Remember the cute little green iguanas that were so popular a few years ago in the pet stores? I am not sure if that is still so, but I can remember seeing them everywhere then.The pet store workers promoted them heavily. They were easy to obtain and pretty easy to sell. This was primarily because they knew NOTHING about the care required in reality, or if they did, they SURE weren't telling the buyers about it!
I bought a little green iguana about 5 years ago as a pet for my daughter. The pet store worker sold us a little 5 gallon aquarium (since he was only about 5 inches long tail and all) and told us to feed him lettuce and some green beans. An occasional cricket would be a treat. Well, not too hard I thought, so out I walked with a glass tank, green iguana, and a warming lamp.
Well, I thought there must be more to the story, so I did some research on some really good iguana sites and found out the REAL story! Little did I know that within the next five years, the cost of feeding this little green guy would equal the cost of feeding a couple of teenagers, or that he would get to be about 6 feet long, be very territorial, and live about 35 years!
The pet store industry should be ashamed of their behavior! I have made an extreme effort for my green guy, but think of how many are just left to starve or just plain die from lack of proper nourishment or care.
Now that my iguana is full grown, I would like to be able to find him a home in a zoo, or somewhere that is knowledgeable and equipped to house an iguana properly. He is healthy and has a pretty good attitude under the circumstances. If anyone has any ideas, let me know. It is not that I cannot care for him, because I can. The RIGHT thing to do is to try and find a better place that is closer to his natural environment.
