Why an Iguana? (long)

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Posted by Diana on April 14, 2001 at 23:36:48:

In Reply to: Why an Iguana? posted by Christy on April 14, 2001 at 21:40:18:

"I'm curious as to why everyone chose an iguana as a pet..."

Well, we inherited Habib, (our first iguana) from Josh's little sister, Amanda, who was going away to college. Habib was only a few months old at the time, and was just a tiny green sliver. No, we were not educated AT ALL about iguanas, and had no idea what we were getting into. When we got her, Amanda told us to feed her iceberg lettuce and a canned Mandarin orange two times a week. Thats it! She also told us to get a hot rock for the TINY fish tank she came in. We were clueless. As a result of her poor care early on, she lost four fingers and suffered some thermal burns from her horrible heat rock. She was also dying of malnutrition at one point.

The reason Amanda had to give her up was because she couldn't take Habib with her to the college dorms. She brought Habib here to Josh's business office and asked us if we could take care of her "for a while".

Well, that was two years ago now, and now I wouldn't let Amanda have Habib back if she wanted! I'm too attatched.

However, to be fully honest, the first day Habib was around, I kept thinking that I couldn't wait until Amanda could take her back. I was more of a cat/dog person.

There have been days when I have had a flash of thinking that before the iguanas came, life *was* a lot simpler, but I've never actually regretted adopting either one. (I don't know though, remember my post the other day about the poopy green bandits? Hmmmmmm.....)

The only exposure I had ever had before to an iguana was two years earlier when we found a wild one in our garden. My brother made it a cage and we tried to feed it etc. but it was the meanest bugger I've ever seen. He'd whip his tail at you if you even walked *near* his cage, and you could forget reaching in to give him a bowl of salad! He was a biter!

In the end, he chewed his way out of the cage and escaped at the end of the summer. I'm sure he died, because winters here in Utah are snowy and cold.

After that experience, I wasn't sure I wanted to ever keep a reptile again, but it wasn't long before I realized that my first experience with Iguanas was not typical. Habib is a doll! She is so calm, so socialized and more of a companion animal than I thought reptiles could be.

Then, most of you know the long story about how I got Bobbit from the Orem, Utah Petco store, with Mr. D's help, that is. I just couldn't let him stay at the petstore in such poor conditions. So, we worked on adopting him and were able to bring him home on February 17th of this year.

Since that time, he has gotten fatter, stronger, and seems to be very happy and well adjusted. He is even more social and trusting that Habib is. He loves to head bob at any and everything. He's just my baby. I like to think that he is thankful to have been rescued from the petstore, and that he knows he has a better life now. It's very rewarding to think that I saved a life.

The only think I would change is that I wish I could invent a sort of diaper for them to end any and all "accidents". That'd be nice...a sort of mini, iguana Pamper...think there'd be a market for them? :)

OK, I'll end this now, since I know this is a long post. If you made it clear to the end (and I'm assuming you did!) then I'm impressed!

Good questions, Christy! Thanks for wanting to know all about all of our stories.
Diana

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Re: Why an Iguana? (long) Christy 04/14/01 (0)

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: "I'm curious as to why everyone chose an iguana as a pet..." : Well, we inherited Habib, (our first iguana) from Josh's little sister, Amanda, who was going away to college. Habib was only a few months old at the time, and was just a tiny green sliver. No, we were not educated AT ALL about iguanas, and had no idea what we were getting into. When we got her, Amanda told us to feed her iceberg lettuce and a canned Mandarin orange two times a week. Thats it! She also told us to get a hot rock for the TINY fish tank she came in. We were clueless. As a result of her poor care early on, she lost four fingers and suffered some thermal burns from her horrible heat rock. She was also dying of malnutrition at one point. : The reason Amanda had to give her up was because she couldn't take Habib with her to the college dorms. She brought Habib here to Josh's business office and asked us if we could take care of her "for a while". : Well, that was two years ago now, and now I wouldn't let Amanda have Habib back if she wanted! I'm too attatched. : However, to be fully honest, the first day Habib was around, I kept thinking that I couldn't wait until Amanda could take her back. I was more of a cat/dog person. : There have been days when I have had a flash of thinking that before the iguanas came, life *was* a lot simpler, but I've never actually regretted adopting either one. (I don't know though, remember my post the other day about the poopy green bandits? Hmmmmmm.....) : The only exposure I had ever had before to an iguana was two years earlier when we found a wild one in our garden. My brother made it a cage and we tried to feed it etc. but it was the meanest bugger I've ever seen. He'd whip his tail at you if you even walked *near* his cage, and you could forget reaching in to give him a bowl of salad! He was a biter! : In the end, he chewed his way out of the cage and escaped at the end of the summer. I'm sure he died, because winters here in Utah are snowy and cold. : After that experience, I wasn't sure I wanted to ever keep a reptile again, but it wasn't long before I realized that my first experience with Iguanas was not typical. Habib is a doll! She is so calm, so socialized and more of a companion animal than I thought reptiles could be. : Then, most of you know the long story about how I got Bobbit from the Orem, Utah Petco store, with Mr. D's help, that is. I just couldn't let him stay at the petstore in such poor conditions. So, we worked on adopting him and were able to bring him home on February 17th of this year. : Since that time, he has gotten fatter, stronger, and seems to be very happy and well adjusted. He is even more social and trusting that Habib is. He loves to head bob at any and everything. He's just my baby. I like to think that he is thankful to have been rescued from the petstore, and that he knows he has a better life now. It's very rewarding to think that I saved a life. : The only think I would change is that I wish I could invent a sort of diaper for them to end any and all "accidents". That'd be nice...a sort of mini, iguana Pamper...think there'd be a market for them? :) : OK, I'll end this now, since I know this is a long post. If you made it clear to the end (and I'm assuming you did!) then I'm impressed! : Good questions, Christy! Thanks for wanting to know all about all of our stories. : Diana :

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