Columbian Gold Tegu???

[Darkangel92]

Can anyone give me a lil more information on these guys. The petstore by me that specializes in reptiles has one for sale and they said they only get about 3ft.

My mom and I are looking to get one sometime in the near future and we were wondering wat the smallest type of tegu is that isnt over like $100. The gold tegu at the store looked and sounded perfect but i wld like some more info if anyone can help me out with that.

Here is a pic of the one at the petstore i went to.

Thanks,
Sara

 

[PinkPunisher]

The Colombian tegu is the smallest your going to find for less then $100. There are downsides to them though. Usually they are a lot more flighty, skittish and even aggressive then the Argentina Black and White.

There are two different forms of Columbian tegus, the only difference though is the color. There is the Black and White and the Black and Gold. Personally I prefer the look of the Golds but there really is no difference in the two. I am actually considering getting a Gold in the future.

They have the same care requirements as a Argentina Black & White so just read a couple care sheets on this site and you should be pretty good.

One thing I want to point out though is what happens if the tegu does become aggressive because you don't handle it often? Will your mom willing to care for it? I'm not trying to discourage you in anyway, I'm 15 and I have 2 tegus but I made sure my parents realized they each need at least a 6'x3'x2' (LxWxH) Currently mine are in both in a 8'x4'x4' (LxWxH) but I will be building them each a seperate 8'x4'x2' (LxWxH) cage.

Both my tegus are incredibly tame and I've even taken them to school with me for a project, the class ended up holding Alice (my B&W). I even ended up taking her to another class room for them to see and she was completely fine with it.

Now the only reason I want to mention that is with Columbian you might not be able to even to get it out of it cage and hold it very well without it being very skittish and flighty so I highly recommend spending the extra dough and doing with a Argentine Black & White, they are generally much more tame and people friendly. They are usually in the $150-$180 range but its worth it in the long run.

Argentines get slightly larger, usually 4' but require the same care as a Columbian. I personally recommend a minimum cage size of 7'x3'x2' (L'xW'xH') though just because of the slightly larger size.

Its up to you in the long run but the Columbians are a lot more work when it comes to taming them for pleasant human interaction. From what I read its almost like having a job with them, you need to take them out almost daily or your hard work will disappear.

I've never had any experience with Columbians though only Argentines. This is all going off many things I've read.

Good Luck!

Spencer

 

[Schnab]

You should probably wait till breeding season and get a blue tegu if you'r unsure about columbians. Everybody's ganna tell you that columbians are harder to tame, but there are people who've manedged to tame some. But i guess those are more for people who have alot of experience.

Hope you make the right decision for your self and good luck with that.