Iguana Lovers- NIAD - CANADA volunteers needed!

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Posted by Tricia Power on October 18, 1999 at 22:44:13:

Hello everyone!

Just a reminder to all:

NIAD (National iguana awareness day (Sept. 9th, 2000) is alive and well in Canada, but we only have 21 volunteers, and 5 coordinators for ALL of Canada! I think with 10 provinces, 3 Territories and a population of close to 30 million we could do a tiny bit better than that? :)

If you are not sure what NIAD is ...

Well, it's a movement to educate the public, iguana owners, pet stores and even reptile suppliers about the special care requirements of the iguana. It's also a movement to encourage people who do want an iguana to adopt one of the *many* juvenile to adult iguanas that get dumped or abandoned each year. NIAD stands for National Iguana Awareness Day - and our special day will be on Sept. 9th, 2000 but this isn't a one day thing, it's an ongoing process of educating people involved with iguanas as to their needs in captivity.

Most iguana purchases are impulse buys. Most new owners are not aware, nor are they informed of, how large igs get or about their aggressive behaviour during breeding season. As a result, many iguanas are abandoned or dumped when their owner finally sees how large the iguana is becoming, or experiences the animals first breeding season. Similar problems have happened with large snake species in the past such as the Burmese python, and now large Tortoise species like the Sulcata. Low prices and easy availability of all three of these reptile examples have helped to create this problem.

NIAD is also about making sure that the people who sell iguanas also know how to care for them properly while the animals are in the store. How many times have you gone into a pet store only to find a tank overflowing with iguanas, with no heat or too low temperatures, dirty substrate and water, improper foods or no food at all? Have you ever seen dead or dying animals housed with all the other iguanas? Feel free to substitute any other reptile or amphibian in place of iguanas in this scenario. Doesn't it make you feel like rescuing all of those sick animals? Doesn't it make you feel like doing something to stop this from happening?

This letter is not, nor is the NIAD organization (or at least my own involvement in it), meant to pick on pet stores, just unfortunately this is where the majority of us end up seeing iguanas and other reptiles kept in such poor conditions. :(

I am very happy to see, and hear, that several pet stores no longer sell iguana's, and that many do take in returned or abandoned iguana's as well. I realize this is becoming a major problem for some of the pet stores that do take in unwanted iguanas. They are starting to overflow! :(

The volunteers and coordinators involved with NIAD Canada, and NIAD branches throughout the world only want to improve on these conditions and help educate people as to how much care iguanas really need. If people are going to keep them as pets we'd like to see iguana's kept properly by owners who realize just how large iguana's really get, understand their temperament and mood swings and understand what the proper diet of an iguana really is. Then perhaps we will also see less abandoned iguanas in shelters, rescues and pet stores that take in these unwanted animals.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for NIAD Canada please go to the main NIAD web site- http://www.niad.org and sign up as a volunteer. Please make sure that you fill out the form as to what province you are located in! Argiope, the creator of Niad and owner of the main Niad web site has also created a Canadian page at the main site which will list the status of coordinators and volunteers- http://www.niad.org/national/Canada.html
There is also a Niad Canada web site http://pages.infinit.net/igtown/niad.htm that you may sign up at as well. It might be best if you sign up at both sites so that your inclusion as a volunteer is known by all, since there have been some communication problems in the past.

I would also appreciate it if, along with signing up at either of the NIAD web sites, that any new Canadian volunteers send me ( mailto:dragon@icomm.ca ) a note stating that you have just volunteered and telling me what area you are located in, and your name - just so the present coordinators can keep track of all the volunteers and make sure that everyone stays in touch properly.

BTW if you are already a volunteer or coordinator and you DIDN'T get a letter from me this past weekend or earlier today, please do write back to me and let me know that you are involved with NIAD. Some volunteers might have fallen through the cracks! :( mailto:dragon@icomm.ca

Everyone, Canadians that is, who plans to be involved in NIAD 2000 really should join the NIADCANADA mailing list so that we can all keep in touch, share ideas, and tell each other what we have done or accomplished. To join this list go to http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/NIADCANADA and sign up! Please!

