I made up my mind, I want a columbian gold-phased tegu

DeadIrishD · Honored Member Joined: Jun 07, 2005 Posts: 265

I have done my research, and decided to get a columbian gold-phased tegu I will hopfully be picking one up relativley soon, with possibly a few female fat tailed geckos or some more supplies for my herps.

I know alot of the care, that needs to go into it and the time it'll take to train it, but what I would like to know is, What helped you with your columbian? what are some good tips? you know all of the extras that are appreciated, but not "gee, they need 80-85 degrees during the day"

stano40 · Member Joined: May 02, 2005 Posts: 29

when i got my first columbian i put him in his enclosure 24 hrs with just water and no contact.the next day i closed the door to a room and sat on the floor and let the tegu sit on my lap and just taked to him.when he was comfortable i started to pet him and talk to him.i did this everyday until he was comfy enough that he would come to the door when he saw me so he could run around.this worked for me but my columbian was very mellow.
Michelle

DeadIrishD · Honored Member Joined: Jun 07, 2005 Posts: 265

I am glad to hear from someone that, they can actually make good pets, dispite their bad rep.

Teiidae

Rick · Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 10:19 am Post subject:

Colombian's are not evil little monsters, but Colombian's are not a good pet for someone with no experience with tegus or other large lizards.

Most people that get a Colombian think "If I hold it enough it will calm down and never try to bite me. I will be able to leash train it and let the kids play with it", that would be very unlikely to happen.

If you work with a Colombian every single day and things go well, you will likely end up with a tegu that you can pick up with caution, that you can hold and return when you are done. They are generally too flighty to free roam (you can do it, but it's often hard to catch them after), clicker training may work but I had no success.

If you want a "look at pet" that you can hold with a lot of daily work and a bit of caution, a Colombian tegu makes a great pet. If you want a take it outside and let is roam or use it to acclimate a classroom of kids to the wonderful world of reptiles, then you most likely have the wrong lizard. An Argentine would be more in that line.

Note that I say "likely" a lot in the above paragraphs. The reason for that is there is always the exception to the rule. You may get lucky and have a very calm mellow Colombian or someone may have a timid, flighty Argentine that just doesn't want to tame no matter what.

I'm all for Colombian as pets as long as people have a really good idea what they are and are not getting. I don't want to see us end up with a surplus of Colombians with no homes.

Rick
_________________
Sisco Reptiles - Proud Breeder of the Tamest & Most Social Tegus. See www.SiscoReptiles.com

James_James · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 7:11 pm Post subject: Columbians

I've been defending Columbians on this site, since I first became a member. They have gotten a bad wrap in the Teg community. Maybe this site will help rebuild there tarnished reputation? I would not recommend them for a first time lizard owner, either. They do indeed, need extra time to tame. Of course they will not become dog tame. Does this make them so horrible? A Columbians reputation, is much worse than its actual temperament!

Rick · Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 7:48 pm Post subject:

I agree. They are not bad animals. It's misinformation that gives them a bad name. People hear tegus are calm and mellow and easy to train. They run out and the only thing the petshop has is a cute "black and white tegu" and wow! it's only $40.00!!

They end up with something other then they expected and then have to find this 'unwanted' pet a new home and swear they will never buy a monster like that again.

A Colombian is not a monster. They are very cool animals and are actually pretty easy to understand. If you have one and you know what they are and what they are not, they can make an awesome pet.

Rick
_________________
Sisco Reptiles - Proud Breeder of the Tamest & Most Social Tegus. See www.SiscoReptiles.com

DeadIrishD · Honored Member Joined: Jun 07, 2005 Posts: 265

before I get one, I think I am going to try and find a place, where I can actually see one as a "pet", and get to actually know them a bit, before I go out and buy one.

James, do you take honor in the bond that you and your columbian have? because yeah they are extremely flighty, but the bond that you two share must actually mean something, compared to alot of the herps, that are generally easier to tame.... if that makes any sence?

not to mention, the thing that I find to be interesting with the columbians, is it seems like there is never a dull moment, because you always need to work with them, compared to lets say a gecko, or anole or other smaller lizards.

maybe, I am just on a "high" trying to find out more about others columbian tegu's personality. (which is another, reason I am not rushing into this.)

when I talk about a bond, with any animal I mean a bond, that you can have with that specific animal

(IE: My oscars had a bond, where they'd always swim to the top when they saw me near their tank, but never swam to the top when other people went near there tank, as with the ferret I had once had, it would always cuddle with me and escape her cage to come and see me.)

jb · Honored Member Joined: Sep 01, 2005 Posts: 201

James-James and Rick nailed it. Columbians can be tame or can be unpredictable. I love my Columbian, and yes, it was a $30.00 impulse buy almost 2 years ago. But i love the "spunk" they retain, that's why i have monitors too. If you have no experience with large lizards-this is not a "beginner" lizard. Start with a beardie or leopard gecko first.

Kodiak · New Member Joined: Nov 02, 2005 Posts: 1

cycomiss · Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 11:09 am Post subject:

I posted before about an aggressive Columbian B&WY that friends of mine had... I have since taken her (they were going to give her back to the pet store). She is a completely different lizard! It has only been a couple of weeks but it was an immediate change. Anyway, my friends that previously owned her came to visit for the weekend. They brought their two dogs and we brought her out while the dogs were in the room and she went crazy. She used to act this way all the time - you couldn't get near her enclosure without her attacking the glass. Even when the dogs were not in the room when she lived with them she would still freak out - so we were always unsure that it was the dogs that she was afraid of... but, I do remember when I first got Sim my vet told me that Tegu's are generally afraid of dogs.

Without dogs around she is a very curious and sweet girl. She doesn't crave my attention but she really craves being out of her enclosure. She has one of those huge rock huts that glasscages.com sells at the herp shows and she'll stand on top of it and get up on her two back legs and try to jump to the top of her cage. She cranes her neck all the way back and then jumps.

I have tried to stop this b/c I don't want her to hurt herself.

Anyway, the point is maybe sometimes it is the environment - maybe she smelled the dogs in their home even when the dogs weren't in the room.

Also, have you ever seen your Tegus rub their back legs together? Both Sim and Jezzie have (on a few occasions that I've seen) stretched out their legs and rubbed the two back legs together. It is very odd...I'm wondering if anyone else has seen this.

Sim was the first pet I've ever had and he is absolutely my best friend. I never had any trouble taming him. The only time he ever opened his mouth at me was the first time I put him in a Reptarium in natural sun and then tried to take him out about an hour later.
I didn't even recognize it as a sign of aggression at the time - I actually thought he was thirsty!
But - I played with him constantly. So, I do not think that it is a bad idea to have a Columbian as a beginner - however, it may be a good idea to make that your only pet for awhile. I had Sim for 1 year before I got Nico (my Uro) so I was able to give him 100% of my undivided attention.
Some lizards are very curious by nature - it has been my experience that Tegu's are not an exception to this. I think that giving your Columbian a chance to explore a little - like letting him/her crawl into a pillow case or a box or wrap up in a shirt (of course you are only inches away always) -- give them some room to get used to the environment in a way that they do not feel like prey and it'll pay off big time.