The local paper had a story today about the fact they have to get rid of it, due to it being an exotic animal. I had no idea you could buy gators off the internet, and the local authorities told them they couldn't flush it down the toilet to dispose of it. I really hope I can find the local story online.
http://www.dailyevergreen.com/story/27800
Delta Upsilon purchases scaly reptilian roommate
Several fraternity members wanted to have a different sort of pet living in the house.
Emily Kitts
The Daily Evergreen
Published: 02/18/2009
Story Tags
* Delta Upsilon
Delta Upsilon fraternity does not have a traditional cat or dog for a pet – it has an alligator named Grizz.
Several Delta Upsilon members, including sophomore sport management major Quinn Lambert and freshman business major Thomas Lawrence, decided that they wanted a unique pet for their fraternity.
“We were sitting around one night, and we saw something about it online,” Lambert said. “We wanted to get something that no one had.” Grizz came from a reptile dealer on the Internet, and he was delivered overnight to the fraternity house. He is only about a foot long, but he is still young, Lawrence said.
Lambert said the alligator is about three months old, and he will grow about six to 10 inches a year.
Grizz resides at the fraternity in a tub containing water, gravel and natural rocks. His diet consists of crickets and goldfish, though Lawrence said the alligator has a hard time eating the goldfish because of his small teeth.
Eventually Grizz will be a full-grown alligator, but the two men said that aspect of having a wild animal in their house does not faze them.
“We want to keep him during our four years of college.” Lawrence said. Grizz has been introduced to humans at a young age, so people can pick him up fairly easily. Lambert said the alligator is friendly, but he is a wild animal so everyone is careful while handling him. Eventually, the men hope that Grizz will assimilate to having humans around all the time.
“It’s kind of cool having an alligator because people like coming to see it,” Lambert said.
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