The Tale of the Lizard

It’s been an eventful (and exhausting!) week, spent cleaning and decorating the small granny flat we rent out at the mill. The idea is that the occupants keep half an eye on the place for us when we aren’t there and the rent keeps Neil in marble blocks. But recently we’ve had a bit of a blip (being a landlord isn’t all buttercups and daisies!) and found ourselves with only a three foot monitor lizard in occupation, staring balefully from the bottom of a tank. Apparently there had also been a Burmese python, but fortunately that had already left.


I haven’t a clue how to care for a large reptile. It didn’t look in great shape. The water bowl was empty - did they drink water? And if so how often? One of the heat lamps wasn’t working either; was the lizard likely to die from hypothermia? And what on earth do they eat? A friend called a friend who worked in a reptile house and I got the answers I needed.

We managed to keep the lizard alive anyway, and last night someone came and took it away. Very relieved. They have disgusting eating habits and they smell terrible! But it was an experience (might appear in a story someday). And yes, I did pick it up!

Why don’t we have normal tenants with normal pets?  There's no answer to that one!