Some of you may remember that my friend asked me to take in his green iguana that he could no longer care for. Initially, things went well but a few things became apparent over the course of her stay here.
First off, her main objective seemed to be getting out of her enclosure, and from there, out of the house. She was mostly free roam in her previous home, until she got into the habit of chasing after my friend's 3 year old and hissing at her whenever she had food in her hands to get her to drop whatever she was eating. Sounds funny (and shows how smart these animals are!
) but it was traumatizing his little girl. This led to her being kept in her cage more often than not, and even though it is a large, very nicely built enclosure, she wasn't happy with the change. Coming here, she was in the enclosure a good portion of the time, with some daily free roaming time, but as we have small dogs (and I'm not worried about the dogs attacking her, it's more what a tail whip from an adult iguana could do to a Pomeranian's eye or leg, etc.) she could not be out all the time.
The second issue is that she hated the dogs - or, more appropriately, feared them. If they were out (which they often are) she would hide. Initially, I dealt with this by gating them off in our kitchen, so she could adjust to her new home without worrying about them. If she couldn't see them, things went well, but every time I tried to reintroduce them, she hid and stopped eating for several days (she was the only pet in her previous home and they have since gotten a Lab puppy, so she wasn't able to go back there if it didn't work out here). In response to all the gating off and not being able to be out with us as they were accustomed to (and as the HUGE iguana cage only fits in the living room, which is the biggest room in the house), the dogs started acting out, pooping in the house, the usual doggie protests.
Then, it became apparent that she really only likes male humans. Her previous owner for 6 years was male, and though he was married, he was really her main 'human', whereas I do a lot of the 'hands on' pet care here, such as baths, taming and the like. (I'm going to go off topic here for a bit and explain what I mean by 'taming', since there has been confusion in the past when I've used that word.... I know iguanas cannot really ever be tamed, in the sense that a dog would be. Dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years. I would never expect any reptile (or most other mammals) to stand up to that definition. However, as you all know, there is a difference between a well-socialized, handled reptile than a wild one, or one without any history of positive human interaction. Obviously, there's a difference between an iguana in the wild and an iguana who has been with humans its entire life. Unless said humans were abusive, even a wild iguana [such as those at the makeshift Venezuelan iguana rescue at the hotel - search for 'green iguana hotel' to find the documentary on Google] will learn to interact with humans. I've said, on many occasions that I don't believe iguanas belong in the pet trade, for the reasons stated above. They are one of the least-suited reptiles for captivity, for various reasons. In other words, when I use the word 'tame' for them, the word is used in a much more flexible capacity than if I were referring to a dog.)
To get back on topic, we've discovered that she isn't fond of females, in general, which in this case, means me. In working with her, we were able to get the tail-whipping under control, but then she started biting, and biting me specifically. Her previous owner said that in the 6 years he had her (her entire life since she was a baby at the pet shop) she never even attempted to bite him. I had a similar experience with my ex's birds (lorries) which we attributed to the fact that they saw me as competition. We weren't as concerned with that in this situation because the iguana hadn't previously bonded with my husband before I came into the picture, whereas my ex had had the birds for several years before he met me.
We also quickly learned that the beardies (understandably) were terrified of her and would hide or freeze whenever we had them out, which meant that basically all of our other animals were confined to their enclosures or otherwise gated off in separate parts of the house all the time, which wasn't good for them or us.
Now, admittedly, I had no prior hands-on experience with iguanas prior to taking her in, but I did read a WHOLE LOT, including Melissa Kaplan's site (anapsid.org) and her book ('Iguanas for Dummies'), along with many other websites like the Green Iguana Society, and various forums. I also have more than one friend who has experience with green iguanas specifically, and talked at length with them as well as her previous owner before agreeing to take her. I also made it clear that my previous pets were priority, and if this animal caused a serious disruption to their lives, she would have to find another home, as my primary responsibility was to the pets I already owned.
We decided that the iguana would be better suited to a home where she was the only pet, where she could free roam as she's been used to doing, and where her predominant caretaker was male. We met with a friend who has had iguanas in the past and she took right to him... it was quite unreal, actually. We brought her over and she came out of her carrier (which he was kneeled in front of) and she came right up to him, crawled up onto his shoulder and sat there. It was an effort just for her to let us hold her and she would never sit directly on our laps or anywhere on our bodies. Towards the end, I couldn't even try to pick her up or she'd bite. It was like "the Iguana Whisperer" or something like that
It was really amazing.
Needless to say, she now lives with him and we were sad to see her go, but he says she is eating like a pig now (something she wasn't doing here) and seems to be doing very well. He has a real passion for herps and iguanas in particular, so we're very happy to have found her a good place. I wish it would have worked out here, as I did get a bit attached, but it's not about what's best for me. I'm sure that, with a lot of time and handling (and bites) she may have eventually come around to me, but I do not have infinite amounts of time to make that happen, and especially not at the expense of the other animals I am responsible for. It sounds cold, but the reality is, if you have eight pets and the ninth one becomes a problem for the other eight, that one has to go. I've been told everything from "you just don't understand these animals" to "you're just not willing to put in the time, energy, etc." and that my expectations for her were erroneous or out of line, and perhaps some of that is true, but the reality is that I have other animals to care for and if I can find a better solution for everyone involved, including the iguana, it's my duty as the quote-unquote 'more intelligent species' to do so, so that is what I did.
On a positive note, since her new owner did not need her enclosure, we've sanitized it and clean it all up and now Crowley (our Frilled Dragon) has an awesome new home, with lots of room, two fake tree to climb and hide in and he loves it. I'll take some photos later.
I'm satisfied with my decision and happy I was able to find the iguana the best possible situation for her specifically, as we all know, that is not the case for many iguanas waiting in rescues for homes.