There is also a CanadaIguanas mailing list at onelist http://www.onelist.com/community/CanadaIguanas we only have 27 members so far, and I know that there are definitely more than 27 Canadians with iguanas, who want to talk about iguana's on the Internet .... so if you want to talk about iguana's and you are Canadian please join this list too! :)

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: Hello everyone! : Just a reminder to all: : NIAD (National iguana awareness day (Sept. 9th, 2000) is alive and well in Canada, but we only have 21 volunteers, and 5 coordinators for ALL of Canada! I think with 10 provinces, 3 Territories and a population of close to 30 million we could do a tiny bit better than that? :) : If you are not sure what NIAD is ... : Well, it's a movement to educate the public, iguana owners, pet stores and even reptile suppliers about the special care requirements of the iguana. It's also a movement to encourage people who do want an iguana to adopt one of the *many* juvenile to adult iguanas that get dumped or abandoned each year. NIAD stands for National Iguana Awareness Day - and our special day will be on Sept. 9th, 2000 but this isn't a one day thing, it's an ongoing process of educating people involved with iguanas as to their needs in captivity. : Most iguana purchases are impulse buys. Most new owners are not aware, nor are they informed of, how large igs get or about their aggressive behaviour during breeding season. As a result, many iguanas are abandoned or dumped when their owner finally sees how large the iguana is becoming, or experiences the animals first breeding season. Similar problems have happened with large snake species in the past such as the Burmese python, and now large Tortoise species like the Sulcata. Low prices and easy availability of all three of these reptile examples have helped to create this problem. : NIAD is also about making sure that the people who sell iguanas also know how to care for them properly while the animals are in the store. How many times have you gone into a pet store only to find a tank overflowing with iguanas, with no heat or too low temperatures, dirty substrate and water, improper foods or no food at all? Have you ever seen dead or dying animals housed with all the other iguanas? Feel free to substitute any other reptile or amphibian in place of iguanas in this scenario. Doesn't it make you feel like rescuing all of those sick animals? Doesn't it make you feel like doing something to stop this from happening? : This letter is not, nor is the NIAD organization (or at least my own involvement in it), meant to pick on pet stores, just unfortunately this is where the majority of us end up seeing iguanas and other reptiles kept in such poor conditions. :( : I am very happy to see, and hear, that several pet stores no longer sell iguana's, and that many do take in returned or abandoned iguana's as well. I realize this is becoming a major problem for some of the pet stores that do take in unwanted iguanas. They are starting to overflow! :( : The volunteers and coordinators involved with NIAD Canada, and NIAD branches throughout the world only want to improve on these conditions and help educate people as to how much care iguanas really need. If people are going to keep them as pets we'd like to see iguana's kept properly by owners who realize just how large iguana's really get, understand their temperament and mood swings and understand what the proper diet of an iguana really is. Then perhaps we will also see less abandoned iguanas in shelters, rescues and pet stores that take in these unwanted animals. : If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for NIAD Canada please go to the main NIAD web site- http://www.niad.org and sign up as a volunteer. Please make sure that you fill out the form as to what province you are located in! Argiope, the creator of Niad and owner of the main Niad web site has also created a Canadian page at the main site which will list the status of coordinators and volunteers- http://www.niad.org/national/Canada.html : There is also a Niad Canada web site http://pages.infinit.net/igtown/niad.htm that you may sign up at as well. It might be best if you sign up at both sites so that your inclusion as a volunteer is known by all, since there have been some communication problems in the past. : I would also appreciate it if, along with signing up at either of the NIAD web sites, that any new Canadian volunteers send me ( mailto:dragon@icomm.ca ) a note stating that you have just volunteered and telling me what area you are located in, and your name - just so the present coordinators can keep track of all the volunteers and make sure that everyone stays in touch properly. : BTW if you are already a volunteer or coordinator and you DIDN'T get a letter from me this past weekend or earlier today, please do write back to me and let me know that you are involved with NIAD. Some volunteers might have fallen through the cracks! :( mailto:dragon@icomm.ca : Everyone, Canadians that is, who plans to be involved in NIAD 2000 really should join the NIADCANADA mailing list so that we can all keep in touch, share ideas, and tell each other what we have done or accomplished. To join this list go to http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/NIADCANADA and sign up! Please! : There is also a CanadaIguanas mailing list at onelist http://www.onelist.com/community/CanadaIguanas we only have 27 members so far, and I know that there are definitely more than 27 Canadians with iguanas, who want to talk about iguana's on the Internet .... so if you want to talk about iguana's and you are Canadian please join this list too! :)

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