Astrid, my new tegu!

[Guest]

I know, I know, I'm pushing my luck. I have one absolutely sweet little black and white Colombian tegu so when I went to the Columbia, SC reptile show and saw these little black and golds and held each one, I couldn't put back the sweetest (and biggest) one and ended up bringing it home. I am just going to call this one a girl cause her face is so feminine but I really have no idea. I just assume the black and white one is a boy, so it works. She is a bit more skittish than Teggie, but not too bad. Has not shown any signs of biting, hasn't even huffed or tail whipped, so she should hopefully be easy enough to tame down. She is a jumper! I didn't think tegus jumped but several times now while holding her she has jumped right out of my hands. She will just be sitting there all calm and then boop! she's on the floor. Teggie has never jumped before, he is just a doofus and walks off the edge of my hand or the table or the couch or whatever he is on, lol. Astrid doesn't like her face touched or her chin rubbed, gonna try and desensitize her to that. She also randomly spazzes out and tries to run away. So, yeah, more skittish but she does sit calmly in my hand more often than she spazzes out. I do already love her

 

[Guest]

That is a sweet face! Congrats on the new addition.

Earlier in my adventures with reptiles, I raised a couple of Colombians, one gold and one black & white, that turned out pretty docile with regular handling. For whatever reason, though, the gold tegu was never quite as calm as the black & white. She wasn't aggressive or even defensive, but she was flighty (pretty consistent with your description).

Do you plan to house them together?

 

[Guest]

I may, the tank I have Teggie in is quite spacious so they would have plenty of room. Right now I have her quarantined in a smaller tank, just to be safe. Do you think cohabbing with tegus is a bad idea or could it work out?

 

[Guest]

It seems like plenty of people do it successfully, and if yours are similar in size and appear to get along, they should coexist peacefully in a large enclosure. Even the smaller Colombians will need quite a bit of space when they reach adulthood, though. In my younger days, I was compelled by limited resources to house my two Colombians together in a 6' x 3' cage (which was pushing it). I monitored their nutrition carefully and watched for any territorial behavior. They gave me zero trouble and both grew up strong and healthy.

If you do decide to house them together, just make sure all their needs are met: do they both have access to the full range of temps and humidity levels? Are there enough places to hide? Are they eating enough?

Good luck and keep us posted; I'm sure I speak for other members when I say that I wouldn't mind a few more shots of that black & gold's adorable mug!

 

[JohnMatthew]

What a beauty Astrid is, congratulations on your new columbian! Just as Bowdoin said, keeping tegus together usually goes off without a hitch so long as they're similarly sized. It also seems to increase the odds of compatibility when they're introduced at a younger age, before puberty. After quarantine I'd probably introduce them but keep an extra space available just in case they don't get along right away.

 

[Guest]

I gave them a bath together last night. Astrid was a little nervous in the water so I put my hand in there for her to rest on and she seemed to like that and pretty much took a nap in the warm water. Teggie came over and rested his chin on my fingers too, and they didn't seem to mind each other. After that my fiance and I held them on the couch while we watched a movie. Teggie took a nap in his hoodie and Astrid sat in my hand for a while without moving. Then she decided to start walking, so I did the tegu treadmill and all of a sudden she jumped to the ground and ran off to hide behind the boa cage, she runs soooo fast! Lol, we had to nudge her out with a snake hook.

 

[Guest]

Teggie and Astrid taking a bath together! You can see he is a bit bigger than her. Her head is also more slender and a little longer. I dont know if thats a difference between black and golds and black and whites or a possible indicator of gender.

 

[tora]

I forgot who it was, but someone posted here saying that he's noticed with his female tegu's they started out with a longer, narrow face while males had a short 'baby face'.

 

[Guest]

Yeah but was that with Argentines? Does the same apply to Columbians? Most people here have Argentine tegus so I never know if the same information can be applied to my tegus or not.

 

[tora]

A lot of it is the same, aside from things like diet, size, temperament, etc.

 

[Guest]

Hahah, those are big differences...thats like saying "They looked the same, but she was shorter and her face was different."

And I just noticed....looks like Astrid is in the act of pooping in that picture. Gross XD

 

[tora]

They're small differences though. Colombians don't eat fruit, they're just a hair smaller than a blue tegu, and they can be just as nice but tend to be more skittish. So no, not really all that different, lol.

 

[Guest]

Meh, perhaps.


Astrid ate her first fuzzy yesterday! ^_^ And she is now living in the same tank as Teggie!