Boon's been stolen..

[JohnMatthew]

so here's the situation..

A couple weeks ago we had some cooler weather and I assumed Boon went back down for some more sleep.. I didn't want to bother him but after such a warm day today and all the rain we had last night I couldn't wait any longer so I dug out his sleep box. Low and behold, empty.. I upturned his entire enclosure(down to the hardware cloth) he was definitely gone.. No way in hell he can get out on his own.. Someone had to come into my fenced in yard, to the enclsure right next to my damn house and take him out.. I started calling petstores(assume someone who is going to steal a tegu isn't in it for the pet). The third petstore I call says, "yeah, a guy was in here a couple weeks ago trying to sell me a 4 foot tegu.. said he found it walking down the road".. Great I think.. I call the police, get an officer out here and explain everything to him including my hot lead.. He basically tells me there's nothing he can do.. the person selling the tegu could just be someone who found a tegu that isn't mine.... he tells me he'll file the report but not to get my hopes up.. I called the petstore back.. this person has come in again since he brought the tegu to buy mice and rats.. The owner is very understanding and agrees to give my phone number and name to the "tegu owner" next time they come and tell him i'm interested in buying the tegu.. Now i'm basically stuck here waiting and hoping the person goes back in for more food, and is taking good care of Boon(granted I understand there's a chance it's not Boon but the coincidences and timeframes are pretty hard to ignore).. I'm hopefully going to meet with this guy soon and see the tegu and he better pray it's not mine.

 

[TEGU_JAKE]

good luck trying to find him

 

[kaa]

Thats crazy. I hope it's yours. Keep us updated.

 

[eddyjack]

Wow that's sad! I certainly hope you find him. That was good thinking to call surrounding pet stores, way to go!

 

[Adam87]

id give him the five digit pay out alright

 

[White_Lotus]

How in the name of all that is holy do you STEAL a tegu out ofsomeone's backyard...what selfishness drives a person to steal a 4ft tegu ten expect someone NOT to notice -.- i would shoot him on sight. in the head. twice. the nerve of some people these days!

 

[Adam87]

hey any word on ur tegu just curious

 

[JohnMatthew]

I finally tracked down the person who "found" Boon. His story is his mother, who lives a few houses down from me, called him about an "alligator" in her yard so he came and caught him. He went to the petstores around town trying to find out what it was and how to take care of him. Boon was living in his indoor hot-tub for about a week before escaping into the outdoors. He promises to call me if ever he sights Boon. To be honest, I don't believe he came into my yard and took Boon. I believe what happened is one of the workers who'd been laying cable down our street last month took him out to show off and ended up losing control and just walking away from the situation. I guess a fence is not enough sometimes. I can't really get the sheriff to investigate further, he wasn't even sure my enclosure was escape proof asking questions like, "are you sure he couldn't have chewed through that?", in regards to the underground rubbermaid hide with 0 holes in it. I'm extremely bummed out about this whole situation but still praying for a Boon sighting so I can get him home.

 

[VARNYARD]

Dang bro, I hate to hear about Boon, I hope he shows up.

 

[Adam87]

hey dont sweat it bro im sure you'll find him i mean another member here lost the tegu about a month or 2 ago and he ended up finding him about a week ago so dont give up man and keep us posted and if u need some back up because some idiot did steal him let me kno i'll go down to FL and show some east coast love but seriously good luck

 

[txrepgirl]

Could this maybe be your Tegu ?

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[HorseCaak]

Could this maybe be your Tegu ?

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What's a "Taggoo?"
Where is the "a" in Tegu? Reporters are too busy to do a little research before making stories... Anyways, this story is going to give another reason to restrict lizards in the U.S.!

Hope you find your Tegu soon John!

 

[carcharios]

Could you leave your fence open and bait your lost Tegu with some chicken? You'd be surprised how well reptiles can recall location.

I lost my gigantic Day Gecko, Ferd, years ago when I lived in Ft. Lauderdale. A tree rat had eaten through the screen on our deck and Ferd escaped from our third story condo. I would occassionally see Ferd running up the side of the condo or hanging out by the pool, but he was never in reach. Two months later, guess who wanders back through the hole in the screen and shows up in my porch? Sometimes its better to leave an opening so that the lizard can get back in.

 

[JohnMatthew]

Thanks all for the advice, condolences. I'm pretty sure that's not Boon in Ocala National Forest, it's a good 40 miles south of me. As for baiting him that could work, though he's 15 miles away, the person who'd been keeping him said I'm welcome to come out and look whenever I want.

 

[wyattroa]

Thanks all for the advice, condolences. I'm pretty sure that's not Boon in Ocala National Forest, it's a good 40 miles south of me. As for baiting him that could work, though he's 15 miles away, the person who'd been keeping him said I'm welcome to come out and look whenever I want.

My guess it the guy already off loaded the tegu to someone else..sad but I just have that feeling.
Robert

 

[carcharios]

Yeah, unfortunately, I think the same thing. The guy probably did unload him and now feels bad. Maybe you can contact the Ocala Fish and Game, etc. and request that they give you the reptile if they can locate it. Not sure if they'd do this but you never know. Worth a shot.