish scales too and her white scales on her back has orange in it too.


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## ToadHallBetty (Apr 16, 2021)

Little Buddy has a redish Belly, it almost looks like he was sitting on wet red clay.. Pictures will be coming as soon as he decides to stop brumating .
Your girl is lovely. It's amazing how easy it is to tame a wild Florida tegu.


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## Roadkill (Apr 25, 2021)

That red belly is a very common trait in _Salvator merianae_, and contrary to what some people want to claim, it has nothing to do with coming from Florida wild caught. It's a very common trait seen in tegus in the wild in South America, it doesn't relate to it being a cross with _Salvator rufescens_, the term "Florida fire bellies" is just a marketing scheme.


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## ToadHallBetty (Apr 26, 2021)

Roadkill said:


> That red belly is a very common trait in _Salvator merianae_, and contrary to what some people want to claim, it has nothing to do with coming from Florida wild caught. It's a very common trait seen in tegus in the wild in South America, it doesn't relate to it being a cross with _Salvator rufescens_, the term "Florida fire bellies" is just a marketing scheme.


LOL, you have to admit that "Florida Fire Belly" sounds good. I never even noticed Little Buddy's red belly until he became tame. I'm glad I didn't purchase a "fire belly" because it is fading away.


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## ToadHallBetty (Apr 29, 2021)

ToadHallBetty said:


> glad I didn't purchase a "fire belly" because it is fading away


Update, I guess Little Buddy was shedding or something. His orange red belly is as red as ever.


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## Debita (May 6, 2021)

Agree with Roadkill, but the name has caught on, and you can pretty much count on the wild-caughts from Florida to have them....like a signature. If there's red scales anywhere else on the animal, like it's face, I would presume it was crossed somewhere with a red.

With breeders lying about captive bred, and your new Tegu has a coral belly, there's a good chance (not sure if it's 100%) it was wild-caught from Florida. If someone knows that I'm absolutely wrong about this, I'd love to know. thanks!


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## Roadkill (May 9, 2021)

Debita said:


> Agree with Roadkill, but the name has caught on, and you can pretty much count on the wild-caughts from Florida to have them....like a signature. If there's red scales anywhere else on the animal, like it's face, I would presume it was crossed somewhere with a red.
> 
> With breeders lying about captive bred, and your new Tegu has a coral belly, there's a good chance (not sure if it's 100%) it was wild-caught from Florida. If someone knows that I'm absolutely wrong about this, I'd love to know. thanks!


With regards to your first paragraph, I'd very much disagree with this. _Salvator merianae_ shows tremendous variability and although I wouldn't say it's common, I HAVE seen red colouring in them that I can guarantee had nothing to do with any kind of crossing with _S.rufescens. _Now having said this, the red colouring I've seen in _S.merianae _was quite distinct from that typically seen in _S.rufescens. _It is more of a peach or salmon hue, compared to the rust or burnt red of _S.rufescens. _

Considering how common the "firebelly" trait is, I wouldn't say it a good indication of it being wild-caught from Florida. However, beings as almost no one really keeps track of provenance or pedigree, and claims are often made up out of conjecture....it's really hard to say one way or another if you came across one where it was likely from.


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## Debita (May 11, 2021)

OK, thanks for your info!


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## ToadHallBetty (May 11, 2021)

LOL, thanks everyone, I have learned a lot about red bellies  

Little Buddy was wild caught in Florida, that was part of the reason I purchased him. I live about 30 minutes from the Florida state line and I think it is a good idea to snag tegus, chameleons...whatever is invasive and get it into the pet trade instead of just killng them.

Little Buddy is getting really tame. LOL_ my Florida Fire Belly  _


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