Hello from Kansas

[m758b033]

Hello all,
My name is Matt and I just picked up my first tegu. He is a Columbian gold. Today he started his first shed while with me. :-D I am relatively inexperienced with lizards, however, have experience with snakes.

 

[slideaboot]

Welcome!

Got any pics of your lil' 'gu?

How's your tegu's temperament? Columbians get a pretty bad rap for being a bit feisty and aggressive--however, there are a few keepers on here that have had quite the opposite experience.

 

[m758b033]

Right now he is less than a year old, but his temperment is dog tame. He wandered around today for a while when I was cleaning his tank. I try and hold him every day for several minutes at minimum, but between him the bos the SW tank, the 4 FW tanks he doesn't get held some days.
I'll get some pics soon probably tonight and I'll upload them tomorrow.

 

[slideaboot]

Nice! While they seem to be popping up more and more frequently, you've definitely got something special with a tame Columbian.

 

[m758b033]

I got him from a reptile breeder in Manhattan. He called me up and said that the bigger tegus were picking on him and had gone as far as taking his tail off of him. So now I am putting some antibiotics on it several times a week and soaking him in a sink several times a week. I use the sink just cause I can keep the water warm.

 

[slideaboot]

Hmmm...

Did this breeder claim to have bred the Columbians? Or did he say they were imports? I'm not aware of any Columbian Tegus in The States (that doesn't mean that there aren't any--just that I'M unaware of their existence).

 

[m758b033]

He wasn't breeding tegus. He just kept some as pets. He was more into burms and ball pythons. I assume he got it from some pet store in manhattan.

 

[slideaboot]

I kinda figured.

The only reason I ask is that reputably TAME Columbians would be a HUGE hit in the reptile trade, I believe. Their smaller-than-an-Argentine size is quite appealing to many--but, the deal-breaker is often their aggressive reputations. I think the captive breeding of Columbians would play a HUGE role in producing TAMER animals. Whoever gets that dialed in and can facilitate captive breeding of Columbian Tegus is set to make a pretty penny (especially if such breeding resulted in tamer and tamer tegus through the generations).

 

[m758b033]

Amen to that. I going to wait to judge him though, because I imagine his personality will continue to change as he grows gor better or for worse.

 

[m758b033]

Here are some pics. Sorry they took so long.