Owner of Jesse’s Jungle asking for safe return of missing tegus

The owner of a breeding facility is asking the public to return 13 beloved tegus stolen from an enclosure in Charlotte County.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the stolen lizards taken from Jesse Hardin, owner of Jesse’s Jungle.

It’s not an iguana or a baby alligator.

Tegus have a mottled black and white patterning on their scales and can grow to nearly 5-feet in length, according to FWC.

“Tegus are just known for being a large omnivores, easy to work with, mellow, tame lizard,” Hardin said.

Hardin estimates the 13 reptiles are valued at $35,000.

Right now is the prime time to breed tegus.

“This is our last breeding season we are allowed to legally breed outdoors in Florida due to the law changing,” Hardin said.

Someone broke the law when they broke into Hardin’s breeding grounds Tuesday night.

Hardin said there is no way the animals could have escaped on their own.

“You can see that these walls are over 40 inches high,” Hardin said.

Hardin said the thieves returned for more on Wednesday night.

But this time, all of the lizards were secured indoors.

“They pushed in some tool right here and they were trying to shove and lift the lid off,” Hardin said, adding that, “you can see that they clearly shove something in and scraped up all of the wood.”

Hardin just wants the tegus returned in good health by Thursday night. No questions asked. Hardin said if they are returned on Thursday he won’t press charges.

“They are family,” Hardin said. “They are somebody that we see every day and not seeing them is detrimental to us.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office at 941-639-2101.