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Posted by Solaris16 on July 28, 2002 at 17:27:16:
Hi Everyone!
I posted about a week ago about an iguana named Cheeko that I was looking into adopting. I went to meet her, and she was just amazing, so she came home to me this past Friday morning.
An entire carload of people came with her, which was nice to see, since they love her so much. It was hard for them to leave her, but it was also the right thing to do for Myka (pronounced Meeka). (I'm pretty sure Myka will be her name from now on!)
She went into her enclosure for the first time and immediately starting rubbing and scratching at the Plexiglas, like I thought she would do. Her nose started to bleed a little so we put up boards along the bottom so that she could not see her reflection. Her poor little nose was all bruised :(. It made me feel terrible to see her hurting herself like that! The funny thing was though that she would only stop scratching when I went and sat inside her enclosure. As soon as I would go in and talk to her and pat her she would settle right down, every time coming to sit on my lap. Is it usual for an iguana to seek comfort in a strange human so soon after a big move? Or is that not even what she was doing at all?
After awhile Myka started to climb on the tree we put in for her, she was pretty clumsy at first, falling off and slipping about. She was a free-roamer for the last three years and has only ever climbed on furniture. She caught on quick enough though and is now pretty good at maneuvering about!
She has always been extremely spoiled and only eats when hand fed. So, needless to say I’m having a bit of trouble getting her to eat. I don’t expect her to eat much for the next few days anyway. She wants nothing to do with anything green, and will only eat mangos, bananas (I know, it’s only a ‘sometimes’ food, but it’s better than her not eating at all right?), and shredded carrot. Every now and then I can trick her into eating some Romaine lettuce (that’s what she is used to, so I’ll wean her off it gradually) by rubbing mango on it. The people I got her from said that she has never drunk from a bowl and gets all her water from her food. She is already looking a bit dehydrated, her skin doesn’t snap back very much at all. I leave a lot of water in her food, and she has a big tub in the bottom of her enclosure with water in it. I’m also giving her daily baths and misting her often. She *almost* seems to want to drink from a spray bottle, so I’ll keep trying that.
I know that I am supposed to just leave her be for several days after the move, but she really seems to need hands on contact with people (well, I’m the only one touching her) to settle down. If I go in her enclosure and start patting and talking to her, she flings her little front legs back along her sides and seems really happy and relaxed. Her first night here she fell asleep on the ground, so I went in and said “Hey Sweetie, wake up! You need to sleep up high!” I touched her side and she just opened her sleepy little eyes and looked at me and gave me a look that said, “Oh, it’s just you” and she fell back asleep. I lifted her up and placed her on the top branch and she stayed sleeping. She is a really sound sleeper, she sleeps all night long without waking up.
I put Myka in the tub the first day with no poops. I didn’t expect anything but I had to take her out of her cage for a bit so that my Dad could cut a branch back and I figured that I might as well give her a bit of a soak! The next day I put her in and she had a pee right away. I took her out as soon as I saw her pee, but now today I think that maybe I should have let her sit there for a few more seconds because of what happened today. I put her in the tub today and she peed, then just a few seconds after that she had a nice big poop (I was so happy!), so she might have gone yesterday too! I scooped the poop, disinfected and refilled the tub and put her back in for a soak. She liked that I think! Once she was ready to get out I let her walk around the bathroom, which she really enjoyed. Tongue-flicking everything in sight! I even let her walk down the hall back to her enclosure! That made her happy :)
I was sitting at the bottom of Myka’s tree yesterday reading a book. I heard this big noise and I looked up and she was right above me, hanging from her back legs and reaching down with her front legs. The look on her face was priceless; she wasn’t sure how to get down! I put my hand up to her and she grabbed hold and climbed down my arm and sat right on my lap, looking at what I was reading. Incredibly social girl!
She was weighed at the vet’s office, and she weighs 7.5lbs (3.4kg). I measured her today and she was 16.5” SVL, 50.75” STL. The diameter of the base of her tail is 7.5”. She is 5 years old.
She understands the words “no” and “stop”. If she is doing something like clawing at the Plexiglas or looking like she is about to jump and try and land on the wall or something I will say “Stop Myka!” and she does…for a bit! When I let her walk around in the bathroom I wouldn’t let her go over near the toilet, because there is also a dehumidifier right there and she could get stuck there. Each time she went near I said “No Myka!” and I took her back somewhere safe. After the third time she stopped trying at all! Smart leezard :)
Her enclosure is 8ft long, 3ft deep, and 7’6” tall. All of the framing is made of solid oak, but we were cheap and made the back and sides of oak plywood. The door has ½ inch plastic mesh in it. In it, she has a huge ironwood tree (hardest wood found in Nova Scotia) that she can climb on. Unfortunately, we had to get Myka here on pretty short notice, so her special lights have yet to arrive. Right now she just has a chicken light for heat. I’m ordering a 160watt flood Active UV Heat bulb for her, as well as a CHE. We still haven’t got a thermometer either, but I’m using my snake’s for now. I’m also getting timers, and a misting system. Right now Myka only has her enclosure and heat. *Sighs* Hopefully we will have EVERYTHING she needs in a week! I hate bringing an animal home before everything is set up and running! But we had to have her home by this weekend because her owner’s were moving. Oh well! She will have it all soon enough :)
I’m just so happy to have her! I hope she lives forever because I can just tell she is going to be a wonderful pet! You will be hearing from me often! Wendy and Myka :)
PS: It's a bad picure of us both :S, but it was the only one without glare on it!
