Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all,

Great forum. I'm looking to aquire a new reptile (hopefully a Tegu) and this site has answered alot of my questions (without even having to ask).

I'm trying to get a better idea of the differences between the Argentinian Black and White, White Headed, Red, and Blue Tegus...both visual and personality wise.

It seems to me that most of you like to show off your favorite pets on the forum, so could some of you post some photos of the above mentioned types of Tegus to give me a better idea.

thanks,

Josh

He's not an Argentine but out of all my reptiles Shadow is my favorite. He's a Columbian B W, about 2 1/2 feet long. I think he's a really nice looking reptile and really fun to watch, but not to touch, he doesn't like that. He's got quite an attitude and if you bother him he lets you know it. He's also always hungry so unless he was just fed, and usually even if he was, he'll be right at the side of his tank trying to bite my feet or hands, or anything else that moves past his cage. When I do have to pick him up for any major cage cleaning, he starts huffing and hissing and then starts to whip with his tail, arch his back, and tries to bite. I can usually evade this but on a few occasions he got a hold of me. The last time he jumped up, grabbed my finger, did a couple death rolls and let go and got ready to do it again. Other than a good amount of bleeding, it didn't really hurt. So even though Shadow isn't handleable, I think just to watch him going about his daily routines of basking, burrowing, climbing, and eating are enough to make him my favorite.

Here's a pic of a few of ours to give you an idea. The one blue with the regenerated tail is no longer with us........it was suppose to be a she and ended up being a he. Anyways this will give you an idea of a blue, B&W and Red together. Our smallest red boogied out of the pic at the last minute. All of them are tame and handable. We have taken the B&W to elementary schools for a show-n-tell as well. The red in the pic will squirm on occassion if you hold her too long, but none of them have tailwhipped or bit..........just super tegus! Our Blue is an aggressive eater as with many tegus, so you want to watch the fingers. A suggestion, as we use, is to feed outside the cage and then place him and the others near the food when they roam our home.

Jane (Jiffypop) and Phil have great pics of their albinos as well to give you something else to ponder They are located below in the forum...........

The best of luck in your decision!

Greg

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We are extremely fortunate with are "puppies" They are super and bot hred juvie females have terrific color as well as the juvie blue male and he is only approx 7 months old. The new 8' cage is almost ready to go, hoping this weekend. Now we just need the $$$ for a blue female.............

Take it easy Phil and thanks again!

Greg

Here is my little buddy Tegan, a Blue Tegu from the St Pierre's. He is by far one of my fav herps. Other than my Bearded Dragons he has by far the most personality, and very intelligent too! I have never been bitten, tail whipped or huffed at. He pretty much sleeps, eats and digs. Very interesting animals to watch. Best of luck on your quest for the perfect tegu. This is a great resource be sure to stay tuned!

Reptile-Like

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Peace!
KofSeattle
Reptile-Like
Here lizard lizard.........

Felix, Argentine B/W

Zephyr and Thalia, Blue parents of baby Uno

Albino and Uno

Female Red

Flora, Platinum Blue female

Uno and his mom

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Well I've just got to enter this into the beauty contest cuz she's got nice natural blue eye highlighter. One day I'll get her to put on some strawberry lipstick like Ripley thought of hehe. BTW if you ask me I'd say go with a red or B&W because your probably getting a tegu cuz you want a "bigger lizard". If you get a blue or Columbian you might not be satisfied with the size.

Hey, thanks for the pictures everyone. It's a help.

I think I like the way the blue tegus look best...but I also want a "larger lizard" so perhaps I'll go with an Argentine Black and White.

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

It sounds to me like we have similar tastes. If your like me then you like the blues because they got more white (lighter) color in them. If that's the case but you decide on the B&W for the size I would suggest www.agamainternational.com cuz the one I got from there has more white in it then my other one. It seems to me that the other pics I see here of Berts tegus confirm that. That pic of Jiffypops Flora, Platinum Blue female is something else, if I was you I'd try to get that one from her lol. Here's a pic of my B&W from agama international.

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Blossom is a blue and she is the sweetest little girl in the world. She will actually come across the tank so I can rub jer chin. My 5 year old son will lift his shirt and lay her on his belly and she will curl up and sleep while he rubs her back and sides. She also does very well with our dog and our ferret. She gets the roam of the house for about 1/2 hour or more daily. She is truley a sweety.

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Beau W.