Norman's Vet Visit & Clearance

Today was Norman's vet checkup after his surgery. It went super fast and easy since he's been shedding and all the stitches fell off on their own.

Norman let me know -- without a doubt-- that, nothing personal, he hates my guts. :O Ha! Silly boy. His feet are a mess but they are a healing mess. There is still one toe tip that might fall off and he's lost a couple toe nails on his own.

Because he's been so grumpy with me lately, we are going to move him to Joe's house (Joe of the "Kreature is my best friend now and comes on command and is potty training really easily and taps my ankle so I can rub his belly & jowls" house). Norman was raised from a baby by a man and only tolerated the guy's girlfriend.

I'm guessing that Norman (like Kreature) will ADORE Joe. Let's be honest, I adore Joe too! Really! He's my rescue brother. Am I a bit bitter that Kreature is a puppy dog for him when he was a total brat/toad/stinker to me? . . . . . Maybe. But I'm getting over it! ;) Ha!

Joe will continue to make sure shed doesn't build back up on Norman's feet (I'm picturing Norman holding out each hand to Joe while reclining on his chest and purring!) and he'll be fine.

Mostly I'm teasing. I do roll my eyes as I see all the adorable pictures of Kreature with Joe and then look down at the brown spot on my bedroom floor carpet where Kreature pooped. Yep. It's okay. Because Pepper (a bearded dragon) LOVES me and didn't like Joe.

An Update on Kreature

Every day, my rescue brother Joe and my rescue sister Beth and I chat on Facebook about everything from movies to animals to what is frustrating to us in life.

Part of today's discussion revolved around Junior (who is having a tough day) and Kreature. I'll just let you read the screen shots.

First one-- when Joe & I posted at the same time.

Second one-- (after I asked Joe to take pics for me)

The GIF I put on was PERFECT! She was making the jealous/stink face that I was making when I read that!

Well, just because Kreature never ever once did that for me doesn't mean he doesn't love me too! ;) So there! :P

You can see why I had no issues sending Kreature back to Joe. They both adore each other. And maybe Kreature never came to sit with me because I never sat down. I am always going and moving. I can't think of a time when he could have sat with me or asked for his jowls to be scratched. Yep, that must be it.

I'm still a bit jealous too.

I might let Joe watch Norman in a few weeks when I'm on Spring Break. I'm guessing that Norman will do well with Joe because he was raised by a man.

P.S.-- more about Junior in the next post.

Swapping Custody

I share custody of Kreature with my rescue brother, Joe. It was his turn for visitation rights! ;)

So I'm happy-sad or sad-happy that Kreature is now at his dad's house! (hee, hee, hee)

I sent his favorite Target shopping bag, my red dress that he loved to cuddle up in, and his favorite blankies to poop on. Joe is going to potty train him better. Woo hoo!

I'll still post Kreature updates since Joe & I talk everyday, but there won't quite be as much tegu drama without him here to body surf down my stairs or hide under my bed when he's mad at me!

A Kreature IN my Bed!

Yesterday, Kreature went upstairs and disappeared. After quite a bit of searching, I finally found him snuggled up under my son's blankies *on* his bed! Somehow he managed to jump onto his bed so he could an extra soft resting place.

He was NOT happy when I moved him.

Today, after I heard a lot of banging & thumping, I discovered that Kreature had crawled onto my bed!

He started off behind my pillows and then moved down to my soft blankies.

He huffed at me when I pulled the pink blankie back to see him.  Later he moved under my pillow to sleep.

He made sure to sleep in both of the spots where my dogs always sleep. Always! They were so unhappy with him taking their sleeping area.

Kreature is rather spoiled and believes he must now have the softest blankies and most cushiony places to sleep. His cage has several towels and blankies to burrow into instead of bark to dig in. I'm pretty sure I'm ruining him, turning him into a big softie!

Tegu Bathtime

For fun, I wrestle small alligator-like lizards.

Norman somehow believes that if I touch his ouchy feet that he must then cover me with some type of bodily fluids. Last time was poop; tonight was vomit.

yip-pee.

Oy vay!

I may have gotten vomit on my arms and floor and clothes, but I did manage to get off some old shed and get his feet coated with Silvadene cream which helps soften the old skin too.

Here we are after the drying off and cream coating.

Yes, his expression is fairly smug. Mine is not so much.

