So, anyone here who knows me knows I am a champion of the Columbian tegus I have several adults Columbians (and a bunch of hatchlings) and I think they are super sweet and very smart. I often hear people in the herp community say otherwise (not as much as I used to hear when I first got into them) - for example, at the last Tampa Repticon show there was a guy giving a lecture on lizards. Now, this guy happens to be the president of a FL herp society and I've seen him at these reptile shows for years. Anyway, my table was right next to the area the talks were being given so I heard what he had to say.

At one point he held a large Argentine and asked the crowd (about 30 people) how to tell the difference between Columbians and Argentines. There was, needless to say, no mention of scale differentiation! Instead, he said "you could never hold a Columbian like this because they are vicious and can't be tamed and don't make good pets". AH!! So, of course I went over to talk with him. He said that he had never heard of a tame Columbian so I brought a few of my adults to the show the next day to show him how wonderful they are. Anyway, at the same show I bought a wild caught Columbian (gold). I prefer captive bred, but I never see the "gold" Columbians (I know there is no species differentiation but I have wanted to work with the gold colored ones for awhile). Anyway, people have all these horror stories about "gold" tegus. Well, this guy was just brought into the country by my friend Nick. I worked with him for a few hours over a 2-3 day period and he was already totally calm - a very curious and smart lizard, but easily handled and hasn't huffed or tried to bite at all in the month plus that he's been here with me.

He is super looking too! I will post more pics soon
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