New baby golds

[m3s4]

Here's a few pic's of the new baby golds Purchased from LLLReptile.com...

First peak out of the gunny-sack

That's all for now...I'll be sure to post more as they come, as well as any and all videos posted on youtube when we get some.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

So cute! Congrats!

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Glad you got what you wanted, was advertised and not the pic posted. Would love to see more pics of the second one.

 

[m3s4]

While I'm posting pics, here's some of Sam (3 year old male colombian gold before he passed) and Ally our 5 year old Arg. B&W. In some of the photos you'll see Tanzi, a juvenile Colombian that we took in for free (craigslist re-homing) that had severe MBD. We took her in knowing she had it and tried our best to rehabilitate her, along with help from a local vet, but she finally and sadly succumbed to the disease in 2010.

Sam was an incredible tegu. Imo, there's A LOT to be said about trust and a very tame tegu when they'll let you peel shedding skin from around they're eyes. Most animals don't like anything near or close to their eyes - myself included.

I was very surprised when Sam would let me peel all the skin from around his eyes and face/head/nose/ears. He'd let me help him with his toes as well, which I'm sure, wasn't easy for him to do. To me, that was the pinnacle of the trust and bond we shared. He and Tanzi are sadly missed.

Hope you all enjoy the pics!

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Gorgeous lizards, all three.

 

[monstruo-the-tegu]

dang those golds are amazing i will have to show my sister these she wants a tegu but one thats not expensive

 

[laurarfl]

Very nice! I'm glad you got what you wanted!

 

[MadameButterfly]

Awesome pics, I hope to eventually get my little tornado to calm down enough to be able to get pics like that at some point lol

 

[m3s4]

He'll calm down.

I don't know how much you interact with him, but typically the more often the better.

With extremely skittish golds, you can try handling them when they're cold or at room temperature (pre-basking). The reasons for this are quite obvious and it's worked well for me.

It's what I'm currently doing with the babies. When they're young, they see almost everything as a threat - until they're conditioned/learn what is and isn't a real threat. They should never see you or your hands as a threat or food source.

That being said, the first part of the equation has to be you and your hands. Try different techniques when attempting to pet him, pick him up or simply move him. You know him best, so you're the best judge of his character and what he's willing to let you do or not do to him.

In the end, your persistence will pay off and taming him is really just about acute awareness of how he reacts to you followed by relentless consistency.

 

[m3s4]

And here's a pic of the second baby gold.

They've both been letting me pick them up and move them from their hide to their feeding bin with little to no problems.

Squirming seems to be the biggest issue atm, but I expect that for a while to come.

Zoomie, the first baby pictured in the thread, did manage to get a couple puffs in at me earlier. I had to laugh.

Something tells me this guy here won't be a puffer or even that aggressive. Just something about him. He's goofy - all his mannerisms seem to be so far.

After this photo, they both got their first bath this afternoon.

Ally found some afternoon warmth in the sun while the little guys soaked it up in the tub.

 

[laurarfl]

They are so pretty! My female huffs all the time. It's my favorite part about her.

 

[m3s4]

They are so pretty! My female huffs all the time. It's my favorite part about her.

Thanks, Laura - and I agree, the huffing is one of my favorite things about colombians.

Sam (the large gold) used to huff at Tanzi (the smaller colombian pictured with him). He'd do it really quickly, and then he'd stop. He'd lick the base of her tail and then go skitzo with the huffs.

On one occasion, I moved him about 7-8 feet away from her because he wouldn't stop. I put him up on our bed, and tanzi was down on the floor basking. He saw her move from where he was, and started huffing all the way from up on the bed. I was like wow...Sam...really?

Colombians just wouldn't be the same if they weren't vocal.

 

[m3s4]

Ok so I made a quick video showing that baby tegus can and will tame down quite quickly. All this represents is the fact that yes, you can hold them right when you get them, be around them as much as possible, interact with them as much as possible and be patient with them.

They aren't perfectly calm yet, but they're 30x better today then the day after I purchased them. No biting, no gaping, no whipping, no lashing...Basically no bad behavior - especially for Colombians.

Obviously they're both a work in progress, but hopefully this can be of help to those that have problematic tegus.

I set them in their feeding bin (a rubbermaid 45 gallon tub) and let them warm up a little bit. Once they were active, I took a quick vid.

Enjoy.

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-zlMsV8NPM&context=C41496c1ADvjVQa1PpcFNUZwYijlq7JoVB_Gm6iHZzaXJTetbBFDA=[/video]

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

I know they're not related but it looks like you got a 2 for 1 in resemblance on that deal. Body wise Zoomy if that's how you spell it looks like Sam and head wise Sketch does.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Those are some interesting names. How'd you come up with those?

 

[m3s4]

I know they're not related but it looks like you got a 2 for 1 in resemblance on that deal. Body wise Zoomy if that's how you spell it looks like Sam and head wise Sketch does.

Yea it's crazy you mention that about Zoomie and Sam - they have the same "side eye" when they're looking at you and they really do resemble each other in more then a few ways...A few of their mannerisms could be considered remarkably similar - even at Zoomies young age I can see some of Sam in him.

As for the names, my gf named Zoomie - it's her tegu actually. She named it after the headers on her hot-rod - zoomies or zoomy pipes if you will.

Sketch, well - that might not end up being his name. It's his name currently because he's really sketchy. He moves with robotic-like movements; walking then pausing, cocking his head then continuing on at random. He jerks around...It's pretty funny really. And of the two, he's definitely the more curious, alert, more high-strung and energetic.

I have a ton of names I'd like to use, but I really need to know the sex before I can assign something permanent to him/her.

Zoomie works for both sexes so my gf is set.

 

[m3s4]

Quick update:

Zoomie, the smaller of the two new babies, escaped.

I put him in the sleeper under his blankets then went and did some work on the pc. Came back 20 min. later and poof.

He somehow managed to wedge his head between the (2) zippers that close the front of his sleeper and then pry his way out. In the room, I had the front door open with the screen door closed. Problem is, there's a 1" gap between the door and the floor and guess what? He found it.

I've looked everywhere, including inside the room he "was" in, but he's nowhere inside. I've looked outside but there's fields all around my house. I'm 99% he's long gone.

Talk about dumb luck.

I now have a small lock for the zippers which will prevent something like this happening with my other baby gold.

Since this has never happened to me before (With Sam, Ally or Tanzi), I was over-confident in thinking they were secure. Obviously that isn't the case - even when the zippers are at the top of the sleeper when the door is closed.

Totally preventable, and totally my fault. I should have had a lock before something like this happened.

 

[TegusRawsome80]

Not to be rude, but this is a strong argument for keeping tegus, especially baby columbians which are typically flighty, in cages.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

With or with out cages we can all get a little complacent and mistakes happen.

Depending on how far away the set up is from the door it may still be some where inside. As small as they are they can fit into just about anything anywhere.

If you haven't already I would close all the doors and windows. Turn off anything you can in the house to reduce the noise level and listen. Just in case he's still moving around somewhere.

How active are they during the day and when was the last time he ate? If he has a full tummy he'll more than likely find some where to settle down for a day or so. Something that small can be hard to find unless he's actually moving around and making noise some where.

I hope he's still inside and you find him lounging some where and or he comes out on his own.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Not to be rude, but this is a strong argument for keeping tegus, especially baby columbians which are typically flighty, in cages.

Tegus can get out of cages, too. They're so damn smart and if they see a weakness, you can bet your bottom dollar they'll figure it out and exploit it. Kodo figured out how to get out his his old tank at the mueum, and I though it was secure.