BaiYing509
New Member
- Messages
- 17
I am new to the whole reptile world. Recently someone turned 2 tegus loose in our neighborhood. I have only recently realized that I have been adopted by the one that wasn't caught last spring. It sure took me a long time to figure out all the little clues, strange scat, claw marks, strange noises on the roof, weird smell lingering, kills in the tree overhanging my driveway with only tails of prey left, birds pulverized, etc. But now that I know and she is still here I want to help her. It will soon be getting very cold here at night, below freezing on some nights. I need help please! I want to make a hiding box with warming equipment in it to keep her from freezing. She hasn't let me see her so she is quite elusive, and I know she will want a place to keep other animals out where she will feel safe. She is burrowing under my ramp now, but soon that won't be enough. I have placed a rubber industrial rug over the bottom half to keep as much heat in as possible. Because she has been here for several months now none of the other pests like possums, armadillos, feral cats, etc come in the yard, which I love her for! The scent of lizard is all over us and the yard and the feral cats don't bother my dogs and I anymore when we go for walks. There are so many bonuses to her being here, so I want to help as much as I can. I contacted wildlife but they want to kill her. Animal Control will do nothing and rescues that responded don't believe I have a lizard! Please help! Also, I made a landing post for her since she flings herself off the roof, one day she almost landed on me scaring all of us to death! She goes up by going from my wheelchair ramp up the awning and onto the roof. So I made a large post out of a very tall outdoor vase and put a muck tub on top of it. Since then I put industrial rug on top and secured with duct tape to keep it from sliding as her claw marks on plain tub showed she did not have fun landing and she also went back to flinging herself at my hibiscus in a planter and knocking it to the ground, which must be scary! She is amazingly intelligent, has never hissed at my 2 boxers, and has been so very helpful. I wanted to get someone to take her where she could get the care she needs, but since no one is stepping up, I need to do what I can to help her. Please help! I know next to nothing, although I have spent a lot of nights reading about monitors and tegus trying to figure out what she is. I thought she was a monitor, but the tree climbing and activity level suggest a tegu. Also, she may have been a matched pair with the one that was caught earlier this spring, as I found eggs in a planter. She positions herself on the roof every day right over the planter where her eggs used to be. I am heartbroken, as at the time I did not know they belonged to such a creature and I threw them away when I redid all the potting soil in my planters for the year. Please help!
