Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am a snake guy and currently do not have any tegus. I do really love them though. When I was a kid I worked in a pet shop. And all the pet shops carrieed Chillian Dwarf tegus. They got about 20 inches and were whitish and brick red with nice dark spots. They were not a true tegu but beautiful. They were very common. Now I have not seen them offered for sale anywhere in almost 2 decades. They were very nervous and did not do to well in captivity. Anyone know hhat I am talking about??

Dont laugh but when i got back into lizards one of the first lizards i looked for was the dwarf tegu . But do to the lack of them i ended getting an Argentine . Great decision , But i would still like to get a dwarf if one is available

This spe is now protected in Chili
I had a trio in the 90's. Extraordinary spe, but very "nasty" !

Well, they are very flighty and don't do well in captivity. heh heh

Since they are protected and people lost interest, they just sort fell out the pet trade. They weren't profitable to breed in captivity since the interest was low. Like you said, I don't think they have been seen for sale in the past 10-12 years although someone will come up with a story about them here and there. Many countries such as Australia, Brazil, and Chile are beginning to regulate exportation of their wildlife to prevent over harvesting.

Money is the key, not "interest".
When a specie is easy to export at very low price offer is ok, then demand is ok, even for a "difficult" specie.
When export become complicated the prices become too high. Combinated with a demand limited to "specialistes" the specie is not imported/exported.
The captive breeding problem is not a problem ! Captive breeding Varanus exanthematicus is virtualy nul. But this sp is one of the more exported WC reptile. The price is the key.

>>Money is the key, not "interest".
>>When a specie is easy to export at very low price offer is ok, then demand is ok, even for a "difficult" specie.
>>When export become complicated the prices become too high. Combinated with a demand limited to "specialistes" the specie is not imported/exported.
>>The captive breeding problem is not a problem ! Captive breeding Varanus exanthematicus is virtualy nul. But this sp is one of the more exported WC reptile. The price is the key.

Sure, money ties into interest. But look at the Green Ameiva. They are easy to breed or obtain, and inexpensive, so you would think demand would be up. However, they are flighty and not conducive to being handled. I think that keeps the interest low and people don't want to keep or breed them. Even though Chilean Dwarf Tegus are protected now, if they were a popular species that held interest, then they would have been bred in captivity and would be numerous here in the states.

The Bearded Dragon is also protected and cannot be exported, but the interest was high enough in the beginning to keep their numbers up through captive breeding. The prices were reasonable and they have got to be the top selling lizard in America.

So sometimes it is money, but if enough interest is present, then people will do what it takes to get the animals into the pet trade.

Ok for Amevia, but just take another ex.
Varanus exanthematicus is one of the lizard that had, for a very long time, a great succes in the pet trade. He's objet of a extreme insterrest, export/import by very great number in US and Europe.
But the captive breding is extremely rare, because of the combinaison of bad cares and extremely low prices for WC specimens (bb or adults).
If tomorow V. exanthematicus became totaly protected i sure in only 10 years he will come one of the rarest species in captivity. The problem his the extreme low price for easy to find WC and not so easy to bred lizard. Pogonas are extremely easy to bred, just like mouse.