First off, her main objective seemed to be getting out of her enclosure, and from there, out of the house. She was mostly free roam in her previous home, until she got into the habit of chasing after my friend's 3 year old and hissing at her whenever she had food in her hands to get her to drop whatever she was eating. Sounds funny (and shows how smart these animals are!
) but it was traumatizing his little girl. This led to her being kept in her cage more often than not, and even though it is a large, very nicely built enclosure, she wasn't happy with the change. Coming here, she was in the enclosure a good portion of the time, with some daily free roaming time, but as we have small dogs (and I'm not worried about the dogs attacking her, it's more what a tail whip from an adult iguana could do to a Pomeranian's eye or leg, etc.) she could not be out all the time.The second issue is that she hated the dogs - or, more appropriately, feared them. If they were out (which they often are) she would hide. Initially, I dealt with this by gating them off in our kitchen, so she could adjust to her new home without worrying about them. If she couldn't see them, things went well, but every time I tried to reintroduce them, she hid and stopped eating for several days (she was the only pet in her previous home and they have since gotten a Lab puppy, so she wasn't able to go back there if it didn't work out here). In response to all the gating off and not being able to be out with us as they were accustomed to (and as the HUGE iguana cage only fits in the living room, which is the biggest room in the house), the dogs started acting out, pooping in the house, the usual doggie protests.
Then, it became apparent that she really only likes male humans. Her previous owner for 6 years was male, and though he was married, he was really her main 'human', whereas I do a lot of the 'hands on' pet care here, such as baths, taming and the like. (I'm going to go off topic here for a bit and explain what I mean by 'taming', since there has been confusion in the past when I've used that word.... I know iguanas cannot really ever be tamed, in the sense that a dog would be. Dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years. I would never expect any reptile (or most other mammals) to stand up to that definition. However, as you all know, there is a difference between a well-socialized, handled reptile than a wild one, or one without any history of positive human interaction. Obviously, there's a difference between an iguana in the wild and an iguana who has been with humans its entire life. Unless said humans were abusive, even a wild iguana [such as those at the makeshift Venezuelan iguana rescue at the hotel - search for 'green iguana hotel' to find the documentary on Google] will learn to interact with humans. I've said, on many occasions that I don't believe iguanas belong in the pet trade, for the reasons stated above. They are one of the least-suited reptiles for captivity, for various reasons. In other words, when I use the word 'tame' for them, the word is used in a much more flexible capacity than if I were referring to a dog.)
To get back on topic, we've discovered that she isn't fond of females, in general, which in this case, means me. In working with her, we were able to get the tail-whipping under control, but then she started biting, and biting me specifically. Her previous owner said that in the 6 years he had her (her entire life since she was a baby at the pet shop) she never even attempted to bite him. I had a similar experience with my ex's birds (lorries) which we attributed to the fact that they saw me as competition. We weren't as concerned with that in this situation because the iguana hadn't previously bonded with my husband before I came into the picture, whereas my ex had had the birds for several years before he met me.
We also quickly learned that the beardies (understandably) were terrified of her and would hide or freeze whenever we had them out, which meant that basically all of our other animals were confined to their enclosures or otherwise gated off in separate parts of the house all the time, which wasn't good for them or us.
Now, admittedly, I had no prior hands-on experience with iguanas prior to taking her in, but I did read a WHOLE LOT, including Melissa Kaplan's site (anapsid.org) and her book ('Iguanas for Dummies'), along with many other websites like the Green Iguana Society, and various forums. I also have more than one friend who has experience with green iguanas specifically, and talked at length with them as well as her previous owner before agreeing to take her. I also made it clear that my previous pets were priority, and if this animal caused a serious disruption to their lives, she would have to find another home, as my primary responsibility was to the pets I already owned.
We decided that the iguana would be better suited to a home where she was the only pet, where she could free roam as she's been used to doing, and where her predominant caretaker was male. We met with a friend who has had iguanas in the past and she took right to him... it was quite unreal, actually. We brought her over and she came out of her carrier (which he was kneeled in front of) and she came right up to him, crawled up onto his shoulder and sat there. It was an effort just for her to let us hold her and she would never sit directly on our laps or anywhere on our bodies. Towards the end, I couldn't even try to pick her up or she'd bite. It was like "the Iguana Whisperer" or something like that
It was really amazing.Needless to say, she now lives with him and we were sad to see her go, but he says she is eating like a pig now (something she wasn't doing here) and seems to be doing very well. He has a real passion for herps and iguanas in particular, so we're very happy to have found her a good place. I wish it would have worked out here, as I did get a bit attached, but it's not about what's best for me. I'm sure that, with a lot of time and handling (and bites) she may have eventually come around to me, but I do not have infinite amounts of time to make that happen, and especially not at the expense of the other animals I am responsible for. It sounds cold, but the reality is, if you have eight pets and the ninth one becomes a problem for the other eight, that one has to go. I've been told everything from "you just don't understand these animals" to "you're just not willing to put in the time, energy, etc." and that my expectations for her were erroneous or out of line, and perhaps some of that is true, but the reality is that I have other animals to care for and if I can find a better solution for everyone involved, including the iguana, it's my duty as the quote-unquote 'more intelligent species' to do so, so that is what I did.
On a positive note, since her new owner did not need her enclosure, we've sanitized it and clean it all up and now Crowley (our Frilled Dragon) has an awesome new home, with lots of room, two fake tree to climb and hide in and he loves it. I'll take some photos later.
I'm satisfied with my decision and happy I was able to find the iguana the best possible situation for her specifically, as we all know, that is not the case for many iguanas waiting in rescues for homes.
