Golden Tegu

[rrcoolj]

Beautiful tegu!

I have never kept columbians but I have heard they can be a pain in the but to work with and very aggressive. But, if you take the time to tame him he will become as tame as any other tegu. It just takes patience and persiverence(Know I didn't spell that right).

As for the pronunciation, I have heard it spelled teju in the latin countries. I assume it's the same translation as tegu here in the states.

One more thing, If it is a columbian(which it is), it should be eating a strictly carniverous diet. I would thinke soely insects. While thier giant cousins are omnivores as far as i know these guys are strictly or like 90% carniverous. Even the baby giants only eat animals matter until they are subadult size.

Good luck with your tegu!

 

[olllie]

OK, thanks for the info.
Bit afraid he'll be a pain in the butt forever.


I've offered him banana, apple, morios,
dolas, fish, and crickets. He ate everything but the fruit.

I hope his 7G pool is watertight, so I can introduce him and share with
you all.

 

[HPIZZLE]

he should be ready to take pinkies soon.
feed him ground turkey with the vitamins and calcium he needs. you can also hide some veggie matter in there. just food process it all together.

 

[olllie]

OK thanks, Ill do that.
Here some pics of him and his vivarium:


All plants are real.

His 9 gallon pool, in which he can swim around the island, against the current:

His specific headmarkings:

His tongue:




Im already bussy with his next vivarium.
Right now hes in his pool, kinda like an alligator with only his
eyes and nose above the surface. Very stunning.
Cant keep my eyes off of him.

 

[HPIZZLE]

im not 100% sure, but i think he'd preger to just have all that as land with stuff to dig in. i also dont think there aquatic, but i could be wrong. columbians are probably different than argentines that i researched. also i am sure he'll outgrow that fast.

 

[coura]

Very cool lizard and yes columbians love to swim.

 

[olllie]

Cool, thanks. He loves to swim, and thats the difference I guess
between the Teguixin and the Merianae and Rufensces.
They like it less moist.
I red somewhere the Teguixin eats a lot of frogs.
Right now Im typing this he walks into the pool. Cool.
And as I said he likes those tiny (de)frozen fish.

I an hour Im gonna get him another vivarium, and this one is either
gonna be for a Mangrove Crab, or an Alligatorturtle.
And on the side a smaller paludarium (I guess??) for some
Dendrobates Leucomelas. For the noise.
I swear Im not gonna feed em to my Tegu. Oh, he wont eat them
anyway, cause they're Poisonarrowfrogs. Right?


Ps: Now he's basking on his stone.

 

[olllie]

His new terrarium:


Its 47, by 20, by 20 inch.

His escape route:


Scaping with 8g pool and real plants:


And there he is, basking:


Bit closer, but he's skittish as hell:


It took me a couple of days to make these pics, cause mostly he's dug in.
Spent a lot of money to make him comfortable, all I see is an empty
den.

 

[TheFishJunky]

keep up the updates he looks great! It would also be wise to continue to handle him so he gets use to you and you will have a better chance on being able to handle him more in the future with out being bitten. Just don't startle it. Make sure it sees you and make your present known-then pick him up. I would love to see the updates on the terrarium as it grows in with the plants and all. Very nice already.

 

[olllie]

Thanks for the tip! Though Im pretty impressed by the little bugger,
I keep handling him. And I tend to do so in the future.
Im more afraid of any kind of dog.

Learned theres really no reason to keep a herp close to your face.
Its no Guinnea pig, and he doesnt like cute words.

I will definately keep you all posted, not at least for some sort of
support in keeping these outrageous animals.
In the first place though, for some tricky sort of recognition.