blues locale?

[All_American]

Was wondering if anyone knows where blues originated at? Reason being there is a pet store that I have been hounding for him to sell me his blue female store pet tegu. Well, he finally broke down and is going to sell her to me, he tells me she is from peragua, but I have not head any one say other wise. I believe he got it from someone who said it was from there and so that makes it just hear say in my opinion.

Does anyone have any other info?

ED

 

[COWHER]

Bobby has the first or second hand knowledge of this but basically they (all Blues) were from Ron St.Pierre he had a shipment from Colombia containing i think 6 blue tegus. and all the blue tegus as far as the pet trade is concerned came from those original 6 or so. anyone correct me if im wrong :wink: :wink: :lol: :lol:

 

[DaveDragon]

I've heard they were imported 8 years ago as hatchlings, so the first litter was hatched only 5 years ago. Our Blues are 3 years old so they must be the 3rd generation.

If you look at Bobby's various guides Blues have been spotted in various locations around South America so they must be very wide ranging. It's odd than they've only been imported once, unless they capture Tegu's in an area the Blue's don't inhabit.

 

[VARNYARD]

It is really not that odd Dave, there is still some awesome species that has never been imported into the U.S., The Tupinambis quadrilineatus, Common name (Four-striped Tegu) Tupinambis palustris, no common name.Tupinambis duseni, Common name (Yellow Tegu) Tupinambis longilineus, Common name (Rondona).

Of this group, one of them I would love to have is the Tupinambis duseni, however, I doubt we will ever see them in the U.S. pet trade. Here is some pictures of them:

 

[aj12790]

That is 1 awesome looking tegu

 

[Guest]

Amazing animals. The middle picture is incredible. I'm gonna have to demand to go to SA for my honeymoon and I'm gonna drive home and smuggle as many reptiles as possible.

 

[PuffDragon]

What's the reasoning on why we can't get them imported? The trade routes are cut off?

 

[VARNYARD]

They are on the cites list, it is also against the law to collect them from the wild.

I have a friend that is the larget breeder in Argentina, he breeds the black n whites and the reds in huge numbers (Around 3000 a year). In his lifetime there he has only seen one of the Tupinambis duseni, he said it was yellow and blue. His name is Roberto Fracchia, he meets up with me every year at Daytona.

 

[Mike]

Gorgeous pics, I would love to see one in the wild someday.

 

[Guest]

Do blue tegus have one or two loreal scales? Never seen one up close. Not really a fan of them. Many arguments on the marinae/teguixin origins of blues.

 

[VARNYARD]

They have two of them, however, I have seen T. marinaes with only one.

Here is a normal baby I produced this year that only has one:

Note the green head, this is not found in the Colombians.

 

[Guest]

That's an interesting anomoly isn't it? What do you think Bobby? Obviously our genetics' backgrounds aren't up to par, lol, but so you believe that Columbians, B&Ws, Blues, Yellow, Quadies, and others are genetically astranged from one another? I would believe that it is an adaptational change between a mother species to suit area infiltration. But then, why would "blues" be spotted in multiple different regions? Definitely not going to go buy a blue for the sole purpose of genetic testing, due to the fact of unfairness to the animal and due to the fact that I don't want a blue. I see them much like blue tailed monitors. Lots of money for a miniscule change in addherent color, with a change in temperament to match.

 

[VARNYARD]

As for not up to par, that is a real funny one there :lol: . I Will say this, there is many unknowns in many species. This could even be found to be true in all other reptiles, we are learning everyday.

The reason I posted the pics of the Argentine with only one loreal scale was to show that then can vary, and to claim that the one loreal makes them 100% Colombian is just proven not to be 100% at all.

I will agree most Clombians have one, and most Argentines have two. But we cannot say all of them do or don't based on the pictures above.

 

[Guest]

I would definitely concur. I would think that the idea of the loreal scale would mean that genetically the staples in their makeup would be the same and that depending on birth variables small changes would develop from their incubation. Who could really say what exactly causes them to have a certain number of loreal scales? This would cause me to lean towards the idea that in response to their specific origins they all contain certain markers in their strands to classify them all as tupinambis merinae. Rufescens and teguixin and any others would be individual genetic markers that cause them to look and behave differently. Tegus in argentina, including large chocoans could be a sign of animal giganticism, meaning that in the Chaco region and in Argentina, there are not so many predators for tegus, causing them to obviously be larger than columbians as well as causing their demeanor to be more inquisitive and less flighty for lack of a better word?

 

[DaveDragon]

It sounds like Tegu's are as diverse as humans!

 

[VARNYARD]

I agree Dave they can be.

As for the topic. Here is a map of the three locations where Blue tegus are said to be found.

I do not know if they are found in Piragua (The location to the far west on the map). But I do know there are photos in the wild in the far north location and the southern one. So it looks like they have a wide range.

 

[Guest]

By the large range of these animals it is nearly impossible to determine the cause of these (I will call them mutations but I mean no negative connotation in that)mutations in the aesthetics of tegus as well as their personalities and adaptability to captivity. The only way to understand the reason for these changes would be the similarities in the environment in which they have been apprehended(again no negative connotation in that word). The fact that they are all within 3 degrees separation of a large salt water source could in fact be a factor in their adaptation. Perhaps the reason that some people think fruit is a staple in good shedding is because there are natural salt water reservoirs inland in SA and the sodium chloride in fruits and obviously citrus (although Citric Acid is definitely bad) can be an external aid in the antibacterial qualities of shedding process. This is definitely something that could be debated. Perhaps salt water is the best shedding aid (BUT NOT TO DRINK just incase anyone decides to replace their drinking water with salt water). NaCl, and its divisions, of course being a naturally occuring antiseptic could well be a cure for bad shedding, causing white blood cells to flood to an infected area and rid any bacteria from an area of increased time for shedding. I will definitely do some research on the idea. And just to be clear in case someone tries to correct me. Salt is not in it self a PURE antiseptic. It does kill bacteria but its main purpose is to cause the body to raise the demand for white blood cell count in an individual area, causing WBC's to work overtime to cure an infection.

 

[COWHER]

I LOVE threads like this where i learn stuff :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[VARNYARD]

Guys, it very hard to base anything on the Blues we have in the U.S. pet trade. These were all out of the six siblings, And two parents. So a lot of the info we know about these that are in captivity may very greatly from the ones that are found in the wild.

As for the shop owner that claims his came from Piragua, I would like to hear more on this. These six were said to be imported by Ron from Colombia, but the truth is Ron was not the importer, I also highly doubt he knows were they were collected from. He bought them after the entered the U.S. from a whole seller.

 

[COWHER]

they may have been exported from Colombia because it was easer to export from there than another country. right?