Iguanas:

Hi all, as of now Rusty Reptiles has in our care 3 iguanas. 1 large spayed female, 1 large male, and a juvi male.
I have had a few requests for pics, so here are a few shots.
I hope you enjoy them:
JUVI:
https://ball-pythons.net/modules/cop...08/Cnv0055.jpg
Large male:
https://ball-pythons.net/modules/cop...08/Cnv0097.jpg
Large adult female:
(In this photo you can see why it is not a good idea to cage them in wire enclosures. You can clearly see her nose scarring from the nose rubbing on wire.)
https://ball-pythons.net/modules/cop...08/Cnv0131.jpg
Male trying to figure out where the female is off too:
https://ball-pythons.net/modules/cop...08/Cnv0098.jpg
Female on left, male on right:
https://ball-pythons.net/modules/cop...08/Cnv0099.jpg
Female and our little man coloring in spiderman together:
https://ball-pythons.net/modules/cop...08/Cnv0180.jpg

I hope you enjoy
Thanks
Rusty

Those are really cool pics Rusty. Thanks for sharing them. I love the last one that is so cute.

Thanks, Griffin (our little man) loves the female, they can both just sit and observe each other all day. She literally knows his schedule, and has definatly picked him as a buddy in the house. He loves to pick dandelions for her to munch on too.
Thanks
Rusty

My daughter was looking over my shoulder and saw that pic and thought it was cool. That is really cool that they get to grow up together. My daughter is now wanting her own ball python. Kids are great, if only they were as quite as reptiles,lol. ;)

Wow, what are they like to keep?

Rusty, that last picture is adorable.

Thanks for the compliment guys.
Godfather, they can be a handful, full of attitude and expensive vet bills.
The female for instance ate a pair of griffins socks! Luckily she passed them, and has recovered.
We get calls on iguanas literally everyday! They are the #1 throwaway pet in America, sad but true.
They do get to a large size, female is approx. 6 feet and the male is 5 feet, both under 5 years of age. They need a good diet, not just lettuce, but a large variety of colorful, healthy veggies and fruits. It is also imperative that they get good UV lighting. Since our large female free roams, we invested in a large mercury bulb, proven to emit good levels of UV, (same the zoos use), but pricey.
I think if you are able to provide these animals with good nutrition, enough room and understanding (they definatly have there own personalities) then go for it. But please remember to adopt! If America’s pet stores stopped selling them, there would still be enough in rescue shelters to provide iguanas for anyone who wanted them. Probably for years to come.
Here is a helpful link about iguanas:

http://www.greenigsociety.org/
http://www.iguanaden.com/main.htm

This following site is my best friends, she does great work with her iguanas, and has a few different species ( yup there are different species). But it has some great pictures, and wonderful information. (Plus don’t tell my male ig this, but Pugsley is “the man�..lol Check it out:
http://reptilecare.com/index.html

If you guys may have any other questions, please feel free to ask.
Thanks
Rusty

Thank you so much for sharing that, Rusty! Cool pictures and great information!

That picture with Griffin is just TOO cute!! (She at his socks??? :shock: )

Yup a pair of his socks!
She seemed to slow down on her eating so after two days, we took her in for bloodwork (we are very particular about her health) and knowing they can have so many liver / kidney problems, and not knowing her previose history we wanted to get her a checkup. And low and behold as we are waiting for the results (24hour labwork), she poops out one sock, well that explained it! then three days later she poooped out the other one. It was a bit amazing actullay. She is a big lizard, but compared to a sock, she has a small digestive system, so it was quite impressive..lol
Thanks
Rusty

I love that last picture, Rusty. :) I hope the socks were 100% cotton!

A friend of mine recently went to Costa Rica for a vacation. Took lots of cool pictures. In addition, he came across this good looking girl:

https://ball-pythons.net/modules/cop...mal_iguana.jpg

He said they practically run around like squirrels around there. Lots of them like to come around the beach at the hotel that he stayed at; one of the bartenders there said that the large ones have to be periodically relocated some distance down the coast because they frighten some of the guests. They're just plant eaters!

Are any of those for sale? I'm interested in the female

email me at
disturbedpunkk87@hotmail.com

Can I ask why you would be interested in her?
Rusty

Quote:

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one of the bartenders there said that the large ones have to be periodically relocated some distance down the coast because they frighten some of the guests. They're just plant eaters!

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Well, they may be plant eaters, but they can still be pretty mean. They have strong jaws and claws and a mean tail-whip. I would not want to antagonize a fully grown iggy!

I've heard that full grown iguanas can break bones with an accurate tail whip. I can understand the whole thing about being agressive too; my friend with the adult male iguana has some trouble with him a few months ago when, i guess it was around breeding season, and his iguana was being very aggressive with anyone who came close. He finally did calm down, but he said he's never really been intimidated by a reptile as much as he was by Bo.

Quote:

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think if you are able to provide these animals with good nutrition, enough room and understanding (they definatly have there own personalities) then go for it. But please remember to adopt! If America’s pet stores stopped selling them, there would still be enough in rescue shelters to provide iguanas for anyone who wanted them. Probably for years to come.

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Don Meyer: It seems to me that you are interested in "purchasing our large female iguana". Let me just explain that no one could pay us enough for her. Not everything is for sale. In addition we in no way sell our animals. We do find homes for certain species through a very thorough adoption process. I was a little put off, and I am hoping very much that my assumptions are wrong. But the impression I get from you is that you would like to breed her. Along with the niles, burms and others I have seen on your site. Think about that situation, even now, you breed them, I rescue them.
I do appologize as this seems to be a personal attack. As you all know I am not one to direct any comments at one memeber or another (Think about how good and quiet I was during this past fiasco), But with situations like this, everyone think about it.
Please if you want to give these animals good homes, adopt them from local shelters if possible. I can not say that enough. And please realize the need for homes of certain species, before taking it upon yourself to breed.
Don't get me wrong. I support some breeding. I even highly support some large scale breeders (ex: NERD) But they think first. They have the knowledge of the needs of our herpetological community, and the needs of these aniamls.
Well I got off track a bit. But I am tired of people not quite understanding what we do here. Would you go to a pit bull rescue and ask for an intact male so you could breed him?
Ok, theres my rant.
Sincerely'
Rusty

Just a little more on the overpoplulation of igs. This is what happens when people don't care:
here is a link of iguana rescue cases:
http://community.webshots.com/album/111735101SKjiiB/0
Why would anyone want to breed more?
Rusty

woah. :shock: I always knew people were getting rid of them... the sheer number of people I knew growing up with one... that now don't have one anymore... sad.

i once had an iguana. her name was marge and she was the most adorable herp ive ever had. caring for her was a pain though, and being the newb that i was, she developed internal parasites and passed on. i say a prayer for her every night.

btw, the reason i am a member of any herp forums today is bc of her. i couldnt let that happen to another one of my pets.

What kind is Neelix? Awesome pictures, Rusty. I had a Green Iguana once. Can you believe they were giving them as prizes at a little carnival (you know the fishbowl ping pong game--made me so mad)? Mark won one and we had him for about 2 yrs. (he loved fruit, mustard greens, collard greens were his fav., & plenty of other fruits and veggies--never gave him iceburg though)....grew to be rather large, but when we moved, we couldn't bring him w/us. Mark's sister has him now and he's pretty big. In any case, as with most 'pets', there's far too many needing homes, it's a shame and it shouldn't be that way :cry: It's such a great thing you do!!