Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I want to thank you all for all your help on how I can tell blues from B/W after all the info I am sure she is a blue. I am wondering now though she is 9 months old and her whole body fits in my hand. The pictures of the 7 and 8 month old that were posted they seem so much larger than my little one. My wife and I also just got a 4 month old columbian B/W to go with her and it (since I don't know yet) is almost the same size only a little smaller. the blue was hand fed and very mellow when we got her, the B/W does not try to bite hiss or tail whip when I pick him up and he is mellow for the first few seconds and then tries to bolt about how long does it take for them to calm down if you are holding them 2-3 times a day? I have a cheap digital camera so I will try to get some pics. posted soon. Again thank you all for your help. I don't know what I would do without you all.

Not a problem! Jane (jiffypop)is the of the veterans on tegus!
You mentioned a columbian B&W? As youngsters, all tegus or a majority of them are flighty and skittish and will progress towards tameness. There has been so much negative aspect said about the temperament on Colombians that they never calm down. I know a dealer, actually a few who have had colombians and they are tame like blues or argentines/paraguayans. I have witnessed this first hand and not on hear-say. This may be a rarity, though have not any experience owning a colombian. I have been looking into a gold tegu myself, but we'll see. I need a female blue first though! LOL

Oops........about the sizes. Blues grow quite rapidly, and actually are one of the faster grwoing tegus. They are smaller as adults though and males range around 3.5 feet females 3' tops;
whereas reds and B&Ws get around 4-4.5' w/ reds beign the heavier and average around 15-20lbs as adults.
My blue male is 7 months (as I noted & in the pic) and is around 24". I don't think I posted his size. :0) He needs a bit more wt on him though. LOL

Take it easy!

Greg

I was able to get a measurment today she is 15 inches from nose to tail but she did have a very tough time of it as a baby. She has an eye prob and had to be hand fed. she still needs help but she has adapted well.

That's interesting you mentioned the eye problem. The other male we just sent off had an eye (lazy eye) problem as well, actually he seemed blind out of the eye. I am beginning to wonder if this is a degenerative gene trait in blues passed on.

Maybe Jane (Jiffypop) has more insight to add on this situation.
I'll speak to her today at a show here in Michigan.:0)

Greg

Interesting point you make Greg. I think you may be right. As far as I know Ron is the only one that has shipped in the species. From his web site http://www.bluetegu.com/blue.html
"At this time the Blue Tegu appears to be an undescribed subspecies of tegu . Their origin is from Norther South America and they have similar habits to the Argentine Black & Whites as the Colombian B&W Tegus. ( The original bloodline was found in a shipment of tegus originating from Colombia)"
He doesn't say how many he got in the shipment but maybe this is a inbreeding problem... There might not be enough imported for a viable gene pool.

>>That's interesting you mentioned the eye problem. The other male we just sent off had an eye (lazy eye) problem as well, actually he seemed blind out of the eye. I am beginning to wonder if this is a degenerative gene trait in blues passed on.

Maybe Jane (Jiffypop) has more insight to add on this situation.
I'll speak to her today at a show here in Michigan.:0)

I am thinking our blue has the lazy eye as well as some days I can see the eye but it appears to have fallen so to speak in the socket which makes it almost of no use to her.