EDIT: It's actually a female! My new daughter! (I have been lied to. Probably.) Which also explains why she's small, but even then she's still somewhat smaller than the average female.
My new son!!!! He's sort of a rescue? It's a whole ass story, I'll type it all below, but TLDR: his terrarium is miserable and i am very aware of that. I'm gonna fix it as soon as I am able to!
I also love him very very much.
Here's the whole story about him:
So i always wanted a tegu, but definitely wasn't planning to get one just yet. Money is one reason but the main reason would be the fact I am studying in a different town than where i live in. I am away for 2 weeks at time, coming home only every 2nd weekend. And my place at the education town doesn't allow animals and hell im coming home on holidays and itd be a pain to drive huge ass terrarium back and forth.
So i just started studying at this school last year and then in december my sister turns up at our house during one of the weekends i was home during. She has a tegu. I fall in love with him on first sight. She asks ME if i want him.
Here's context on how she got him in the 1st place, mind you, i do not have the closest relationship with my sister so i do not know details, anyways: she breeds crested geckos and used to work in a petstore, so she has contacts in the local reptile community. According to my sister's own words: Her friend and owner/worker (i dont actually know) of the petstore said he has a tegu he needs to get rid of (because nobody was buying him and he needed the space, i think? Smth like that), he asked her if she would take him. Well actually he kinda just gave him to her and then asked for money?? He costed less than a tegu would normally cost, so she hesitantly agreed and paid him the money. Cool, now she has a tegu she didnt actually really want? She wanted to resell him herself (like personally i dont think she would have higher chances than the more well known reptile keeper she got him from but ok), but, for some damn reason, she chose to come to me first...
And of course i cannot say no. But i should. Because i have school for the next 2 and half years and i wont be able to take care of him. FUCK. Why she gotta put me in that position.
Anyways i learn he is supposedly around 3 years old and he spend the previous years in petstore. Apparently my sister was walking around him back when she worked there. Quick google tells me that if indeed he is 3 years old, then he is way Way too small. So i assume he probably wasnt kept in a proper enclosure back in the petstore. And he hadnt had any interaction or love either. I feel bad. I want to give him a good home... But the fucking school... But its only 3 years long!
So i ask sister if she couldnt keep him and id get him after school ends? 3 long long years, but id have the boy at the end and my sister should be able to take care of him considering she has many reptiles of her own and contacts to ask things about tegus + the internet is always there. Or so i assumed.
She agrees and takes him home. I end up being very busy with school and my own mental health and dont really get updates on how hes doing. I just know he got his enclosure updated and has grown considerably. Good!
But then i fimnally have time to visit my sister. And i see the state his enclosure is in. I learn she never feeds him any veggies or proper variety of protein. I also explicitly asked her to try and get him conditioned to humans more. To take him out and handle him. She apparently never did that. Its been over half a year at this point. He was sleeping in his cork at that time. I complain about this to my parents. And my dad suddenly says "i didnt know you wanted him. I would have taken care of him when you would be at school." Like excuse me???? Wdym u never knew??? I thought my parents wouldnt want to or be able to take care of him, so i let my sister keep him. Well goddamn.
And so started the time to convince my parents to get him home. All summer holidays long. My sister suddenly greedily wants like 500€ for him. But my dad says he will pay for him. And when i ask him to actually do pay for him, he doesnt. THE WHOLE FUCKING SUMMER i was getting the green light and then the red light and then the green light... Never getting solid fucking answer, it pissed me off. And then at the end of summer i visit again. And learn that my sister claims he is "aggressive". Thats why she never handled him. She was afraid of putting her hand into the terrarium. I reach into the terrarium and he just smells me. I can pet him and hes showing no aggression whatsoever. At that moment im like "no fucking more. Im moving him home!" And FINALLY my parents are about to move his enclosure. But the enclosure is heavy, dad alone cannot carry it, im too weak and mom shouldnt be carrying heavy things because of medical reasons. I stupidly agree that we wait until my sister and her fiance arrive from a vacation to help us carry it. (Oh btw. my sister left a snake in plastic tub with nothing and then left for a week long a vacation... We were tasked to visit and take care of her animals but like??? Hello?????). We should have just fucking dragged it across the floor because what the decision to wait resulted in... Was another half a year. They didnt move the enclosure and holidays ended. I went back to school and have been dying from being ill all the damn time and struggling with mental health again. But ive been determined about getting the tegu for winter holidays. And no bullshit anymore. And my sister has been repeatedly asking if i really want him for the past few months, clearly wanting to get rid of him already. I really do. And he has been moved here last weekend. I was still at school at that time, but arrived home for this 2nd weekend. I will be leaving again on sunday though... But only for a week and then winter holidays! I will have to leave during them ocassionaly for exams, but should be here home long enough to try and get him used to humans so that my parents are not afraid of him and can take proper care of him while im gone. And also to fix his damn miserable enclosure. Really thought my sister would do fucking better job with all the resources she has. And also she asked for more money for him than during summer holidays! Of course she has- and theres like a single stick and barely big enough cork for the boy to fit in and a bowl in the terrarium. I feel so bad thats how he spent the last year. It must have been so boring. And who knows how his enclosure looked like when he was in the petstore... At least this one is big enough (for now).
I wish... I wish this all didnt happen just when i started attending new fucking school so far away. I do feel kind of selfish. Maybe my sister would have actually found somebody to buy him from her and he could have had better home for a while now. And just because I really want a tegu for personal interests, i've been keeping him away from that possibility. But well, present time, I am determined to do my best for him even with my stupid situation. It will be very busy winter holidays...
_______________________________________
Any tips and warnings and really anything regarding tegus is welcome!! I gotta get him to eat his veggies and go potty in 1 spot. Tips how to achieve that would be great. I also wanna make his enclosure bioactive, so if u know of any plants that will withstand a tegu, please let me know!
gamechangershow
izzy806
discoholicmusic
romaincrisis
snowghoul
areudirty
pixelskylines
tangentwithtanner