Logie_Bear
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- 532
I think my tegu is related to the raptors from Jurassic Park. She tests the enclosure for weaknesses, she's learned to to get through doors... she's just a clever, clever girl. Perhaps too clever.
That one... when she looks at you, you can see she's working things out.
So anyways, I just went through the ordeal of an escaped tegu. On Friday, I had to go into work even though this is my normal day off. I think she knew something was amiss, as she normal gets to be out and roam all day during the weekends. I took her out Friday morning, let her poop in the bath and then I had to just leave some food in the cage and leave her for the day. Saturday, I ran out early to do some errands that morning, and I noticed she wasn't out basking. But, it was pretty early in the AM so I didn't think much of it. When I came back around 2, she still wasn't out so I opened up the cage, to check her hide.
No tegu.
This is the point when raw panic begins to set in, and I dig up the entire enclosure searching for her. Needless to say, she is nowhere to be found and I realize she must have gotten out sometime the day before. My tegu has been missing for almost 24 hours, and I didn't even know it. I felt SO guilty! I put my apartment on lock-down and begin to systematically tear the place apart. You wouldn't think that a 2-foot lizard would be so hard to find, but at her size she can still squeeze into some seriously tight spaces. Well, by nightfall I still had no signs of where my tegu could be hiding and was pretty shaken up by the whole ordeal. I decided to change tactics and I went to my local Petco and got some lighting stands to set up some basking spots around the house, and I set out some thawed rodents as well. I couldn't think of a way she possibly could have gotten out of the house, but I had torn apart everything in the home and felt my chances of finding her were looking bleak.
Imagine my surprise when I wake up the next morning and my tegu is lying in front of my window, basking in the light like a fat cat. I don't think I've ever felt such relief. I am completely at a loss as to WHERE she was hiding all that time! I swear, I looked everywhere she possibly could have gone. But I guess that goes to show you- don't ever underestimate the tenacity of your gu! I have now redoubled my efforts to complete her adult enclosure and hope to have it finished in a week or 2.
Here's the spoiled princess with her new free-roam basking spot in my living room:
That one... when she looks at you, you can see she's working things out.
So anyways, I just went through the ordeal of an escaped tegu. On Friday, I had to go into work even though this is my normal day off. I think she knew something was amiss, as she normal gets to be out and roam all day during the weekends. I took her out Friday morning, let her poop in the bath and then I had to just leave some food in the cage and leave her for the day. Saturday, I ran out early to do some errands that morning, and I noticed she wasn't out basking. But, it was pretty early in the AM so I didn't think much of it. When I came back around 2, she still wasn't out so I opened up the cage, to check her hide.
No tegu.
This is the point when raw panic begins to set in, and I dig up the entire enclosure searching for her. Needless to say, she is nowhere to be found and I realize she must have gotten out sometime the day before. My tegu has been missing for almost 24 hours, and I didn't even know it. I felt SO guilty! I put my apartment on lock-down and begin to systematically tear the place apart. You wouldn't think that a 2-foot lizard would be so hard to find, but at her size she can still squeeze into some seriously tight spaces. Well, by nightfall I still had no signs of where my tegu could be hiding and was pretty shaken up by the whole ordeal. I decided to change tactics and I went to my local Petco and got some lighting stands to set up some basking spots around the house, and I set out some thawed rodents as well. I couldn't think of a way she possibly could have gotten out of the house, but I had torn apart everything in the home and felt my chances of finding her were looking bleak.
Imagine my surprise when I wake up the next morning and my tegu is lying in front of my window, basking in the light like a fat cat. I don't think I've ever felt such relief. I am completely at a loss as to WHERE she was hiding all that time! I swear, I looked everywhere she possibly could have gone. But I guess that goes to show you- don't ever underestimate the tenacity of your gu! I have now redoubled my efforts to complete her adult enclosure and hope to have it finished in a week or 2.
Here's the spoiled princess with her new free-roam basking spot in my living room:
