This is a very different pet and is viralizarando with its cuteness

If you're tired of seeing cats and pet dogs taking over Instagram, MacGyver will show you that there are other options out there. Calm down, we're not talking about the 80's television character, but a lizard that will catch your eye. It may sound strange, but trust us.

Meet MacGyver, a four-year-old red giant teiú living in California, and perhaps the most popular lizard on the face of the earth. The curious reptile has already captured more than 156,000 Instagram followers, 44,000 subscribers on YouTube and even has a LinkedIn profile.

Every day, thousands of people browse MacGyver's photos and videos doing simple tasks like eating, hiking, and more importantly, hugging their owners.

"He can go anywhere he wants in the house, but he chooses to come here and sleep in front of the sofa, where our feet are," explains Scott, responsible for the animal next to his wife Ice.



Among MacGyver's favorite activities is sunbathing in the garden, as Scott explained. During the interview he gave to Dodo, for example, the lizard owner explained that he was enjoying the sunlight in front of the garden at that very moment. "He's probably going to stay there for a few hours, so he's going to use the bathroom and walk alone."

As much as it seems that the animal is too independent and manages to care without the help, in fact it requires a lot of care. According to Scott, many people have the impression that it is easy to take care of reptiles, but they offer several challenges, starting with the cost of keeping animals.

Challenges



"Because they're so big, it's virtually impossible to find prefabricated cages that fit them for less than a fortune," Scott explains. This causes a lot of people to choose to build their own cages, which still generates a high cost.

In addition, animals eat a lot and, when young, mainly meats. "Food costs start to appear much faster than some people can expect."

MacGyver's greatest need, however, is not his dwelling or food, but his greatest passion: sunbathing. As the teus are cold-blooded species, they need the sun to regulate body temperature, as well as the doses of Vitamin D it offers. So when the lizard is not stretching under the sunlight in the garden, it is in areas of the house with climate control made from special lamps and humidifiers.

Old love



For Scott, the love for MacGyver did not come out of nowhere. When he was in university, the young man already had two lizards of the same species, one blue and one red. According to him, with the exception of colors, there is not much difference between creatures.

Despite the good relationship and passion for animals, when he decided to move to China, where he would start a business, he could not take the animals. "I needed to donate them to a family that loved reptiles and lived close to me, but I was completely in love with them," he said.

Scott returned to the United States in 2012, and met MacGyver shortly thereafter. The young creature still has to live for a long time next to its new owner, since the life expectancy of the animals is between 15 and 20 years.

Teiú

The teiú (also called teiú-comum, teju and lagarto-marau) is the largest and most common lizard in Brazil, found from the southern Amazon to the north of Argentina. The species usually inhabit regions of the cerrado, but they are also found in much more humid places, like forests, or regions of temperate climate, as is the case of the Argentine teiús.

When it is in its natural habitat, the lizard exhibits aggressive and voracious behavior, which is not often the case with captive-born domestic creatures that are docile. Among its defense mechanism is the jaw. The bite of an adult teiú is so strong that it can crush human fingers.

MacGyver is one of the defenders of the giant lizard as a pet as this shows that these creatures can also possess feelings and seek for love and comfort as well as mammals. However, it is important to warn that it is extremely difficult to care for reptiles, who need unique special care.

If you are interested in having one of these animals, look for specialist stores, experienced breeders, veterinarians or animal centers in your town to find out before going after one. After all, the idea of ​​the pet is to make your life and his life much happier, not to generate problems or abandonment, is not it?