Chip, Chip, Chip...

Owner chips, dogs and cats everywhere carry them under their shoulder skin (I have a vet degree for those of you that are curious and have published a book on iguanas). If your pet becomes lost and is lucky enough to have a chip implanted in his or her shoulder, the local animal rescue shelters will scan for them and return your pet to you.

WHY NOT OUR IGUANAS?

There is enough muscle in the base of an iguana's tail to seat a chip into him or her. If Pugsley had been chipped, he might have been returned to me. It would also prevent owners from just abandoning their reptiles if it were made law! I would be the first in line with all my guys to have them chipped if it could be done cheaply for me. South Florida would no longer have to worry about the illegal dumping of not native reptiles into the Everglades or in canal areas. Broward county is passing such a law, I am told...so should you, Miami-Dade county!

SHAME ON YOU!

If they found a chipped reptile illegally in the wilds and the owner released it, (it wasn't just an escapee like Pugsley) they could prosecute the bastard! And fine him good! And helping me in my cause by offering me grants and land to run a rescue like in Broward County would also help by offering an escape route for an owner who is no longer prepared to continue the care of a reptile that has outgrown its welcome.

You reptile lovers out there are the only ones that can make any of this happen! Call or email anyone and everyone...the mayor, the governor, anyone who will listen. Spread my blogs around. I am willing to put myself out and do all the needed work that I can do for minimum wage. I don't want to be rich. I just want the satisfaction of seeing these poor abused animals given a chance. That little 10 inch, lime green lizard with the honey and choclate colored eyes is going to grow up to be a big, powerful 6 foot long animal!

NO KIDDING!

Genesis says God wanted us to have ... "dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." He didn't mean for us to rape this world of its life, plant or animal. He wanted us to nurture and care for them...protect them even from ourselves if it comes to that. Wake up, world, the beauty of our Mother Earth is quickly disappearing. Are we just going to just stand here and let this happen? I can't, even if I can't do much more from my wheelchair than type and publish this blog!

Thank you!

For Those of You...

For those of you who don't know me, read my first blog...An Iguana's life...(ladyiguana.blogspot.com)... to understand what I am talking about in this blog. I've been rescuing feral and pet iguanas for over 20 years with no help from the public or grants from the state(And this is really their problem down here in South Florida!). I live on a $600 a month disability check and am confined to a wheelchair for most of the day due to a stroke. Yet, I manage to nurture and rehab each and every animal that comes into my house and I adopt them all out into fine, loving homes. I supplement their income by doing occassional compuer graphics for people for cash.

Pugsley and Zilla were lovers

Zilla

Zilla was a very sick iguana that never really recovered. Yet she lived a happy and comfortable life for 3 years with me before she finally gave up the ghost and went to iguana heaven. She has to be happy now...painfree and able to be a fully healthy iguana. I miss her deeply.

When Zilla was feeling well, she was like any other iguana...She loved to tussle with her man, Pugsley

The demure iguana

Pugsley

Pugsley was the star of our show. He was confident and outgoing and loved to meet new people when they came to pick up work that I did for them. He wouldn't leave them alone until they knelt and said hello to him by rubbing his big male jowls for him. Then he'd jump on the couch in the waiting area of the house, bob his head  back to them, to say hello, then lay down and leave them to tend to their business.

He would go out front all alone to get a snack of fresh growing plants or to go bathroom and immediately stroll back inside, even if he had to squeeze his fat self through the wrought iron gate bars we have to protect the front door at night...Which is why we can't understand how he disappeared.
My son was in critical condition in the hospital and I spent the entire first week there, praying and watching over him. He is a young man, too young to die! Thankfully, he pulled through and is doing fine now, but when I finally got home to get a shower and clean clothing, Pugsley was nowhere to be found! In my rush to be by my son's side, I had accidentally left a window part way open and found that iguana claws are no match for a window screen. Pugsley had clawed open the screen and had jumped down to the lawn.
We never found him, dispite offering a huge reward (for me) and I still pray to this day that someone took him in and wants to keep him for their own pet. He would have gone to anyone. I just hope that he is alive and well in someone's care.

Our star!!!

Pugsley, the friendly iguana

Mango's Adjustment

More pics of Mango as he adjusts to being a pet iguana.

Here he is exploring his fine cage.



Here he is climbing into his aquarium to sleep.



Mango on my bed, exploring. That red thing ia a huge stuffed plush red lizard that is his bed next to my pillow and he seems to have taken over my heating pad for my back...Oh, Well! Lol!




Mango likes to look out my kitchen window. He'll sit on the counter as I work. He is never far from me!



In The Beginning...

...it was very, very cold! This is the type of weather you wake up to in New York City, not Florida! It was cold all right, and my bed was toasty warm, but I couldn't stay. Dispite the coldness, I had to drag the garbage out front for pick-up! And so, in the 40 degree tempertures, I got dressed and shivered my way out the front door. That's when I saw it and I had to do a double take! On the other side of the plastic garbage can...on the dried out, dead grass of the front lawn...was an unmoving, bluish-green, 3 foot iguana baby! Poor thing, must have died from the cold, it was so small.
I wanted to give it a good resting place and my female iguana, Zilla, was buried out in the backyard, so why not bury the poor little thing next to her? I picked up the tiny limp body and brought it into the house. I laid it on my bed for the moment and went to drag the garbage can down to the street.
Comming back into my bedroom, surprise! The baby iguana was gone! Lol! Looking around, I saw him scooting up my curtain to the top rod, where he threatened me with a tail swat.

Now, it has been 5 months since I last had a pet iguana, not having the time to replace Pugsley (see my blog, "An Iguana's Life") since he got out an open window and disappeared on me. I was still in mourning for my best of friend. Well, it looked like I had just replaced him!

I named him Mango, because I love the fruit so much and climbed up to drag him down from the curtains. Mango is definately a wild born iguana, probably hatched from a clutch of eggs from the Miami River across the street. He whipped and bit as I caught him up and began to cuddle him. He surely did not like me, it was plain to see.

I tucked Mango in my bra and began to pull out all of Pugsley's old things...his stuffed red lizard that was his bed, his iguana lights, his bowls and his soaking container and his parrot cage for when he stayed out in the backyard alone. Mango stayed cuddled in my warm bra throughout and that was the first positive reinforcement we had together. Well, we all say that Happiness is A Warm Iguana!

Mango calmed down pretty fast...he stopped biting almost at once but he does still threaten me with his tail until he sees what I plan to do when I approach him. We are learning about each other now and he does come in to sleep in an aquarium at night, where it is warm and safe.

He may never fully tame down, but he does realize that I don't want to eat him.

This is Mango's outdoor cage. It has everything an iguana could ask for, including a fur rug to sleep on. He looks happy, doesn't he?...for a wild born iguana.