Hi! I’m 16 years old and have been looking at a tegu for quite a while now. I have taken into serious consideration whether I should take in such a large responsibly at this age and while it’s definitely a bad idea for most teens I feel comfortable because I already have my whole future planned out and it’s all set in stone (work at moms buisness after i graduate and not go to college until later in life once I’m settled with a very stable job) I’m working now and paying for all my pets food, care, and medical bills (a few rats, ferret, and three very small reptiles) I have absolutely no intent of getting another pet after this tegu since I do not want to overwhelm myself and I like to spoil my pets instead of just giving them the bare minimum (IE 40 gallon for a leopard gecko instead of a 20 long). I’ve done research for half a year now, interacted with tegus at repticon, talked to many tegu owners and know my stuff pretty well. I’ve tried to convince my mom nicely for about a month or two and even offered to sign a contract to never get another pet again, pay for it all myself, be nice to my sister (haha) etc. she won’t budge, saying i have too many pets. I used to have a lot more and i rehomed them because I didn’t do my research on those sadly (hermit crabs, hamster & rabbit) so I don’t understand the “too many pets” thing when I previously had a lot more at one time. It could be because I didn’t care for them as well as I should have but I’ve proven myself by doing extensive research on all my other pets and working daily to give them above and beyond (2-4 hour playtime for the small mammals). Any tips? Kind of in a hurry because a lovely female tegu has been on Craigslist for a while that I’m hopelessly in love with. Sorry for the long message, have a great day everyone