Iguanas are people, too

Someone this evening suggested an iguana as a pet, so I did a little reading: “Iguanas need love, just like a dog or a cat would. They are not creatures happy to be stuck in a cage, fed, cleaned and ignored. They need contact, interaction, and yeah, love.”

More from Green Iguana Society:

7. Do you have time for your iguana?
Not just time to feed it, clean it and give it water. Do you have time to talk to your iguana, pet your iguana, play with him/her? They need it! They can’t be stuck in a cage and ignored!

8. Are you empathetic?
Will you do your best to put yourself in your iguana’s shoes? Can you comprehend that an iguana is trying hard to be a part of your world, despite the massive differences? If your iguana is grouchy about something, can you put yourself in his/her place and try to understand what the problem is?

9. Are you consistent?
Iguanas need routines, stability, regular feedings, regular potty times, regular play times, etc. Do you have the sort of lifestyle in which you can do that? Are you even willing to?

Geez, I didn’t even know an iguana wore shoes. They can grow to six feet long and live for 20 years. A buffalo might be less trouble.

8 thoughts on “Iguanas are people, too”

  2. And can you imagine handling those tiny iguanashoe nails? But then I’m sure there are probably plenty of blacksmiths around Albuqurque.

  3. My son has two iguanas — one is pretty small, and the other is about five ft., including tail. Not to metion two cats, two ball pythons, a couple of small red-eared African tortoises, and a 125+ lb. Sulcata named Mussolini (here he is six or seven years ago, eating an apple out of my son’s best friend’s hand; his favorite food is my mother’s azaleas).

    Reptiles do require a lot more care than most people assume. Mussolini has to come indoors when the temp drops below 40°, and let me tell you, THAT’S a production. The iguanas have very distinct personalities, and they LOVE attention. In fact, they get downright demanding and surly when ignored, and you do not want to be under the same roof as a surly five-foot lizard.

    After reading this post, though, I TOTALLY want to buy them some little shoes.

  4. Well, I thought an iguana might be a good pet when I suggested it 😉 but maybe they require more time and attention than you can spare. However, there was a spider guy on Leno Friday night who said that tarantulas make good pets. I’ve known a few people who’ve had them and they agreed that they are very gentle creatures. Plus, they go along with the desert theme. Maybe you could get a tarantula and an iguana and let them loose inside whenever you’re out of town–that way they could scare the bejeebers out of any prowlers who might be foolish enough to intrude. Of course, you could get a motion-activated tape recording of an agitated rattlesnake to accomplish that, and you wouldn’t have to feed it crickets.

  6. A “Beware of Five-Foot Iguana” sign would probably be pretty effective.

    See? It’s all in the details. And the copy.

    😉

    Funny enough, instead of using “ADP” security system stickers, my mother stuck little signs that read “DON’T FEED THE SNAKES” on the doors and windows of my parents house. To serve as burgler deterrents.

    I always thought those signs were so bizarre on so many levels. I mean, the copy alone was just completely out there. Don’t FEED the snakes? Do burglers typically take a break from their ransacking to care for their victims’ pets?

    It’s only since her death that I’ve begun to realize the breadth of my mother’s creative spirit. 😉

  7. I once heard that iguanas were useful if you had a lot of what we used to call in Austin “tree roaches,” those great big huge cockroaches the size of a small dog that seem to come out of nowhere and walk across the the floor…

  8. When NewMexiKen lived in Austin I thought the roaches were a real threat to steal the refrigerator — just carry it out on their backs.

Comments are closed.