Help!
Just today, about an hour and a half ago, I pulled my Juvinille Tegu out of his tank to feed him, he has been great, and never tries to escape, always calm and managable.
before i could get him into his feeding tub he freaked out, jumped down, and ran. I was careless, and have been planning on buying a leash for him so whenever he comes out of his tank he's still leashed, but kept putting it off.
He ran straight into my storage room adjacent to my bedroom.
I ran after him, and almost had him, but he ran further back into the room, this is a big storage room. maybe 20' by 10', takes up a good part of my basement.

I looked and looked, turning over what i can, but its a mess back there, and after about half an hour of searching i know the chances of me finding him by picking boxes up are slim, even slimmer if he's gotten into the wall, as its an unfinished room.

I've set two clamp lamps up, two heat pads, moved his faviorite hide and water dish back there, moved the ten gallon tank with crickets in it back there on the floor, and even have some of his canned food in a kitty litter bucket on its side.

Taking everything out of the room is out of the question, as there is nowhere else for it to go, and even if there were, there are things that won't come out that he can hide under.
Im tempted to just start throwing things out the door, but don't think that would go over well, as none of it is mine.

Is there anything i've forgotten to tryin find him, anything else that might help lure him out.
I'm worried that with night approaching he may fall asleep in some corner of the room, and that if he does, he may get too cold to come out for anything.
If he were bigger this wouldnt really be a problem, but he's so small i think if i had a year to find him back there i wouldnt.

Please, any suggestions, i want to go start looking through, but i'm worried if i do he won't be able to find the heat pads, and will only get more and more scared.



Any suggestions would be appreciated, if they help me to find him i'll never be able to thank you all enough.

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"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

You can try a rodent live trap cage. Put a live mouse in a clear container with only access from the front.
And don't beat yourself up. It's happened to most of us at one time or another.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you."

Thanks. But i still feel like ****. I've told myself since i got him that because of his size and speed i needed a leash, but kept putting it off, because i wanted to make one and save some money, when i pulled him out he was acting a little squirmy and i should have just put him back, but i did'nt want him to get used to being put down if he acted up.

He is tiny, he wouldn't be able to eat a adult mouse, i'm not even sure if he'd be able to take a pinky, even if i could get live pinkies around here.
But it may be worth a try with crickets, what do you mean by
"only access front(from?) the front"
Wouldnt the mouse walk right out from the front?

Also, I have two clamp lamps set up by the heat pads, should i turn the overhead fluorecent light off, or leave it on, will it make a difference?

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"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

he might be attracted to the light, so i would turn off the over head one and just leave on the heat lamps and pads.

Don't feel too bad. Mike is right, we have all done it at one point. I thought the 90 gallon was secure but it wasn't, and the frogs got the door open. I ran over when i heard Trevor scream. He was pinned in a corner by my cat. Took me an hour to then find Peanut Butter.

He'll turn up, give him time.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Thanks. Luckily my cats are locked out of the room he's in.
I'm just not sure he'll be able to see, or feel the heat from wherever he is, Its a large room, and the door is in the middle of the long wall, so he could have ran either way when he went in.
I'm also worried he will get too inactive to find the heat, the room gets really cold, even during the day.

__________________
"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

If the floor is not carpeted, put some lines of flour down so he has to walk through them, that way you know what direction he was headed.

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“The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ (I found it!) but ‘That’s funny…'"
- Isaac Asimov



TKE:TT:118

Good luck and I hope you find him

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Just because you have an animal that isnt dead doesnt mean you know how to take care of it

Thanks. Im going to do the flour trick, as it is a concrete floor, but i'm not sure if he's moving around back there at all, or if he's hidden in one of the corners under everything.

__________________
"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

Have you thought about slowly gutting the storage room?

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MARSHA
A man without a woman is a bachelor, A woman without a man is a genius!.

We have enough youth, how about a fountain of smart!

i agree, sometimes the best way to find something, is to clean.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.