Mary Thorn, of Lakeland, has listed her “fully trained alligator”, Rambo, for sale on the “Polk Pets Page” for $700. “He’s my family”, Rambo’s owner Mary Thorn told the Daily News Tuesday. Thorn purchased a Class II license before it changed regulations about keeping alligators as pets, which require a pet alligator more than six-feet-long to live on more than two-and-a-half acres.
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His owner, Mary Thorn, is fighting to keep him after Florida Fish and Wildlife said she may need to find him a new home.
In the last 10 years, four of Thorn’s five alligators have died from natural causes, like the flu and accidental exposure to too much sun. He also likes to give hugs, helps himself to items in the refrigerator, eats at the table and visits schools and charity events to educate people about his species.
The 15-year-old reptile stays in Thorn’s home.
While Thorn says she wants what’s best for Rambo, she doesn’t think taking him away from her fits the bill. “I’ve had four of them, none of them tried to bite anybody”.
Thorn said she and Rambo are inseparable, they grew close as she nursed him back to health.
She said he is also fond of dogs. Rambo isn’t just another gator he’s part of my family.hes human more than he is…
She’s anxious about herself if her reptile gets taken away, as well.
“People get along with him, kids love him”.
“He loves kids and when kids come around he shuts his mouth really tight so fingers can’t go in his mouth”, Thorn said, adding that she’s been given permission to have him out and about without his snout taped shut.
Thorn said she used to do appearances with the alligators for various organizations. If the gator has to go, Thorn said she has plans to send him to Croc Encounters, a wildlife sanctuary in Tampa. “His immune system is low – other gators will go after sick gators”.
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A letter Thorn provided from Privileged Critters Animal Hospital in Lakeland says alligators raised in a filtered light environment develop this type of sensitivity and therefore shouldn’t be “left outside for any length of time”, according to the Sentinel. “A brand new baby a day old has sat on this gator and he just rubbed his head up and down on it”.
