I'm a firm believer in socializing reptiles. I used to take Kolbe out (which is how my neighbor who adopted him after Hurricane Katrina fell in love with him). Kolbe is still very much the neighborhood mascot and he's been handled by most of the neighbors. He comes out when we have big get togethers. He's also been to schools. I plan on starting to bring Kira out as soon as she is completely settled in and used to the family. Since I plan on bringing her to schools as an education animal, I want her to be used to change and being handled by different people. All three of my iguanas are well socialized and so is our Sulcatta and box turtles.

An added benefit is that if they have to go to the vet they don't stress as much because they are used to leaving home. Now, I'm sure there are some animals that don't adapt well to being handled and if I had one like that I'd leave it home. I did have one iguana who was very anti-social and so he lived out his life being handled as little as possible.