Every animal has it's own personality and babies are more defensive then adults. They're low on the food chain so it's natural it has little to do with how they were kept. Colombians can be just as tame as other tegus, that's not hear say,.. I had one and working on a second who's calming down just fine. It can take more time then other tegus but it still happens.

They all have the potential to bite, scratch or whip no matter what kind or size they are some are all around more skittish then others.

If you don't have the patience for a Colombian what happens when you get a Red, B&W, Blue or what ever that's just like one? Check out the top two sites on tegus thetegu.com and tegutalk.com and you'll find threads on all types of tegus that were hard to tame.