SCOTTSBURG, Ind. (WDRB) -- An American alligator found inside a Clarksville apartment earlier this week is now being treated at a local rehabilitation facility as officials work to determine what happens next to the reptile.
This comes after officers were sent to the Pioneer Village apartments after a small alligator was found around 5 p.m. Nov. 18.
The Kentuckiana Scaletuary, a nonprofit located in Scottsburg licensed by Indiana DNR to take in both native and exotic herpetological species, is now caring for the alligator after animal control contacted them earlier this week.
"We got a call early Wednesday afternoon, and they asked if we had worked with them before. I said, 'Yes,'" recalled Jordan Jones, director of the sanctuary. "And then they were like, Okay, well, we found an animal that had been abandoned in an apartment. And I said, turtle, lizard. And they're like, yeah, yeah, only it's an alligator."
The 15-inch alligator — now nicknamed "Ronzilla" — is receiving treatment at All Pets Veterinary Center, where Jones also works. Staff have performed diagnostics, X-rays and bloodwork to assess Ronzilla's condition.
Pictured: a 15-inch alligator is seen at the Kentuckiana Scaletuary in Scottsburg, Ind., after it was apparently left behind in an apartment in Clarksville by a tenant. The sex and age of the gator is unknown at this time. (WDRB/Dalton Godbey)
Jones said the reptile's health "could be better." Without knowing its history, staff are unsure whether it was bred in captivity or taken from the wild.
Officials were told the gator was possibly being fed chicken nuggets while living inside the apartment, but X-rays revealed two aquarium rocks in its stomach.
Despite that, Jones says the alligator is in "pretty good spirits."
The gator's sex and age are unknown right now.
"It's been really tame with letting us do what we need to do with examinations and working on it," Jones said. "It has little sassy moments, but it's understandable with the events it has gone through in his short amount of life."
Jones said the sanctuary plans to relocate the alligator South — ideally to Florida, Mississippi or Louisiana — once its health stabilizes.
The sanctuary estimates the alligator may have been inside the apartment for around a month, though the timeline is still unclear. Jones said they were told the tenant claimed to have "lost the gator" and assumed it was dead.
"Whenever they went into the apartment to paint, that's when they saw him running around the whole apartment," she said.
Though it is legal to own an alligator in Indiana, officials warn against keeping alligators as pets because temperatures make survival impossible.
Owning an alligator is illegal in Kentucky.
"It's definitely not something anybody should be having in Indiana," Jones said. "They're going to destroy your house. They're going to destroy your car. They can injure your pets. They can cause a lot of health issues."
Clarksville Police are still investigating whether the owner could face neglect or abuse charges for abandoning the animal.
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