colombian gold tegu

[AMOS]

I am getting on of these on the 8th and need alot of info plese help thanks

[Tom]

Originally Posted by ma reptile lover

I am getting on of these on the 8th and need alot of info plese help thanks

I do not know how to care for these reptiles but I did a quick search on www.dogpile.com and found these links for you.
http://www.reptileallsorts.com/goldtegu-cs.htm
http://www.geocities.com/lflank/tegu.html
http://www.aqualandpetsplus.com/Lizard,%20Tegu.htm
http://www.zoo-zoom.com/Tegu.htm
Take care
Tom

[Dr.Oviparous]

"Golds" are the exact same as "Black & Whites": Tupanimbus Teguixin. As the young Tegu matures, the "gold" will turn to white. A gold is just a young Black and white, in common name.

We have a care sheet here at RTB, http://www.redtailboa.net/modules.ph...warticle&id=20

My tegus (when I had them) LOVED berries, especially strawberries. Feeder fish were a delicacy . Melons and tuna are also devoured.

I love Tegus, they certainly have "personality". One of the smarter lizard species I've kept. Although, I have not had many.

[NicoleRussell]

golds are very different temperament wise but similar in care--I hope you have alot of patience, money for food and space.
Gold tegus can be nasty and vry few (if any) are tameable like the argentines..you should try to get a BW argentine if it's not too late. You will be sorry you got the gold.

[Dr.Oviparous]

Agreed, Nicole. If you can still, spend the extra $50-$70 for the Argie.

[wreckwriter]

Nicole is 100% right, as usual. Gold=black, not black & white. Black/gold is Colombian, B&W is argentine.

Unless you are very experienced and loaded with patience and care a Colombian is a poor choice. I've had mine about 5 years. I love him but he remains a wild beast, not handlable except to move him from one place to another and that's done with great care.

Do yourself and your family a favor, save for an Argentine.

[AMOS]

what about a savanamonitor is that a good species

[NicoleRussell]

well they are a better choice as far as temperament. That is --you have a better shot if you work with the animal at tameness--But they get large--require alot of space, specific temps and humidity and alot of food.
Do you have a successful monitor history to draw from? If not an ackie is a much better choice.

[wreckwriter]

A large monitor is not something to jump into without experience, it really isn't....

[Dr.Oviparous]

lol.... I sound silly now when I say "that's what I meant" Nicole. (I can dig up old posts to prove it hehe )

Yeah, I was just pointing out the fact that young Colombians and adult Colombians have different hues are are mistakenly labeled at pet shops as different species.

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

Just an example to how much a monitor can eat,My sav is 13-14" and she eats 4 rat pinkes every other day. Thats a lot of food and even though I buy f/t its expensive. She is moving up to rat fuzzies on the next feeding. Its not something to rush into if you don't have the money, space, or a box of band-aids cause these bad boys can bite. When I fed her crickets, she would eat 1-2 doaen in a sitting. That gets expensive. If you really want a monitor, an ackie like mentioned earlier are great. Not a "cheap" monitor but all are c.b.b and they max out at 2'. These as are timor monitors are called dwarf monitors. Ackies love to eat and they do well on a diet of crickets.

[chrispaine]

Everyone said it all so far... monitors are very smart (I would say the smartest reptile) and to keep them happy you need a lot of space, food, hides, and stuff to keep them busy/happy. Oh ya and most monitors love to dig burrows and that normally requires a mix of sand and dirt to hold a good burrow. And savannas get big, not so much long but the get fat and lazy. You might even have to put it on a diet later on if you have it long enough. They are very fun to watch eat and do crazy stuff in their cage but a lot of the times they don’t really like to be handled. Sometimes over time they will get used to you and will allow you to hold them but it takes a lot of time. I hear of a lot of people have monitors that they will let out of the cage for awhile and let explore the house or room and I hope by spring my ArgusXfalvi is going to be at that stage.
If you pick a monitor be ready for a lot more work then a snake......