Just bought a new buddy

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Yeah I've been watching a lot of videos online of how to tame them and people with their tame golden's. So obviously it can be done, now is just to see how hard it is. I've tamed burm's and retic's though so I'm sure if I really put my mind to it I can do it. Thanks for all the compliments guys.
 
The only way to "tame" a Colombian Tegu is to undermetabolize it - IE - Keep it cold. Even the Argentines I had became unpredictable when given basking spots of 135+ degrees. I've had a few Golds, and they were always skittish and very unpredictable. Bites from these guys can be really bad.......
 
I had a Golden / Columbian many years ago as a kid… it was ferocious…

I have a 32” female Black & White / Argentinean now who is wonderful. She’s very tame / friendly, but like all women, she has her days…

I’ve heard it explained that the reason the smaller growing Columbians are more skittish / aggressive is because they are viewed more as a food item in nature. Since they are a tough little species, they embrace the fight or flight behavior often choosing to fight.

In the past all Columbians were wild caught or farm bred, and only in the past few years have they been truly captive bred. Having never survived in wild conditions, they are said to be much easier to tame. Yours being only 10” total length when you got him, there is a very strong chance it was captive born. Even if it isn’t, being removed from wild conditions younger will mean those instincts are less engrained.

One ‘trick’ is to keep in mind is in the wild they are often attacked from above. So they will be much more relaxed if you avoid coming at them from above.

Your set up and feeding sounds pretty darn good. Spends lots of hands on time and you should be in pretty good shape.

The Columbian I had as a kid was terrible. It was about 18” long and I suspect wild caught as a juvi. It wanted no part of being held, ran from me when I opened the cage, bit me and whipped me when I reach for it and jump / ran away every chance it had. I kept it for a month or two but eventually gave up and returned it to the store I got it from.


If you ever do have questions I also sugest going to TeguTalk.com I'm Toby_H there :D


Hey DirtyWhiteSocks... why do you say the Columbians are the only real Tegu species?
 
sweet pick up doug
 
nc_nutcase;3426490; said:
I had a Golden / Columbian many years ago as a kid… it was ferocious…

I have a 32” female Black & White / Argentinean now who is wonderful. She’s very tame / friendly, but like all women, she has her days…

I’ve heard it explained that the reason the smaller growing Columbians are more skittish / aggressive is because they are viewed more as a food item in nature. Since they are a tough little species, they embrace the fight or flight behavior often choosing to fight.

In the past all Columbians were wild caught or farm bred, and only in the past few years have they been truly captive bred. Having never survived in wild conditions, they are said to be much easier to tame. Yours being only 10” total length when you got him, there is a very strong chance it was captive born. Even if it isn’t, being removed from wild conditions younger will mean those instincts are less engrained.

One ‘trick’ is to keep in mind is in the wild they are often attacked from above. So they will be much more relaxed if you avoid coming at them from above.

Your set up and feeding sounds pretty darn good. Spends lots of hands on time and you should be in pretty good shape.

The Columbian I had as a kid was terrible. It was about 18” long and I suspect wild caught as a juvi. It wanted no part of being held, ran from me when I opened the cage, bit me and whipped me when I reach for it and jump / ran away every chance it had. I kept it for a month or two but eventually gave up and returned it to the store I got it from.


If you ever do have questions I also sugest going to TeguTalk.com I'm Toby_H there :D


Hey DirtyWhiteSocks... why do you say the Columbians are the only real Tegu species?
Click to expand...


Golden tegu's out of Columbia are the only species classified as Tupinambis teguixin all other species do not carry the word tegu in their classification - is what I meant. :)

Those video's you see of tame golden tegu's have way too many underlying factors to think about - I have never personally seen a tame golden tegu. In fact even argentine's, and especially red's will become aggressive if they're PROPERLY cared for and given the heat that they really do require.

It's all a matter of cage size, feeding dead meats like lean ground turkey or raw fish over live foods, heat ect.

In general golds will become nutjobs when you give them care terms that best mimic nature.

Argentine's and reds will become aggressive if they feel neglected, i.e. too small of a cage, not enough human interaction - negative interaction with their owners, that sort of thing.

An adult tegu bite, especially from the males - is most likely going to require stitches, if not tear your tendons and break bones in your hand. So be careful.

I had a buddy get tagged on the ankle by a large female red in breeding season and he still has a limp because of it.
 
I appreciate all the comments and concerns guys really I do. I've been not really "handling" him so much yet, as much as letting him know I'm there. I still get the intial hiss and running around the tank when I first attempt to touch him, but I haven't had it go for a bite or tailwhip again yet. After the intial touch I just lightly touch it and pick it up if it allows me to. So for so good. I am aware this could all change at anytime, but I'm ok with that.

I guess my whole outlook on keeping aggresive pets is this. I rather keep them, and take all the bites, tailwhips, scratches, or whatever in the world and know it's in my care. Because if that animal is in my care I know even it is afraid/hates me, I'm still going to give it the best care I possibly can. I rather it hate me and I give it a good life then someone had bought it, not known what it was and either killed it, got rid of it, or set it free. I guess that's just my two cents on how I look at keeping my reptiles and fish.
 
Mike D;3427546; said:
i had a golden tegu for a while. he wass mean as sin haha. he never calmed down but he was a blast to just watch and observe.

i would keep him
Click to expand...

Yeah I have every intention too........Even if he is evil.......that's what they make gloves and long sleeve shirts for!

I have to admit just from observing this little guy it's making me definetly wanna start getting into more tegus and monitors........
 
dougefresh;3427608; said:
Yeah I have every intention too........Even if he is evil.......that's what they make gloves and long sleeve shirts for!

I have to admit just from observing this little guy it's making me definetly wanna start getting into more tegus and monitors........
Click to expand...


Welcome to the Dark side of MFK where we don't just keep monster fish but all sorts of monsters.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom