Last week, I was informed of three iguanas in great need.
My family used to do a lot of rescuing and fostering for various animals and shelters, we own rescued herps/reps and inverts (as well as dogs, ferrets, rats, etc). We have snakes, we have tortoises, and we have big enough hearts, homes, and sense of responsibility to do so appropriately. We have made a bit of an impact with the people we know as being animal lovers and good pet owners, and the willingness and wallet for "exotics" in need.
Last week we picked up the three iguanas. The story is tragic and infuriating. I will happily relay to you all the full story if you are interested. The truncated version is there were three beautiful lizards that were very nearly dead. They were starved (seriously), dehydrated, and seem to be riddled with infection and rot (?). I was expecting bad, but this was WAY OVER OUR HEADS and capabilities.
I was expecting to pick up three baby iguanas in need, not three adult iguanas that were dying. I did not have the ability to house all of these kiddos the right way. If not for Google, I would be even more worthless than I already feel...
My stepfather had iguanas while I was growing up, but I was only a passive participant, and those were never rescues (he was a back yard breeder of exotics and birds). The other iguanas that I have been around have all been large adults in healthy and spoiled condition, or tiny "PetCo-ish" babies
I had these three (which were kept in a 20 gallon net cage together with no substrate, lighting, or anything... they had been fed iceburg for the past two years) in glass tanks for one night, separated. The two smaller in smaller tanks and the larger in a larger one, but all tanks far too small for these guys. Well, I say guys, but there were two males and one female.
I had them set up that way for a night, and it was a MILLION TIMES better than they were, but it was not suitable for any sense of long term. It was 2am by the time we got home with them and got them setup in an acceptable way for a night.
The two smaller (younger) lizards were one male, one female. The female seemed to be the most "alive" of the three. The other small one (male) seemed to be rotting. He had a HUGE abscess looking thing on one cheek, and what looked like scale rot/mildew of somesort all down his body. The tip of his tail looked like it may fall off. He is obviously miserable. He, none the less, had some energy. He was totally overpowering the larger male with them.
These two had never been handled. Even still, I was able to manipulate and move them. They were fearful, and acted like they wanted to eat me... and the male threw some really well-meaning threat displays, but neither tried to actually bite me. I had to use a glove and a hand rag to help move them around, but that was due to their nails, their movements in fear, and my aversion to being bitten... It went smooth enough.
The bigger male was a DOLL. A serious doll. He was someone's pet at some point. He acted like a cat, arching himself into a hand, and closing his eyes. He was emaciated. His mouth seems stuck open. He laid his mouth in his water dish to the side and just stayed there... and then lifted up slowly to try and swallow. He cannot stand up at all, too weak. He was gray and blue and DRY as chalk. His eyes seemed deflated. I had him in a larger tank as he is larger; my guess is 5-ish as for age, but that is just an educated guess. Honestly, he seemed a lot worse than the other two.
This is what they were in, and have been for the past year or two
This was how we had them for that first night, just to get them separated and hydrated...
The very next day, I got the two smaller (and more lively) lizards to a "rescue". She was not exactly a rescue as I recognize it, but more of an enthusiastic exotics keeper with an interest in helping rescued animals as well. Her home was CLEAN and nice, there was no oder, and the animals were all in appropriate habitats. She had a tank cage set up for them that was very large, and instantly started giving care to them with ointments, vitamins, etc. She handled them like they had been her pets for years, which helped me feel comfortable with her capabilities. She displayed FAR better knowledge than me concerning iguanas, and I have enough knowledge of other things to see that she was keeping her snakes, tortoise, parrot, etc in premium conditions. She took the two iguanas and said that she was also in contact with another iguana-specializing rescue that would help get them seen by a good vet and get them listed for adoption once they were healthy. The best part? She lives in the same part of town as I do, so I actually CAN go back over and check up on them (and enjoy her other critters, too).
She sent us home with a cool tarantula (that is our hobby), and he is set up nicely on our tarantula bookcase.
So, we kept the large guy for now... he was just too much to send to her (being bigger, and in such bad shape). I moved him over to a larger TEMPORARY setup of a pet cage (my husband is going to take $200 and go to Home Depot and then make a premium ig cage setup). When I moved him over I put him on flat carpet mats (I have enough that I can just thrown them away when they are dirty), with a large soaking pool, and GOOD food. In the water I have reptile electrolytes, and in his food is iguana vitamin B ointment. I have a spray bottle with those two things in (with the warm water) that I am misting him and his cage with like mad. I also have a heater in the room, a humidifier, and the correct UV light above him.
I have been soaking him in the tub with 80F water for about 30 minutes, twice a day. He also LOVES showers.
He was not eating, though...
I thought, hey, here it is day two... Well, since he has made it this far and has started to get better (not worse), he needs a name and thus be christened as part of the family!
So, here is Falcore.
These are pictures of day two. He has already started to get color back... His eyes are now open and vibrant. His mouth can shut now, and he has started moving around (though not standing up).
We are looking for a comprehensive and experienced rescue for Falcore... Something better than we can offer. We are willing to keep him. We can pay for his vetting, buy or build a correct cage, etc. My husband has decided that he wants to try, knowing that this guy just may not make it. My husband thinks that we should just commit to this lizard, no matter the outcome/price/etc... as opposed to anyone (rescue or not) unless they can offer him BETTER than we can. Really, I think that he just fell in love while he fell to his knees in tears holding this listless and dying lizard that just seemed to be happy being held and pet. It was totally heartbreaking.
The day before yesterday, we moved him over to a 60g hex tank, and gave him better UVA/B light and a basking heat light.
Yesterday: A LOT of collard greens. Some snow peas. A tiny bit of apple, strawberry, and buncha bandanna. A dab of plain yogurt. A LOT of warm water. Iguana soup for lunch.
For the past few days I have TRIED and TIRED to get him to eat. Mashing and mincing, putting it right in the mouth; he just could not get his jaw to work the way that he needed it to, and he would finally just give up and go to sleep. He has a bad sore (looks like rot) on one side of the mouth, and the jaw is just not functioning right. He tried for an hour straight to get a bite of food night before last... and finally gave up and laid his head on his food plate and fell asleep.
Yesterday, he LOVED this soup. I fed him SLOWLY, and it was all very well received.
I have been soaking him in the tub daily at water near 80F. I give him warm showers, too. I dump and refill his soaking pool daily with fresh warm water with reptile electrolyte in it. He has good heat and light source. He is getting some green back already!
I am in contact with two actual iguana rescues right now, making arrangements to get him somewhere with people that have more experience, and a far better setup. We are so willing to keep him, but if there is something BETTER available for him, then we will do whatever we can to give him the best. Be we a forever home or just a stop on the way, we want to be of utmost service to him, you know?
With the coming paycheck comes a new project; I am sending my husband to the hardware store with $200 and having him come home with the materials for an iguana cage.
My family used to do a lot of rescuing and fostering for various animals and shelters, we own rescued herps/reps and inverts (as well as dogs, ferrets, rats, etc). We have snakes, we have tortoises, and we have big enough hearts, homes, and sense of responsibility to do so appropriately. We have made a bit of an impact with the people we know as being animal lovers and good pet owners, and the willingness and wallet for "exotics" in need.
Last week we picked up the three iguanas. The story is tragic and infuriating. I will happily relay to you all the full story if you are interested. The truncated version is there were three beautiful lizards that were very nearly dead. They were starved (seriously), dehydrated, and seem to be riddled with infection and rot (?). I was expecting bad, but this was WAY OVER OUR HEADS and capabilities.
I was expecting to pick up three baby iguanas in need, not three adult iguanas that were dying. I did not have the ability to house all of these kiddos the right way. If not for Google, I would be even more worthless than I already feel...
My stepfather had iguanas while I was growing up, but I was only a passive participant, and those were never rescues (he was a back yard breeder of exotics and birds). The other iguanas that I have been around have all been large adults in healthy and spoiled condition, or tiny "PetCo-ish" babies
I had these three (which were kept in a 20 gallon net cage together with no substrate, lighting, or anything... they had been fed iceburg for the past two years) in glass tanks for one night, separated. The two smaller in smaller tanks and the larger in a larger one, but all tanks far too small for these guys. Well, I say guys, but there were two males and one female.
I had them set up that way for a night, and it was a MILLION TIMES better than they were, but it was not suitable for any sense of long term. It was 2am by the time we got home with them and got them setup in an acceptable way for a night.
The two smaller (younger) lizards were one male, one female. The female seemed to be the most "alive" of the three. The other small one (male) seemed to be rotting. He had a HUGE abscess looking thing on one cheek, and what looked like scale rot/mildew of somesort all down his body. The tip of his tail looked like it may fall off. He is obviously miserable. He, none the less, had some energy. He was totally overpowering the larger male with them.
These two had never been handled. Even still, I was able to manipulate and move them. They were fearful, and acted like they wanted to eat me... and the male threw some really well-meaning threat displays, but neither tried to actually bite me. I had to use a glove and a hand rag to help move them around, but that was due to their nails, their movements in fear, and my aversion to being bitten... It went smooth enough.
