Can Someone Help Tell Tegu's Apart Please?

[BlackendMetalDeathHead666]

Im super confused, ive been looking at websites for days now reading and looking at things and I have a question.....are the high contrast red tegu's giant argentines? and how do you tell giant argentines from others aside from sizes and behaviors and also are the normal red tegus deeper than the high reds? and if its okay to ask, how do you tell a giant red argentine tegu (( or any tegu for that matter )) male from female when theyre little, babys, juvenile, or whatever?

 

[rrcoolj]

I am going to try and answer a few of your questions and let those more experienced answer the rest. As far as I know there are the giants(Tupinambis merianae) which include reds, high contrast reds, black and whites, extremes, etc. , there are columbians( Tupinambis teguixin) also called gold tegus, and then there are blue tegus. Although I have seen the name Tupinambis rufescens as being the scentific names for red tegus but I am not sure.

As for sexing, I know males have pronounced jowels and will have buttons near the vent. This is for mature animals though. I also know males will drop sperm plugs when becoming sexually mature. I think you would have to take them for a vent or order them from Bobby Hill if you want to knpw the sex of a baby.

 

[BlackendMetalDeathHead666]

so...sorry if im ignorant to this but...who is Bobby Hill aside from a t.v show charecter? (( i had to make the pun but really who is he? im more educated on boas and pythons than anything, im new to tegus ))

 

[Piercedcub32]

http:// www. varnyard-herps-inc .com/ is bobby hill ( remove spaces).

 

[BlackendMetalDeathHead666]

thank you very much

 

[Kebechet]

Bobby Hill is the Tegu breeder who runs this site. You might consider looking around, and reading some care sheets. There are Extreme Giants, and Normals. Extreme giants are large Argentine black and white tegus, specially bred by Bobby, and are likely a separate species from the "normals" Reds are a type of normal, and I think they also fall under the Argentine/Paraguay tegu. (Argentines are native to both areas) Reds are not Giants though, even though they get very large. Extremes have a specific head-shape which is somewhat different than the "normal" tegu. Columbian Tegus are different than the Black and whites/reds and come in black and white and golds. Columbians look more primal and crocodile-like, and often have a spotted pattern on their heads. They are considered to be harder to tame. Blue tegus are a bit of an enigma. There were only a few shipped into the states originally, and we don't know if they're a separate species from the Argentine back and whites, or if they're a mutation.
I hope that answers your questions

 

[reptastic]

Ok to simplify things you have tupinambis merianae which includes the giants, b/w and the blues, then you have T.rufescens which are the reds all of these are tegus from argentina, they all have different physical characteristics which they can be distinguished by, extreme giants and normals have very different colors and patterns, their heads are shaped differently and of course the giants are much larger, if you look at the pic in my signature the tegu in the rear is a giant and tegu in front is a normal just to give you some idea

Bobby hill is the top breeder of Argentine tegus(both tegus pictured came from him) he breeds the b/w's, reds, giants(he is the only breeder in the usa) and the All Americans( a 3 way cross 1/2 giant, 1/4 blue and 1/4red he created) if a nice tegu is what you want he is your guy, he is very knowledgible too, btw this is his forum

 

[BlackendMetalDeathHead666]

I will atempt to contact him thank you very much, is there such a thing as a extreme red giant tegu? and exactly how large do the giant argentine tegus. extreme giants, and red tegus, get?

 

[reptastic]

No they are just reds, reds average around 4' as well as the b/w's, the extreme giants average around 5'(bobby has a male giant that is 5' 3")

 

[BlackendMetalDeathHead666]

so...would a six foot long two foot wide setup be good for a giant a extreme giant tegu? and who should I get one from and do they come in a kit so i can asemble it *points to tiny door* yea.......may not be able to put it in this room if its that long bc it wouldnt make the turn in theh all way if it was all in one piece

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btw i love your tegu's are they both females i asume? and do you have anymore pics of them? possible videos too?

 

[Kebechet]

At minimum for an adult you need an 8x4x4. If you're getting a baby, a 6x2x2 would be good for about a year. Most people build their enclosures themselves or have one built. Mine is a modified buffet table cabinet, that I completely gutted finished and sealed.

 

[rrcoolj]

You could keep a female giant in a 6x3 since they usually top at around 3ft. keeping a 3ft female in a 6x3 is no worse than keeping a 4ft male in a 8x4.