Kreature has been a brat for the last few days. He broke my bracelet and tail whipped me so hard I got a bruise and he's been restless.

I pulled him out of my large pile of clothes and put him in the bath too. 

After I pulled him out the bath, I wrestled him onto the counter so I could coat his back with Silvadene cream too. He decided a couple weeks ago to rub his shed off by using the heat lamp fixture and ended up with some burns on his back. They aren't bad, but they are starting to shed and I'm trying to keep the dry skin moist.

He did not like that.

I did not end up bleeding or covered in poop or vomit. I did get whipped a few times and was fairly out of breath when I put him back in his tank. 

I'm exhausted.

Oy vay! 

Kreature's Monday

Yep, that about sums up his day. He stayed on his blankies until 2 pm today.


NOTE: Junior is at the vet; no word yet. My tortoises are all outside and I tried taking pics, but my phone is on the fritz and deleted them all. I'll try again.

Updates to follow. Until then, imagine yourself feeling as laid back as this tegu.

Kreature in a Target Bag

Calling him a "Weirdo" is an Understatement! Kreature is happiest when he's curled up in a bag of my clothes. This is where he spends most of his day. Crazy tegu!

Kreature Plays Peek-A-Boo

Kreature wanted out of his cage early today-- around 9 am. He walked into the kitchen, got a drink, and then went directly into my bedroom. Usually he takes a stroll around the kitchen first to check out the tortoises' mercury vapor bulb basking area, the kitchen sink rug, and the back door. He bypassed that today and went right to his Target bag.

In a little bit, I'm going to drag him out from the dark closet and make him bask in the sun on my bedroom floor. He can't spend all his day hiding in a bag! Even if he wants to.

Bored Kreature

I left Kreature locked up in his cage yesterday while I was at church (and not home to supervise him). He was fine at first, still waking up, and not ready to get up.

By the time I got home, he had gotten over the "waking up" part and had actively destroyed his cage. He pulled up his towel and started scratching at the styrofoam underneath. There are stryofoam pellets all over his tank. I need to pull out the shop vacuum and clean it all up.

Just one more thing to add to today.

For now, Kreature is in my clothes bag in my closet. That boy is crazy when it comes to women's clothes! Oy vay! He may need an intervention.

Kreature Eating Video

Salmon Sunday for Kreature

Kreature is becoming a spoiled tegu. He passed over steak the other day because he wanted salmon. Silly tegu! Good thing I had a slice of salmon frozen I could thaw for him.

He ate about half of it and then closed his eyes to digest in the warm sunshine. Every so often, he'd lick his lips.

Norman is not used to fish as a food and didn't have much interest in his salmon. 

Blogger isn't letting me upload my video of Kreature eating and so I'll post it directly on my Facebook rescue page. :)

The Glamour of Rescue or "How I ended up wearing Poop."

I bought a bigger cage for Kreature last night and spent the day getting it cleaned up and ready for him to use it. Once he was in the bigger cage, I could put Norman in the one Kreature was in.


Since Kreature spent the day wrapped in one of my dresses under the Target bag (such a weirdo! ;) ), I got everything set up for him without having to move him. I moved his dog bed (minus the stuffing because he ripped it all out) and his piece of slate and added a water dish. The sliding glass doors in front are how I get him in and out.

Norman has been in a 40 gallon sick tank on my craft room table and had to be moved into the smaller cage. If I had to get him out, I might as well clean his wounds.

Yeah, that didn't work so well.

At all.

This is me covered with Norman's poop. After wrestling him out of the tank, into a towel, holding him tightly so he'd stop tail-whipping me, and keeping his mouth pointed away from my fingers, he did the only thing he could to show me how much he hated me.

He pooped.

While still holding him tightly, I had my daughter use a towel to wipe up the pee running down my legs.

I did manage to get him into his new cage. He was pretty freaked out by it at first. It has his same box and blanket in it, but it's still new. Every time I got near him, he'd start hissing & huffing at me.

But I swear he was laughing at me for having to shower after caring for him. See him grinning? He was proud of himself! ;)

Ah, such is the life of the rescue. Thank goodness for the Sanitary cycle on my washing machine and Chlorox wipes.

A Selfie with Kreature

 Such a handsome boy!

A Kreature in my Clothes

I have a bag of clothes in my closet that I plan to give to my local thrift store. For some reason, Kreature has decided these are HIS clothes and this is HIS new napping spot. He grabbed a brown skirt with a silky lining down from my closet shelf and he wraps himself in that too some days.

