Help with lost tegu

[Sirhc401]

So yesterday my girlfriend and I may a stupid mistake and on a normal occasion would never do this, but for some reason we were not thinking and thought our 2 month old red tegu was slow and was being calm around the house so let's get Him some sunlight, well he was fine at first, then he was getting a little far and as we went to get him he bolted super fast past a fence into the back yard and found bushes to hide in. Later that day we saw him basking and he went back into the bushes as I dived in the needle infested plants and had him running back and forth in there till I lost site of him in the dense shrubs. We waited to see if he would come out again but no luck. The next day, we kept looking and we clipped and tore down the bushes he was hiding in but could not find him, there are more bushes in the yard along with tons of pine needles and logs. But they are spaced out from the bushes he was in, how far could he have gotten? And is all hope lost? We tried planting water for him and some cat food but it just got swarmed by ants with no tegu attention. Is it possible to still find him? . We live in the desert I'm not sure if he can last long

 

[james.w]

Your best bet would be to set some sort of trap with food in it and hope for the best. My guess is he is gone for good, but it's worth a shot. Where do you live??

 

[Sirhc401]

I live in the antelope valley in California, in lake los Angeles. I tried doing a food trap yesterday but only the ants got to it

 

[kellen.watkins]

Yeah that's a rough situation who knows how far he coulda went

 

[Sirhc401]

So it is hopeless then?

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Nothing is hopeless, Sirhc. I had a friend whose veiled chameleon escaped into the backyard and was AWOL for over a year. By the time my friend found him again, it had ballooned to nearly the size of a house cat. Who knows what, or who, that thing was eating. I will keep my fingers crossed for your tegu.

 

[Kebechet]

Always always, always have your tegu on a leash. It's easy for them to escape into places we can't get them. It isn't hopeless though. I know at least one member had theirs go missing for months, and finally caught it in their yard.

 

[Sirhc401]

We actually have a leash and like I said stupid mistake we were literally not thinking. I guess I will keep looking for him.

 

[kellen.watkins]

Yeah its a crazy situation but don't ever lose hope, I lost my lil extreme a few weeks ago and found her, please keep looking and be persistant, I didn't mean to detour you from searching

 

[Aardbark]

I wish you all the luck in finding your little guy. Maybe set up a kind of temporary outdoor home? Like a nice warm basking lamp shining on a rock for him, with water and food nearby. And maybe use some kind of food that is really smelly, so that it would attract his attention? Hope this helps.

 

[Sirhc401]

Food does not work. The ants swarm it in minutes. Still doing all I can

 

[Aardbark]

Isnt there a "Keep Away" ant powder? Maybe that to get rid of the ants. Also, maybe look for holes? He is proably burrowed somewhere.

 

[Sirhc401]

We found him!!!!!! It took six days we went through the bushes we saw him last and he ended up in a bush next to them that we had not checked yet. We tore down all of the pine needles and I just started barreling in with bare hands and we found him and he ran to another bush where we cornered him and caught him lunging into the spiky brush. Pinned him down! I sustained scrapes and cuts but that is nothing compared to the joy I have for finding him!!!! XD

---

He was gone for six days. My mind is blown right now

 

[james.w]

Congrats on finding him and never giving up.

 

[Rhetoric]

Yay! Congrats on finding him, its crazy to hear stories about people finding them after days/months missing. I would probably get a fecal test done at some point if it were me. He could have eaten something icky. Glad you never gave up on him!

 

[Sirhc401]

I would post the picture I took of him when we first got him, but I am nit sure how to upload pictures from my phone on to here [/quote][/code][/php]