GEORGETOWN, Texas — Darbi, the Asian water monitor lizard, is back home after he went missing in Georgetown on Tuesday.
T.J. Scott is Darbi's owner and he is in the process of building a new permanent home for the reptile.
Scott said the wooden and glass 10 by 10 structure will be indoor and outdoor so Darbi will have plenty of room to roam.
This is after the 15-pound lizard got out of his temporary tent-like enclosure on Tuesday.
Scott and Darbi's other lizard parent, Logan Verhagen, were sent on an emotional roller coaster ride that lasted for several days last week after his escape.
"I had originally noticed Darbi was missing when we both got home from work Tuesday night. We went in there to check on him and we were like holy cow, Darbi is gone," said Verhagen. "So we tore the whole garage apart looking for this kid, no signs of him...So Wednesday morning, we wanted to do the right thing for Darbi's safety and called animal control and the sheriff's department and let them know that he was missing so if anyone did see him, we didn't have anyone actually hurt him...Through the hunt, we had police on ATV's driving the golf course and setting up this pig trap."
Scott also searched for Darbi.
"I've been searching nonstop," said Scott. "I've been up til two in the morning and each night. I keep looking around...Just worried you know. That's my boy. I see him every day, touch him every day, it sucks that he got out."
Verhagen said Darbi's disappearance took a toll.
"We haven't been sleeping properly, we haven't been eating properly," said Verhagen. "He's like our dog. We love him more than anything. If we didn't love him, we wouldn't have put this much time and effort and everything else into this situation. He is just like one of our kids. We love him to pieces. And then yesterday, we were at HEB and we got a call. And I was like, we found Darbi! We basically left our HEB basket, sprinted home to come to get this kid. We were so excited he's home."
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She said Darbi was discovered Friday night, a mile and a half away from their Georgetown home, in Sun City. A snake handler found him.
"Really grateful for John in Sun City who had captured him and brought him home," said Verhagen. "He couldn't have found a better person in Sun City than a snake wrangler who knows how to do this stuff with reptiles."
Now, Verhagen said it is all about extra TLC for Darbi.
"We have been feeding him," said Verhagen. "Obviously, he hasn't had food in a couple of days now. We've been extra worried about that so we've been feeding him his normal diet of chicken hearts, chicken breasts, quail eggs. He's been really excited about it."
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