Gold vs Black and White

[laurarfl]

I love that little huffy hissy noise they make. Very endearing.

 

[MadameButterfly]

I can't speak for B&W's but my gold is still very aggressive to the point now where it is almost impossible to handle her because she bounces around so much that I am afraid she will hurt herself if I push it to far, no matter what I try she literally goes nuts if I get to close, I've tried to follow all the advice on here and nothing seems to work with her, it's like she's posessed at times lol

The general opinion seems to be that they calm down as they get older but right now I can't seem to gain her trust at all. I'm moving to a bigger house soon which will give me more room to work with her which I'm hoping will help because no matter how bad it gets I won't give up on her but I'm even dreading the day of moving because I will have to move her to a smaller tank so that I can take her tank apart to fit it in a car and it's not the biting that botheres me (I'm use to it now) it's the worry that she is going to do herself some serious damage especially after she had that prolapse.

It took me a good 2 years to tame my gold. I would definitely agree that time is on your side and as they mature and grow older. They tend to lose that skittishness. Unlike most argentinians, colombians like to jump and they're just plain fast. When they're young and small, they're extremely agile but as they fatten up and grow, that begins to change.

Sam, my gold, was tame enough to hold and walk around outside w/out a harness.

I took an extreme liking to him because he was such a handful early on, but with time and persistence, he became a super cool tegu.

I recall being so worried the day I let him roam free in a local park - I thought he'd dart off and be gone...To my surprise he just lounged around in the sun like my arg. b&w...To the point he was so mellow I was completely shocked. I felt bad because I never let him run free (outside) before that. He had me fooled thinking the whole time he would need to be harnassed (which he hated)

A couple children came up and he let them both rub on him. Again, I was amazed.

Commons are remarkable tegus, I definitely have a fondness for them that I don't have with the args - maybe it's the fact they always have a little bit of that feistyness in them...Gotta love rubbing them on the head, with their eyes closed while they hiss...Funny stuff.

Your tegu will come around...Just give it time and honestly, when they are really hyper - put them in a tub of warm water and let them swim around while you rub on them. When they are swimming they can't dart off and instead are forced to be close to you and your touch. It worked on Sam.

My biggest problem now is where I live only has a shower so I have been using a kitty litter tray for her baths but where I am moving to has a big bath so I can put her in that then and keep it warm and spend more time bonding then, I didn't really realise when I first got her how much where I live at the moment would restrict her. When I move I'll have a whole room for her and a en-suite bathroom and the only thing in the room will be hers and my snakes enclousures so I can let her roam free then rather than how it is now where half my stuff is packed up and everytime she gets out she hides behind or under everything and I have to go find her lol

 

[Hybrid]

In the fish hobby many people use scientific name. Geres an example of how it could be used, teguixin 'gold' or teguixin 'b&w' or merianae 'b&w' or 'blue' or 'chacoan giant'.

sorry on my phone so its difficult to type

 

[laurarfl]

Tarantulas are the same way.

 

[m3s4]

There are many that consider the gold tegu and the black and white colombian to be the same, some claim they are different species. I had thought so, but I also thought they could be variants, and due to different geographical locals, may have just been different colors.

Now I'm never one to just believe one site or one source of information, but if what this site claims is true, then although they are both called "colombians" the gold tegu is a different species then the black and white.

So while visiting some sites today I came across this on cityreptiles.com

Quote "Tegus are then broken down into individual Species. There are presently four recognized and one unrecognized species. The four recognized species are: 1) The Colombian Black and White Tegu (Tupinambis Teguixin). 2) The Argentine Black and White Tegu (Tupinambis Merianea). 3) The Gold Tegu (Tupinambis Nigropunctatus) and 4) The Argentine Red Tegu (Tupinambis Rufescens).

All tegus are from South America. It is the only continent that they inhabit in the wild.

The general distributions of the various tegu species consist of: 1) The Colombian Black and White Tegus range covers Colombia exclusively. 2) The Gold Tegus range overlaps the Colombian Black and White Tegus range in Colombia , but there have been documented sightings of Gold Tegus in other countries such as Ecuador , Venezula , Guyana and Suriname.

I have seen both be called "colombians" by other keepers, by local shops, by internet reptile sellers and a host of other people. I refer to both my black and white colombian and my gold as "columbians".

We can all agree they are not argentine, but that does not mean they are both colombian. One is gold and is a different species from one is that is colombian and is a different species.

Anyone?

link: http://www.cityreptiles.com/tegu.html

 

[Quartzyellowjacket]

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us1Yy9-zTL8[/video]
I'm going to pitch the idea that perhaps in Colombia there is a geological change that occurred and via natural selection black and gold prevailed over black and white in certain areas.

 

[m3s4]

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us1Yy9-zTL8[/video]
I'm going to pitch the idea that perhaps in Colombia there is a geological change that occurred and via natural selection black and gold prevailed over black and white in certain areas.

That's very plausible.

Because the equator lies right there, I thought perhaps one's range was farther north, and one's farther south, possibly explaining the color variation. However, according to what I posted earlier, the golds and colombians are entirely different species meaning they are more then variants.

Apparently the gold's have a very large territory because it overlaps parts of the colombians territory.

My next question would be, if this is the case, can they be cross bred and/or do the cross breed in colombia?

 

[laurarfl]

The current "Colombian", T teguixin, was once T nigropunctatus as well. They have both (gold and b/w) been renamed as T teguixin.

 

[m3s4]

The current "Colombian", T teguixin, was once T nigropunctatus as well. They have both (gold and b/w) been renamed as T teguixin.

Oh.

Thanks for the heads up and clarification.

So then, has anyone, or does anyone, know if the two different colored colombians have been bred together?

Ie; Male colombian (gold) with Female colombian (black and white)?

 

[laurarfl]

Most teguixin are ranched. Just an opinion, but I venture to guess that no captive breeding program or enough interest has been generated to investigate the genetics involved with color.

 

[m3s4]

Good to know.

Btw, Chester looks great - love the name too.