m3s4
New Member
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Very sad night for my gf and I. Our Tegu, Sam, was mauled by a dog I recently took into our home. (This dog is now being removed from the home and placed into a rescue)
The dog was inside of a large iron cage. This particular dog cage has two hinging slide type locks. The dog was able to shake and manipulate the cage enough to get the top lock to open. That's when all hell broke loose.
At the time this dog got out, Sam was with our 5 year old B&W Tegu inside of a small nylon dog carrier sleeping while I was away running errands. I came back to find that when the dog escaped, he was able to bite and pounce on Sam through the nylon sides of the carrier - enough to cause severe trauma and I'm sure, internal bleeding and/or organ damage as well as massive damage to his tail.
Needless to say, he succumbed to his injuries and his life was cut short by a very unfortunate, as well as preventable, accident.
Sam was extremely tame for a Black and Gold Tegu and we worked very hard to socialize him with people and got him to the point he didn't need a harness of any kind while basking, roaming or walking in parks or at home.
He slept in multiple blankets and enjoyed a heating pad on low while resting or sleeping. As Karri and I used to joke, "He knew no dirt", and was very fond of pillows, piles of sheets and bed-spreads.
His favorite part of the day was soaking after a nice bask, where we'd let warm, gentle water from the shower sprinkle him and his back. Every now and again he'd get rubbed down with pure coconut-oil - typically before and after sheds.
I think the only thing he enjoyed more then a warm shower (or eating eggs and turkey) was when we would take him on trips and walk him in the dog stroller Karri got him...He was as relaxed and content as could be while we pushed him along and people would come up to check out, what they thought was a baby - only to find an adorable, extremely healthy, happy Tegu peering back at them.
He was also the star of the show at the Pueblo Car show here in Colorado for the passed 3 years...Many people knew us BECAUSE of Sam - not the other way around. Many people were just as interested in him, as they were some of the hot-rods at the show.
We raised him from a 5 week-old little adolescent (And had NO idea just how laid back, fun, cool, intelligent and emotional he would be) until his untimely death.
He is and always will be, greatly missed.
Our little boy.
-Tommy and Karri
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The dog was inside of a large iron cage. This particular dog cage has two hinging slide type locks. The dog was able to shake and manipulate the cage enough to get the top lock to open. That's when all hell broke loose.
At the time this dog got out, Sam was with our 5 year old B&W Tegu inside of a small nylon dog carrier sleeping while I was away running errands. I came back to find that when the dog escaped, he was able to bite and pounce on Sam through the nylon sides of the carrier - enough to cause severe trauma and I'm sure, internal bleeding and/or organ damage as well as massive damage to his tail.
Needless to say, he succumbed to his injuries and his life was cut short by a very unfortunate, as well as preventable, accident.
Sam was extremely tame for a Black and Gold Tegu and we worked very hard to socialize him with people and got him to the point he didn't need a harness of any kind while basking, roaming or walking in parks or at home.
He slept in multiple blankets and enjoyed a heating pad on low while resting or sleeping. As Karri and I used to joke, "He knew no dirt", and was very fond of pillows, piles of sheets and bed-spreads.
His favorite part of the day was soaking after a nice bask, where we'd let warm, gentle water from the shower sprinkle him and his back. Every now and again he'd get rubbed down with pure coconut-oil - typically before and after sheds.
I think the only thing he enjoyed more then a warm shower (or eating eggs and turkey) was when we would take him on trips and walk him in the dog stroller Karri got him...He was as relaxed and content as could be while we pushed him along and people would come up to check out, what they thought was a baby - only to find an adorable, extremely healthy, happy Tegu peering back at them.
He was also the star of the show at the Pueblo Car show here in Colorado for the passed 3 years...Many people knew us BECAUSE of Sam - not the other way around. Many people were just as interested in him, as they were some of the hot-rods at the show.
We raised him from a 5 week-old little adolescent (And had NO idea just how laid back, fun, cool, intelligent and emotional he would be) until his untimely death.
He is and always will be, greatly missed.
Our little boy.
-Tommy and Karri
