Hi I'm new here and have a Columbian tegu

[Tyrone]

Hi my name is Tyrone and I have a Columbian tegu but don't know if its a gold or b/w please help and based on this pic could someone give me an age estimate. Well a little bit about him.his name is goku and he's not to aggressive but a little skitight at times. I'm currently building him a 2x2x6 enclosure and just need some tips for the skittish behavior thanks.

 

[DougK]

From what I've learned, columbian tegus just are more predisposed to skittishness, especially when they're young and small. I can't really tell the scale here, but I'd estimate he's still under a year, as he seems smaller than mine and mine is still under a year (I'm guessing others here probably have more experience to tell better!).

Also, I thought that b/w and gold were essentially the same descriptors of this kind of tegu. Either that, or the breeder I heard talking about a batch of columbian b/w babies was wrong when he called them "golds".

 

[Tyrone]

From what I've learned, columbian tegus just are more predisposed to skittishness, especially when they're young and small. I can't really tell the scale here, but I'd estimate he's still under a year, as he seems smaller than mine and mine is still under a year (I'm guessing others here probably have more experience to tell better!).

Also, I thought that b/w and gold were essentially the same descriptors of this kind of tegu. Either that, or the breeder I heard talking about a batch of columbian b/w babies was wrong when he called them "golds".

Ok thanks any info is good info he just got a bath and ate not to skittish but occasional puff but went well thanks

 

[DougK]

I've got a columbian as well, and his level of skittishness is usually directly related to how warm he is -- if he's been under the heat lamp all day, it can be like trying to hold a fish for how much he tries to flop around, but if he was hanging out in the cooler sections (or if I just put him into a temporary tank for a couple minutes to cool off slightly) he's a lot calmer. Still prone to freaking out if I do anything that could startle him (such as touching his tail without making it clear to him first that I'm about to touch him), but overall it seems the more often I hold him, the easier it seems to be.

 

[Tyrone]

I've got a columbian as well, and his level of skittishness is usually directly related to how warm he is -- if he's been under the heat lamp all day, it can be like trying to hold a fish for how much he tries to flop around, but if he was hanging out in the cooler sections (or if I just put him into a temporary tank for a couple minutes to cool off slightly) he's a lot calmer. Still prone to freaking out if I do anything that could startle him (such as touching his tail without making it clear to him first that I'm about to touch him), but overall it seems the more often I hold him, the easier it seems to be.

I feel that way to the more I interact with him on at a cooler time he his more acceptable to it