He's got a thing for silky soft women's clothes. I've even moved them both out of the way, and he finds a way to pull them down. Once, he had the Target bag on his back and he was carrying it around like a tortoise shell.

When I can't find the lizard (which is surprisingly easy even though he's a big guy!), I usually check under the clothes in my closet. He's never happy when I wake him up by moving the bag aside.

Here's a video of him in my clothes bag: 

Somewhere along the way.....

I think back to the dreams I had for myself and my life when I left high school.

Somewhere along the path to growing up, those dreams totally disappeared.

And here I am now- standing in my bathroom, holding a 15+ pound lizard, taking a selfie while sticking out my tongue to show him how he should do it.

And tomorrow?

I'll be picking up another tegu that needs help.

Because who knew I'd grow up to be a middle aged, slightly pudgy Mormon mom with three kids and a house that's a zoo who has more than one tegu? Not me! ;) I was thinking of being an elementary school teacher.

Nope.

Instead I'll have a Kreature in my closet and a tegu named Norman to entertain me.

Welcome to the zoo!

the Kreature in my Closet

Kreature disappeared today. It took awhile to find him. Actually, it was a moving bag of clothes that gave him away. ;) 

For some reason, he loves the weight of the clothes on top of him.

He made himself a nest in my favorite brown skirt that had fallen on the ground and pulled the bag on top of him.

He was NOT happy when I pulled the bag off. I'm thinking he needs a bean bag to burrow under and he'd be happier (and safer without the plastic on him).

the Kreature Under the Bed

Guess who is hiding under the bed because I tried to put him in the bath?

Kreature is shedding and super irritable as he's rubbing on everything trying to get the shed off. I picked him up to carry him into the bathroom. He hated being held, scratched me to get down, and then hid under the bed. 🙄

Like a toddler! 

It took almost 10 minutes for him to come out. 

I stood there wondering when exactly I had lost control of my life. :P 

Kreature's Holiday

Kreature had a big day yesterday with lots of exploration. We had to switch out his cage for a bark free one (the bark was irritating the hubby's allergies) and this boy needed a bath.

At first, he fought me. After he relaxed, he spent an hour soaking with his eyes mostly closed!

Then he went for a walk about while we kept cleaning the front room.

After the carpet was clean and dry and the room was ready, Kreature checked out his new cage.

At first he wasn't sure about it. I had to run a couple errands and when I came back, Kreature wasn't in his cage. When I asked my boys where he was, they told me Kreature was sleeping in Belle's dog crate.

I moved him back to his own cage (he wasn't happy). But soon discovered that an upside down dog bed makes a very comfortable hide. His cage is temporary until I can get him a bigger one, but considering how often he is out and about, I think he'll be okay.

The "Kreature" ON the Stairs

I had to run a couple errands this afternoon and planned to be away for at least two hours. Like normal, I locked Kreature up in his box so he would stay contained while I wasn't home to supervise.

Imagine my surprise when I came home today and my youngest attempted to run upstairs to his room.

There was Kreature, chilling on the TOP step. I didn't think tegus could or would climb! But he did. No idea how he got out of his box, but he did. He was nice enough to poop on the kitchen floor instead of the front room carpet which I really, really appreciate. :)

I picked him up, carried him downstairs, and helped him into his box.

Apparently the tegu wants to roam upstairs and down. Crazy guy!

Upping my Sign Game

For the longest time, I had a sign on my door that warned sales people not to ignore my "NO SOLICITING" sign or I would feed them to the evil iguana that lived upstairs.

Well, it's been months since I've had an evil iguana and the sign needed an upgrade. I kept "meaning to do it" for weeks until today when I came from to find police cars surrounding my next door neighbor's house. Someone broke in to her house today while she was there. :(

That was motivation enough for me. I retyped my "WARNING" sign. I'm quite pleased with it.

I love the irony of my front door "LOVE" sign and the fact that it has a bunch of glitter hearts taped to it. It works great with the "WARNING" and "No Solicitors" signs, I think! ;)

Here it is up close:

Kreature, on the other hand, isn't overly impressed with his new duties as "Guard Tegu." Can you tell? 

NOTE: "Argentinian tegu" just sounded better than "Argentine" tegu but either would have worked.