Guernsey's 'largest lizard rescue': Missing three-foot-long reptile returned to owner

A full-body photo of the large lizard once caught.
Teppy the tegu is the scaly culprit behind Guernsey's "largest lizard rescue" Credit: GSPCA

A nearly three-foot-long lizard has been returned to its Guernsey owner after making a dramatic escape.

The island's animal rescue charity, the GSPCA, was contacted on Friday 11 August after the "extremely large lizard" was spotted roaming around the parish of Castel.

Animal welfare officer, Neil Hughes, said it was the "largest lizard rescue I have been called out [to]".

The reptile had to be "restrained" and, once caught, was so large it had to be kept in a dog kennel.

Once caught, Teppy was kept in a kennel as "we didn't have a vivarium large enough" Credit: GSPCA

The lizard was found to be a tegu - a reptile native to Central and South America which lives on a diet of both plants and animals.

The reptile has since been identified as "Teppy" and has been reunited with her owner who lived nearby.

Owner Chloe Tyne explained that Teppy the Tegu had "broken out of her enclosure through the lamp hatch":

In a post on social media, she said: "Teppy is safe and sound now in an escape-proof home where she’s nice and warm.

"Sounds as though she went for a walk to the pet shop around 50 meters from our home."

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