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You could keep a female giant in a 6x3 since they usually top at around 3ft. keeping a 3ft female in a 6x3 is no worse than keeping a 4ft male in a 8x4.

And learned quite a bit from this thread thanks everyone.

 

[BlackendMetalDeathHead666]

okay what if i just get a red tegu then whats the size requirement?

 

[reptastic]

They are both juvinile males, neither of them are mature and are starting to develop their male characteristics they will be a year old soon , there are quite a few pics of them in the extreme and b/w forums

 

[BlackendMetalDeathHead666]

oh wow, how big are they now? im drawing up blue prints for a 8 x 4 setup and a 6 x 3 >.> though our pet store here as never had these, ive had a friend SOME MAGICAL SPECIAL WAY mistake tegus and rhinocerous iguanas and galapogos (( whatever )) iguanas the big land yellow grey ones )) for Kamodo dragos... >.< some times ignorance makes me laugh when its of somehting di do know very well about or am interested in and id like to add thank you every one here for making me feel so welcomed and evnited as well as accepted and at home amongst fellow herps & friends i am still devouring the knowlage you all give me and taking notes

 

[reptastic]

Storm my giant is 3' and Rayne my b/w is 34" , Thats what the forum is here for, uniting fellow herp lovers and education

 

[BlackendMetalDeathHead666]

very nice, theyre will become quite the big bloats they will i already picked out named incase I get a red tegu or a extreme giant b&w tegu. preferably male for now though.

 

[Rhetoric]

Males seem to be more common, I've heard from a few places and people that breeders are more likely to hold back possible females so they can breed them later on. I ended up with 3 males.

Here are some good links to other threads on the forum, I'm not sure if you've checked them out yet but they're definitely worth reading.
http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=5840#axzz1PZRtEFb8
Visual differences between giant and norm. arg. b/w

http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=7712#axzz1PZRtEFb8
Basic care sheet, there is a ton more info under tegu care section of the forum.

http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=6452#axzz1PZRtEFb8
Foods, a great one to check out. The more variety you can offer the better it is for the tegu.

http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=7711#axzz1PZRtEFb8
Taming, there are a few ways to go about taming. Some members have worn a t-shirt to bed for a few nights and put the shirt in the enclosure with the tegu. The idea behind this is to have the tegu associate you with security.

http://www.tegutalk.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=36#axzz1PZRtEFb8
This is just the tegu health section, you can learn a lot in this section from sheds to mbd to growth rates

http://www.tegutalk.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=37#axzz1PZRtEFb8
Enclosure section, excellent for ideas if you plan to build your own enclosures. A lot of members post a written tutorial or picture tutorial.

Theres a lot of info on the forum, the more you can read the better. I felt I read quite a bit before getting my first tegu but I am always asking for input and always learning more about tegus.

 

[BlackendMetalDeathHead666]

Males seem to be more common, I've heard from a few places and people that breeders are more likely to hold back possible females so they can breed them later on. I ended up with 3 males.

Here are some good links to other threads on the forum, I'm not sure if you've checked them out yet but they're definitely worth reading.
http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=5840#axzz1PZRtEFb8
Visual differences between giant and norm. arg. b/w

http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=7712#axzz1PZRtEFb8
Basic care sheet, there is a ton more info under tegu care section of the forum.

http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=6452#axzz1PZRtEFb8
Foods, a great one to check out. The more variety you can offer the better it is for the tegu.

http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=7711#axzz1PZRtEFb8
Taming, there are a few ways to go about taming. Some members have worn a t-shirt to bed for a few nights and put the shirt in the enclosure with the tegu. The idea behind this is to have the tegu associate you with security.

http://www.tegutalk.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=36#axzz1PZRtEFb8
This is just the tegu health section, you can learn a lot in this section from sheds to mbd to growth rates

http://www.tegutalk.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=37#axzz1PZRtEFb8
Enclosure section, excellent for ideas if you plan to build your own enclosures. A lot of members post a written tutorial or picture tutorial.

Theres a lot of info on the forum, the more you can read the better. I felt I read quite a bit before getting my first tegu but I am always asking for input and always learning more about tegus.

thank you very much, I will read them when I get in tomarrow either before or after I go work out for 4 or 5 hours.