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Post by katt on Apr 8, 2011 5:38:27 GMT -5
Tito gave me QUITE the scare tonight!  Full story here: www.herpcenter.com/green-iguanas/33936-scare-lifetime-need-input.htmlPart 1 - The Scare We had some insane winds today, 80 mph ripping off roofs, breaking windows. I woke up this morning to find that the balcony door had been ripped open by the wind (the latch does not always engage properly) and the entire apartment was freezing cold. Well everyone seemed okay so I shut the door and made sure the latch seemed to be in, and went to work. When I got off I was in a rush and on the phone with my mom. I came home and found that the door had been blown open Again! So I closed it and gave it a few good kicks with my foot (the lock is broken of course) and then shoved the couch in front for god measure before heading to the bf's house. Well end of the night I come home and notice a bunch of my stuff is knocked over. Hmmm....the door is closed, and it wasn't like that before. Weird. I look over an sure enough, Tito slipped her cage despite it being latched (one latch needs an adjustment but it was still a tight squeeze for her)! Then I realize that my bedroom door had been open since the morning because I was trying to let the heat circulate and heat things back up. Then I remembered the balcony door being open in the evening. Then I freaked out! I thought I had lost her for good! I frantically look around my room and prepare for a search of every nook and cranny of the apartment, trying not to burst into hysterics at the image of her outside, locked out, and freezing. THANK GOODNESS - I found her. She was cleverly disguised on a blue and green body pillow on my bed! I don't know why I didn't see her right away other than being tired. lol She seemed both cozy, and pleased with herself. Naturally. Parts 2 and 3 in link: www.herpcenter.com/green-iguanas/33936-scare-lifetime-need-input.htmlPictures to come...  |
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Post by miamiferret2 on Apr 8, 2011 7:22:30 GMT -5
wow those are hurricane force winds. Are iguanas hard to care for? We have about 3 large iguanas (3-4 footers) in the backyard (they swim in the canal too) but they are so huge a they are intimidating (they don't mess with you but they can take a finger off if you try to catch them). they like to sit on my dock and get sun. When it drops below 50 they get really sluggish and move SO slow and if it is below 40 they go into this iguana coma but they come out of it when it warms up again. They are really thin after cold spells and sometimes they are eaten while they are in their comas. If your iguana ever wants to "retire" in Florida just send her on d :Down.
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Post by Sherry on Apr 8, 2011 9:05:15 GMT -5
Wow, that would be frightening. And her behaviour is really curious  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2011 9:10:59 GMT -5
Omg! Im glad you found her and she was okay, I used to have an iguana named Samson he was a handful before my dad got tired of waking up to an ignuana in his room or another various part of the house. Samso gave up hs dreams of becoming a professional escape artist when he was somewhere between 6-8 and my dad built him a giant enclosure that had one door with 3 locks down the front, one at the top of the door, one at the bottom of the door and one in the middle and for good meaure at the top where each door touched the 'ceiling' of said enclosure, there was a lock over each door. Even when the enclosure got older, the wood settled and there was enough room that he could push the doors a little, he couldnt get through it because of the 'top' locks
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2011 9:26:13 GMT -5
Quick question Katt, how big is she? I think I remember one reason why my dad made Samson's enclosure so big was because he was getting to ginormus for his cage and someone had told my dad that's why he was trying to escape. I dont remember the specifics but i think if they are half the size of their cage they feel trapped/kinda claustraphobic (excuse my horrific spelling)
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Post by miamiferret2 on Apr 8, 2011 10:14:11 GMT -5
i have also heard that about the claustrophobia. makes sense. i guess that is why people here just set them free when they get too big. iguanas are not native here but they are all over the place because people have them as pets --when they get too big they set them loose. i must admit, they are very nice to see in the wild. they eat the berries from the palm trees, the grapes off of our sea grapes tree, the brazilian cherries. then they sit in the middle of the yard like statues. LOL. there is a place here called Key Biscayne and there are SO many of them there. they walk up to you and you can feed them. but you can't touch them because they get scared and run off. i have no idea who this lady is in the picture but this is what key biscayne is like. there is a huge gang of iguanas in one section and they all hang out on this big slab of concrete. it looks like jurassic park over there. actually the ones in my backyard look like these. they have the stripes on their tails.  |
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Post by katt on Apr 8, 2011 13:58:25 GMT -5
