Tenor Goddess
New member
Greetings all!
I took in what appears to be a young male iguana that I have dubbed Fugu (because he loves to test you and bluff). His story is that he spent the first 4-6 months of his life in the wild and was brought into the us solely because of his "aqua" coloration. The fact remains his color will most likely turn to green before too long but regardless, this is what got him imported in. The pet store he was in marked him as a goner because he was being lethargic and not eating.
I looked him over to find shed skin and poop mixed with bedding clogging his entire vent area. He was "calm" according to the sales dude which I quickly corrected as feeling icky.
After numerous soakings and helping him shed, he finally became unclogged and pooped massively for me. Apparently wiping his butt and not putting him on Eco-Earth was a challenge for the store.
So now, he is healthy, eats his salad, greens and even picks at his repcal pellets like a champ.
The note on him is that PLEASE do not reply if all you see is a pretty iguana and want him for just that reason. He is very wild, even with the daily handling he's been getting. I have seen him make remarkable progress with taming down where he'll take food while I hold him and although remaining paranoid, doesn't argue with petting while being held (he is especially good when sitting in his hand towel, which is NOT restraining him in any way, just gently folded over him).
But, he is still very wild. He fights tooth and nail getting out of his cage and recently decided to drop over 7" of his tail merely because something spooked him while I wasn't even in the room. There was NOTHING in his cage to facilitate getting caught, but he was in his usual naptime place when it happened, so my guess is he was in there and felt trapped for just long enough to ditch his tail when either something outside the window was loud or the curtain fluttered. Right now it's healing up very nicely, no swelling or issues (he even offers to beat me with it daily) and presently has the same length as his body so as he grows, hopefully balance will not be an issue later.
Although they have the ability to grow their tails back, that is never a guarantee. Being young though, I'd suspect he should.
For the person adopting, I'd caution you to remember that although he's wild now and might calm down (which is no guarantee), he will also have hormonal times each year once his system wakes up for wanting a mate which can make him more dangerous to deal with, as any green iguana can be during this time, male or female. You must have previous iguana experience in dealing with wild iguanas, as well as their hormonal changes. He is not a first time iguana and requires a strict schedule to retain what he's gained with handling (I was gone for a week and came back to him thinking he could display just how horrible he wants to be).
He's still just a little juvie, but he has to have a consistent handling schedule.
If you are interested in adopting Fugu, let me know via email or PM here and we'll discuss from there. Feel free to ask any additional questions.
Kindest regards,
Amanda Rose
I took in what appears to be a young male iguana that I have dubbed Fugu (because he loves to test you and bluff). His story is that he spent the first 4-6 months of his life in the wild and was brought into the us solely because of his "aqua" coloration. The fact remains his color will most likely turn to green before too long but regardless, this is what got him imported in. The pet store he was in marked him as a goner because he was being lethargic and not eating.
I looked him over to find shed skin and poop mixed with bedding clogging his entire vent area. He was "calm" according to the sales dude which I quickly corrected as feeling icky.
After numerous soakings and helping him shed, he finally became unclogged and pooped massively for me. Apparently wiping his butt and not putting him on Eco-Earth was a challenge for the store.
So now, he is healthy, eats his salad, greens and even picks at his repcal pellets like a champ.
The note on him is that PLEASE do not reply if all you see is a pretty iguana and want him for just that reason. He is very wild, even with the daily handling he's been getting. I have seen him make remarkable progress with taming down where he'll take food while I hold him and although remaining paranoid, doesn't argue with petting while being held (he is especially good when sitting in his hand towel, which is NOT restraining him in any way, just gently folded over him).
But, he is still very wild. He fights tooth and nail getting out of his cage and recently decided to drop over 7" of his tail merely because something spooked him while I wasn't even in the room. There was NOTHING in his cage to facilitate getting caught, but he was in his usual naptime place when it happened, so my guess is he was in there and felt trapped for just long enough to ditch his tail when either something outside the window was loud or the curtain fluttered. Right now it's healing up very nicely, no swelling or issues (he even offers to beat me with it daily) and presently has the same length as his body so as he grows, hopefully balance will not be an issue later.
Although they have the ability to grow their tails back, that is never a guarantee. Being young though, I'd suspect he should.
For the person adopting, I'd caution you to remember that although he's wild now and might calm down (which is no guarantee), he will also have hormonal times each year once his system wakes up for wanting a mate which can make him more dangerous to deal with, as any green iguana can be during this time, male or female. You must have previous iguana experience in dealing with wild iguanas, as well as their hormonal changes. He is not a first time iguana and requires a strict schedule to retain what he's gained with handling (I was gone for a week and came back to him thinking he could display just how horrible he wants to be).
He's still just a little juvie, but he has to have a consistent handling schedule.
If you are interested in adopting Fugu, let me know via email or PM here and we'll discuss from there. Feel free to ask any additional questions.
Kindest regards,
Amanda Rose
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