Which Tegu is the Most Docile?

[Tesgura]

Everything I've ever read says that blues are close to the Argentine Black & White. But anyway, let us know how it goes with the shirt trick for you

[herpboi]

like stated before any tegu can be tamed down, im currently working with a 09 male red tegu who is very shy and will bite(i've been bitten twice) now i had 2 b/w tegus nero who i had since she was a hatchling has been a doll since day 1, i can take her outside w/o a leashe and have no problems(unless im ready to go inside and she isnt lol) and have been able to do so since she was very small, achilles who passed away last week was quite a handfull but tamed down quite well within about 2-3 mos. so its all about how you approach your tegu, if you stay calm and they are able to see that you arent a threat they should calm down prtty easily. also a blue tegu is NOT a columbian or Tupinambis teguixin , they are in fact Tupinambis merianae just like the b/w's only in some cases they tend to be smaller, any breeder who told you that needs to go back and study tegus a bit more, that is why a blue, a b/w,a red, and the chacoan can all breed together but cant breed with a columbian they are all argentine tegus!

[Jlkelly88]

Thanks for all the good info guys!

[laurarfl]

The blue tegu issue was based on scientific classification. It used to be thought of as T. teguixin but is recently being considered T. marianae I'd like to see them have their own species designation like the reds have T. rufescens. A lot of animals within a genus can breed together but maintain different species status. I don't think it has been determined that Colombians and B/W cannot breed, only that they don't. Kingsnakes are used for hybrid projects with snakes they would normally consume in a meal. Since they wouldn't naturally mate, a dummy snake is used and then the desired mate is placed at the last minute. When breeders start attempting a Colombian x Argentine mating or doing DNA research, the answer may be a bit different.

So...I don't think breeders are off their rocker when they think blues are Colombians. It's just older information being reconsidered. If that person isn't actively researching the current classification of tegus, they may just be behind, that's all.

What I find humorous is that people will sometimes get really heated over the whole debate. Perhaps I'm missing the greater significance of it all.

[DaveDragon]

The breeder did not say that but I have heard that from other tegu breeders. I am not sure whatr to beleive. I will try the shirt trick. =)

The Blues are not Columbians, they very closely resemble B&W's. The rumor of them being Columbians had to do with the original Blue's were exported from Columbia (possible export law problem?) with an order of Columbian Tegu's. I started a thread here somewhere (about 10/2007) researching when the originals were imported but it got ugly between Rick & Bobby.

If you read some of the threads from other people who bought Blue's from me you'll see most of them have calmed down, a few are very tame. It all depends on the individual. We have one holdback who's a bit nuts when he's hungry but is easy to hold afterward. I even took him outside for a few pics and ended up holding him in my open hand without a leash! Not recommended.

Could he be getting stressed from his environment? A wide open tank, not enough hides, a cat staring at him all day, etc. It could be stress or a matter of him not trusting you. We have a few birds with trust issues. I'd rather be bit by a 6 month old Blue Tegu than an angry/scared Amazon Parrot!

[DaveDragon]

I forgot to mention. We've only had 1 B&W. Bought as a hatchling in 5/2006, more than likely an import. It wanted to kill me from about 8 months old until about 15 months old. Then it was the calmest critter we've ever had. We sold him at 18 months and the guy raved about calm he was. We have a 8 or 9 year old Red that's very mellow. He wanders around the yard until he finds a spot he likes and becomes "roadkill".

[Shonuff]

Yes, the blue that I have from Dave is the calmest lizard I've ever had. I take him/her outside with no problems towards other people or animals. I let em free roam around the house and everything. He runs up my arm and everything. But as Dave stated on his holdback, he can get a little nippy when he's hungry at times. It's not so much that he's aggressive but food seems to be the only thing on his mind and he's looking for an opportunity to eat anything when he knows he's about to be fed. It's not all the time, but it happens.

[Shonuff]

BTW, Dave I think I want another one this year. Hehehe. I can't really say yet at the moment.

[txrepgirl]

This is the only time my Tegus get nasty, too, when I waited to long to feed them. But that doesn't happen alot.

[herpboi]

yep same here, if i dont feed nero she gets very pissy , she never bit me, but she has tried twice, both times she was hungry and i was trying to do other stuff like misting or take a pic, lol i learned its food first and everything else last!