no, she is not claustrophobic. I am aware of that issue - I've done my research. It isn't "claustrophobia" though. Iguanas are VERY territorial and require a certain amount of territory, as well as room to move. Ideally full grown iguanas should have an Absolute Minimum cage size of 6' tall x 6' wide x 4' deep. While she is large, she is not full grown by any means. She is roughly 2.5 years old. Her cage is 7 feet tall, 4 feet wide and I think 3 feet deep? I can't remember if it's 2 or 3 but I am pretty sure it's 3. Anyways, it's plenty big enough for her now and she does get out. Miamyferret - Iguanas are VERY difficult to care for. And expensive. They take a LOT of money, time, and space. And they are dangerous. I honestly do not recommend them as a pet to anyone, and if you are truly Dying to have one then RESEARCH for manymanymany months before hand. They need as I said above a min cage of 6x6x4. If you don't build a full sized adult enclosure from day one, you are wasting your money because they grow so fast that you will constantly be upgrading to a new expensive cage. [Unfortunately, I am still in apartment-living and thus have to have a cage that can easily travel. So Tito is stuck with her cage for now. She will get a bigger one eventually, but this one hsould be big enough for a few years.] They require a specific temperature gradient, high humidity - both of which burn up electricity. Add to that they need a good source of UVB. Which means several expensive fluorescent bulbs changed out every 4-6 months. Or the smart way, an expensive MegaRay Mercury Vapor UVB bulb that has to be changed out every 10-12 months. Then they require a diet with a wide variety of greens (NOT lettuce - things like collard, mustard, turnip, escarole, and dandelion greens), veggies (squash, parsnip, bell pepper, etc), and fruits (expensive ones like mango and papaya). It can be difficult to find a good abundance of the staples, and even more difficult to find the proper variety. Then they need calcium supplements (NO D3 or phosphorus), and the occasional probiotics and vitamins (esp if you can't find enough variety). Oh and they eat a TON. They are herbivores, they are huge, and they grow insanely fast. So when I say a TON I mean it. Add to that that they are very, very territorial and not domestic or "tameable" by any means. They cannot be tamed. Period. They can be socialized. But they are never "Tame." To socialize them takes hours upon hours of patient handling, and it must be kept up on every day. Even then they can be very aggressive (esp males in breeding season) and are always unpredictable. Tito came to me pretty abused. She was in a 10g tank with one little hear lamp, no UVB, and some iguana pellets (the ig equivalent to ferret kibble - badbadbad). Add to that she had been their 3 little girls' (all under the age of 6) pet, the mom was terrified of her, and she had escaped and been attacked by the cat, and had some sort of infection that ended up eating holes in her dewlap. She was so terrified of anything that moved. She would go BESERK if you so much as looked in her direction. Now she is still very territorial of her cage. I have worked with her a lot but she does not like begin approached. Once you have her though, she is usually okay with being held and hanging out on your shoulder. She loves getting attention from people while I hold her.  As for the behavior, it is very uncharacteristic of her. If she was feeling "claustrophobic" it would not just happen out of nowhere like that. It is still within the range of breeding season and I have suspected that she was becoming gravid for a while now. |
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Post by miamiferret2 on Apr 8, 2011 14:45:27 GMT -5
I think they are cool looking but I have see them fighting in the yard and they look kind of intimidating! Whenever they see us if we even move an inch they run and dive into the water.
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Post by Heather on Apr 8, 2011 15:35:41 GMT -5
I"m so glad that your little scale baby was ok. Sounds like you've been having some horrible weather. I'm glad that no real damage was done
ciao
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Post by katt on Apr 8, 2011 16:04:10 GMT -5
Me too! She looked SOOOO pleased with herself. I felt kind of bad taking her off of my pillow because she looked so cozy. haha Guess I ought to get her her own pillow for her cage. I hope she doesn't poop on it!  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2011 18:35:09 GMT -5
Wow glad Tito is okay! You're a great scale mommy  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2011 18:51:17 GMT -5
Katt, man. Your apartment sounds just awful. I hope you can make them fix that.  And what a fright to find Tito missing! After reading what you wrote I know I could never, ever have or want an iguana (makes me glad my sis never got her way about wanting one when we were kids). Any of those greens you feed Tito I'm sure your mice would love too!! Miami-ferret - what a great picture! And how fascinating. I hear that there are a lot of exotics on the black market that people buy and then dump in Florida and they are wrecking the wildlife balance there because they are not native to that region. So sad. And that really does remind me of Jurassic Park, that picture! (Some of my favorite movies!) |
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Post by katt on Apr 9, 2011 0:18:31 GMT -5
Yeah I wish I had done more research BEFORE getting Tito. *shakes head* lmao Oh well she is here - Hopefully to stay! ;D They are awesome animals, don't get me wrong. It is just like having your own pet dinosaur. But then again, it is also just like having your own pet dinosaur. ;D Your very own, scaly, sharp, pointy, moody, garbage disposal, spiky, sharp-toothed, giant-reptile dinosaur! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Oh and the mice do get bits of the greens. Just not super regularly because frankly, Tito is a pig. Or usually is - atm she is too busy being in season to notice food apparently. And that really does remind me of Jurassic Park, that picture! (Some of my favorite movies!) |
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Post by katt on Apr 9, 2011 1:19:27 GMT -5
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Post by katt on Apr 9, 2011 1:32:43 GMT -5
HAHAHAHA Tito THEN when I got her 2 years ago  Now - a few months ago  |
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