First time Iguana owner...

[gotiggy]

Your little Dragon is so cute. That is what we should of gotten! (kicks her self)

[gotiggy]

The pictures are not very good, but this is Elvis the day my son got him He has shed and grown since these were taken. I will try to get bettr pictures. I am still not a digital person, yet! I love my SLR 35mm!!

[Shelby]

Did you ask the pet store if they would just take him and you'd pay for another animal? It'd be worth it.. a full grown iggy costs more to feed than those other lizards we were talking about.

[frankykeno]

Not being sure how much you can work with this pet store to take back the iggy I can say I was not surprised they refused it. A lot have this 48 hour policy and tend to sell people stuff they aren't ready for and with little to no husbandry information given by the pet store staff. Sad but true it's a business and they have to move "stock". True though that with more research you would have known if your family really could handle the iggy. Hard lessons to learn.

Now as far as what to do with it. You can either try to return it outright and take the financial loss (if the pet store would even go for that), find a better home for it with a person experienced in iggy's, give it to a reptile rescue (good luck finding one not already full of iggy's though ) or decide to keep it and do the very best for it you can. I'd definitely keep looking for a good herp vet to see it so at least you know if it's healthy or not at this point.

Pet stores just make me sad some days (and mad a lot of other days!) I just want to go into our local one with their $20.00 iggy's and slap a sticker on that cage saying "do you know how big this thing can get!!!!"

[Jeanne]

PLease do NOT buy a bearded dragon for a first lizard. They require ALOT more than most realize that do not keep them. I keep beardeds, and let me tell you, they can eat alot and require special lighting and such.

Also, ball pythons are great snakes, but IMO I do not reccommend them as a beginner snake because of the various issues our members know about this species. Like going off feed, which is stressful for a first time owner. And thier pickiness about food at times.

However, leopard geckos, corn snakes and milk snakes are great beginner reptiles because they are more forgiving of mistakes in husbandry. Some of our members have mentioned a few others that are also ok.

[Jeanne]

Pet stores just make me sad some days (and mad a lot of other days!) I just want to go into our local one with their $20.00 iggy's and slap a sticker on that cage saying "do you know how big this thing can get!!!!"

A local pet store I use to work for sells them as low as $11.99 from time to time when they get bunches in, and usually thier price is actually $15.00. Makes me sick, because as an ex-employee I know for a fact, that they now have no one who knows anything about the reptiles they sell, often times I have been in there as a customer and over heard the young kids they now have as sales ppl, telling ppl all kinds of made up stuff (to make them look knowledgeable) and sell the animal. They give incorrect husbandry advice. It is aweful. I know here in Ohio there are 3 rescues, all full of igs. Sad. This same place has had a burmese python (young and pretty it is) for months now, the info under his cage says it will reach 6 foot as an adult(same sign stays under any burm brought in for sale). I have already 4 times succeeded in talking potential buyers out of buying it so they dont get into trouble with it later. When I worked there, we had one that was in the shop for over 6 months before it was bought, and it was only bought because it was marked down from the normal $100 to $50 just to get rid of it. I am the one who eventually sold it on my shift, but to a guy who was looking for another because he wanted to breed his older one later (3yrs old), just so happened, the one I sold was a female, and he had a male. So luckily it went to someone who knew this animals potential and was able to care for it properly.

On another note though, now that they dont have anyone who knows things about reptiles at all, and most of the kids hired are scared to death of the snakes, most go without food until bought. I know this because I have asked the few kids I have seen in the reptile/fish dept. that work that area, and they all say they wont even mess with any of the snakes, afraid they will get bitten, etc. So not only do they not get fed, but they rarely have fresh water and thier cages are dirty.

[gotiggy]

Now as far as what to do with it. You can either try to return it outright and take the financial loss (if the pet store would even go for that), find a better home for it with a person experienced in iggy's, give it to a reptile rescue (good luck finding one not already full of iggy's though ) or decide to keep it and do the very best for it you can. I'd definitely keep looking for a good herp vet to see it so at least you know if it's healthy or not at this point.

Pet stores just make me sad some days (and mad a lot of other days!) I just want to go into our local one with their $20.00 iggy's and slap a sticker on that cage saying "do you know how big this thing can get!!!!"

I think I will do this or stand in front of the store and tell people what I have learned from my experience.

Financial loss is not my concern, the tank and some of the other things could be sold or reused most likely.

Odds are at this point we will keep him and make the best of it.

Thanks everyone!!

[gotiggy]

Did you ask the pet store if they would just take him and you'd pay for another animal? It'd be worth it.. a full grown iggy costs more to feed than those other lizards we were talking about.

They would not take him in fear of him making the other iggy's sick. I am still looking for a local reptile vet or an vet who will look at him. If I get him vet checked maybe they will take him..

[ladywhipple02]

He's probably already become a member of the family! Please try your best to give him a good home if you're going to keep him. You're already doing a great job, holding him and acclimating him to the family really well. But he's going to need a mch bigger cage in a year... and a bigger one than that in another year. Ig's almost need their own room when they become adults. They need to be able to have UVB light (do you have him under one of these?) and they need to be able to regulate their temps.


You can get all the info you ever wanted about keeping an Ig here: Melissa Kaplan's Green Iguana Guide Just click on the underlined PDF (you'll obviously need Adobe to read it). Or, you can buy her book, Iguanas for dummies.

Good luck with the little guy!

[vtjvt]

PLease do NOT buy a bearded dragon for a first lizard. They require ALOT more than most realize that do not keep them. I keep beardeds, and let me tell you, they can eat alot and require special lighting and such.

Also, ball pythons are great snakes, but IMO I do not reccommend them as a beginner snake because of the various issues our members know about this species. Like going off feed, which is stressful for a first time owner. And thier pickiness about food at times.

However, leopard geckos, corn snakes and milk snakes are great beginner reptiles because they are more forgiving of mistakes in husbandry. Some of our members have mentioned a few others that are also ok.

I would have to disagree about getting a bearded as a first lizzard, Yes they eat alot but are extremly easy to keep and care for, and thier tempermate is great for the beginner, I have always recomended them, I have been keeping them for 5 or 6 years now and can't think of any negatives on getting one, (other than they eats like pigs) but feeding 1 dragon is only going to run $5 a week on the high side and the lighting an housing are very simple.