Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How big do they get and do the make good pets.same question with the columbian

Theres good/bad qualities in both the Argentine and Columbian B&Ws.

The Columbians tend to be a bit more alert and ready to flee, and only grow to be a little over 3 feet. Their temper varies between individual animals, so don't believe anything you hear about "Columbians are nastier than Argentines".

Argentines grow to be a little under 5 feet, but are mostly tail(Both Columbian and Argentines are mostly tail as its a little over half their body length). Their more layed back, I dunno if its because of their size or just their nature to be layed back.

Gold Tegus are pretty much a gold version of the Columbian B&W.

On behavior, any Tegu can be mean, or nice, or extremely nice, its based on the individual animal, the nature of the species itself does play a small part with how they react to certin situations. If you look at the people on the board, some describe their Tegus to be tame, some describe a temper towards certin people, or people in general. This shouldn't discourage you though, Tegus make great pets.

Golds and colombians are the same tegu. I have a colombian and I think he's great. It took more effort than any of my other lizards to get him to chill out, but now he's pretty mellow. I still handle him every day. Partly because I want him to stay at the temperament that he is and mostly because I just love to play with him. They've got such personalities!!

I don't have any personal experience with the argentines, but I've got a few examples to show you how great he is. He has let me dress him up in a full body costume for Halloween last year as part of a contest. Also, this past June, he was a part of my wedding ceremony. I feel that I can pretty much trust him in any situation as long as I'm the one whos holding him. He does get a little more skittish around other people.

Hope that helps!

Lindsay