The bigger male was a DOLL. A serious doll. He was someone's pet at some point. He acted like a cat, arching himself into a hand, and closing his eyes. He was emaciated. His mouth seems stuck open. He laid his mouth in his water dish to the side and just stayed there... and then lifted up slowly to try and swallow. He cannot stand up at all, too weak. He was gray and blue and DRY as chalk. His eyes seemed deflated. I had him in a larger tank as he is larger; my guess is 5-ish as for age, but that is just an educated guess. Honestly, he seemed a lot worse than the other two.
This is what they were in, and have been for the past year or two
This was how we had them for that first night, just to get them separated and hydrated...
The very next day, I got the two smaller (and more lively) lizards to a "rescue". She was not exactly a rescue as I recognize it, but more of an enthusiastic exotics keeper with an interest in helping rescued animals as well. Her home was CLEAN and nice, there was no oder, and the animals were all in appropriate habitats. She had a tank cage set up for them that was very large, and instantly started giving care to them with ointments, vitamins, etc. She handled them like they had been her pets for years, which helped me feel comfortable with her capabilities. She displayed FAR better knowledge than me concerning iguanas, and I have enough knowledge of other things to see that she was keeping her snakes, tortoise, parrot, etc in premium conditions. She took the two iguanas and said that she was also in contact with another iguana-specializing rescue that would help get them seen by a good vet and get them listed for adoption once they were healthy. The best part? She lives in the same part of town as I do, so I actually CAN go back over and check up on them (and enjoy her other critters, too).
She sent us home with a cool tarantula (that is our hobby), and he is set up nicely on our tarantula bookcase.
So, we kept the large guy for now... he was just too much to send to her (being bigger, and in such bad shape). I moved him over to a larger TEMPORARY setup of a pet cage (my husband is going to take $200 and go to Home Depot and then make a premium ig cage setup). When I moved him over I put him on flat carpet mats (I have enough that I can just thrown them away when they are dirty), with a large soaking pool, and GOOD food. In the water I have reptile electrolytes, and in his food is iguana vitamin B ointment. I have a spray bottle with those two things in (with the warm water) that I am misting him and his cage with like mad. I also have a heater in the room, a humidifier, and the correct UV light above him.
I have been soaking him in the tub with 80F water for about 30 minutes, twice a day. He also LOVES showers.
He was not eating, though...
I thought, hey, here it is day two... Well, since he has made it this far and has started to get better (not worse), he needs a name and thus be christened as part of the family!
So, here is Falcore.
These are pictures of day two. He has already started to get color back... His eyes are now open and vibrant. His mouth can shut now, and he has started moving around (though not standing up).
We are looking for a comprehensive and experienced rescue for Falcore... Something better than we can offer. We are willing to keep him. We can pay for his vetting, buy or build a correct cage, etc. My husband has decided that he wants to try, knowing that this guy just may not make it. My husband thinks that we should just commit to this lizard, no matter the outcome/price/etc... as opposed to anyone (rescue or not) unless they can offer him BETTER than we can. Really, I think that he just fell in love while he fell to his knees in tears holding this listless and dying lizard that just seemed to be happy being held and pet. It was totally heartbreaking.
The day before yesterday, we moved him over to a 60g hex tank, and gave him better UVA/B light and a basking heat light.
Yesterday: A LOT of collard greens. Some snow peas. A tiny bit of apple, strawberry, and buncha bandanna. A dab of plain yogurt. A LOT of warm water. Iguana soup for lunch.
For the past few days I have TRIED and TIRED to get him to eat. Mashing and mincing, putting it right in the mouth; he just could not get his jaw to work the way that he needed it to, and he would finally just give up and go to sleep. He has a bad sore (looks like rot) on one side of the mouth, and the jaw is just not functioning right. He tried for an hour straight to get a bite of food night before last... and finally gave up and laid his head on his food plate and fell asleep.
Yesterday, he LOVED this soup. I fed him SLOWLY, and it was all very well received.
I have been soaking him in the tub daily at water near 80F. I give him warm showers, too. I dump and refill his soaking pool daily with fresh warm water with reptile electrolyte in it. He has good heat and light source. He is getting some green back already!
I am in contact with two actual iguana rescues right now, making arrangements to get him somewhere with people that have more experience, and a far better setup. We are so willing to keep him, but if there is something BETTER available for him, then we will do whatever we can to give him the best. Be we a forever home or just a stop on the way, we want to be of utmost service to him, you know?
With the coming paycheck comes a new project; I am sending my husband to the hardware store with $200 and having him come home with the materials for an iguana cage.
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