I saw an add on Craigslist that a lady posted. She bought an Iguana for her 10 yr old daughter who has since decided she is scared of it and wants it gone. (Shame on parents sometimes) The absolute worst part of this whole situation is the enclosure. Are you ready - He is housed in a 10 gallon tank!!!! Yes, at 5 months old!!!! I can't even imagine what this looks like. So I contacted the lady and told her first that a 10 gallon is NOT going to work, and shouldn't have ever been an adequate enclosure to begin with. She has no lighting, no heat source and is feeding him lettuce. She is looking for a "donation to her daughter for $20", which upsets me, but I know this little guys needs a home BAD. If I took him in, I don't have anything readily available, but I figured I could rig something temporarily that would HAVE to be better than what he is living in now. :-/

Should I even bother? I mean considering I don't have anything available? Considering that he has obviously not been handled, and not been properly cared for, will I be setting myself up for disappointment? I'm worried about him and my heart goes out to him more than anything. I have a bad complex - like "if I don't help, who will?!"

What do you mean by set your self up for disappointment? Are you asking if it will die on you? We won't be able to answer that question. There is no guarantee.

I can tell you that there have been MANY happy endings with rescued igs. Nicole and I think Barnkat have both had great luck. The question is are you willing to devote the resources to it?

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If this will help you to decide. I recently took in a very large male iguana that had been turned loose to roam the streets. I found him on the craigslist as well. I took him in after two weeks of the indviduals trying to find him a home (bottom of the waiting list). He was thin, has suffered from Metabolic Bone Disease, and had skin issues. He would have only lasted 10 days at the humane society.

Here is my cost to take him in.

Gas to get him. $150

Vet bill to make sure he was not ill. $75

Cage and lights and other accessories or misc. items. $450

The great part about it is that he has done well in my home and my other male ig is fine with him as well, they just do the normal ig stuff with each other. I do have to keep them separated because of their nature. He is not afraid of my dogs or my birds.

I took a very big chance with him and it turned into a happy ending forever home for him.

Keep in mind that the ig you may get is not tame, terrified, thin, may have health issues. If it tugs your heart and you have the means to give it proper care then go for it, the ig may become the best reptile you ever had.

Good Luck

I took in a "rescue iggy." It didn't cost me anything to get started because he had one heck of a guardian angel. I would have taken him even if I had to dump everything I had saved into getting him set up. It's a lot of hard work, but it's worth it when people tell you how good their starting to look......

You also need to keep in mind that you can end up having to spend thousands of dollars on vet care. I got lucky and my iggy wasn't that sick... He was pretty sick compared to a healthy ig but all I needed to do is proper uvb and diet, and a reptile panel every 4 months to make sure he's doing good, and the damage that was done to him doesn't get worse.

He still is thin, and he still only likes me when he wants to (more like when I have his food). He's still not all that tame, but we're working on it...

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"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~ Immanual Kant

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." ~ Anatole France

Or it may very well turn into your worst nightmare!
This ig has had poor treatment, no heat, no UVB, and bad diet for months. You may be looking at vet bills right off the bat. And as stated iguanas are NOT inexpensive to set up properly. They require a very large cage. They can also be very dangerous.
Not trying to put you off but just to prepare you to make your decision. A 10 year old could have treated the ig very badly to the point where it veiws humans as a threat!
As stated it could turn out well but then it could not. You will be taking a gamble. And if it turns out badly for you then what are you going to do with the iguana?

Don't get me wrong,... I love iguanas!
But I see far too many people get them who really don't know what they are getting themselves into. They are a very high maintainance animal.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

LOL... Merlin, you misread her post. The daughter is 10, the iguana is 5 months.

But Merlin is right... this could get very expensive very quickly. At 5 months of age, the chances of saving him are pretty good, as are the chances that you'll be able to socialize him.

The bottom line is that you'll need to go in 100% committed to doing WHATEVER is necessary regardless of the financial costs.

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~~Steph

"This I believe: That the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world." John Steinbeck

Steph, he read it right. I think he was saying that a 10 year old wouldn't know how to properly treat and act around the ig. Especially not if they think keeping it in a 10 gal is ok... He is saying that after 5 months of questionable treatment by this young human, the ig might have trust issues with other humans....

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Oops... My mistake! I misread Merlin's post! *duh*

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~~Steph

"This I believe: That the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world." John Steinbeck

You got lucky Ipanda, lol. I hooked you up with everything you would need to get by. He does look great though, serious improvements that's for sure!

As far as what Merlin said, he is right, he could become your worst nightmare! Or on the other hand he could become your best friend! I have some in here at the moment that are my best friends, and then there is Lucky and Amadeus, phew, what a bunch of ungrateful heathens. I have had them for well over a year now, they are rehabbed, life is good for them, not so good for me when I go into their enclosures lol. There was just way too much damage done by humans, and I am not so sure they will ever trust or "tame down" (not that iguanas are ever tame, lol). The chances of them ever finding a home that could handle them are slim to none. I have been bitten many times, and have been sent to the hospital for stitches from some of those bites. When I talk about damage done by humans and the not trusting thing with my boys, I am talking duck and cover when you get the food bowl out of their enclosure just to feed them. I have caught Lucky in mid air many times, jumping at me, with mouth right open, if he would have landed on me, that would have been a definite trip to the ER for stitches.

Now that I have gave you some examples of the down side of rescue igs, I also have some great stories, my Grizzly came to me on death's door from starvation. I gave that iguana a week, if that. He was in the hospital with IV and force fed, the whole nine yards to start with. He pulled through, he has some mental retardation (literally) from the malnutrition; however, he is my buddy! He hangs out on me all the time, follows me around the house, naps on me, throws fits to get in the rooms where my girls free roam. He is a very good grateful iguana. But, again you need to remember he has damage to the brain, so I am not sure how much of his natural instincts he knows he is supposed to have, lol. Baby Dragon is also another one of my buddies; she can be a bit moody, but she loves to snuggle and be petted as long as she comes to you for it. She is on kidney meds (for the rest of her life) that are quite spendy, she also costs a ton in vet bills because of the constant panels that have to be run on her to monitor the function of her kidneys.

So with all that said, and some examples of a few that I have in at the moment, ultimately the decision is yours. You need to go into this with an open mind and be prepared for some serious financial obligations.

Good luck in your decision!

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I have sucker tattood on my forehead

Thank you all for the advice. It's hard to admit when you aren't capable of doing something (the right way). I think I'm going to pass. I've let this tug on my emotions, rather than thinking it through logically and realistically. I appreciate all of you and your opinions. You offer experience, knowledge, truth, but a true passion for animals that many people don't understand. Considering that I have 6 lizards right now, 4 of which are rescues themselves who need rehabilitation and attention, and 2 that are young, and need care and time to socialize properly, I wonder if I have the time (being a single mother with a 3 year old and working a full time job) to devote to an animal that needs so much attention, maintenance (and the breaking point for me) money. As much as I would like to think I could do it, realistically I don't have the extra money to devote to properly assure that he is in the best health or enclosure for that matter. :-/ There's that dang ego again...

Thank you all guys. I'm going to wait until I have the resources, time and money. When the time is right, I'm going to start off with a baby, so ensure that everything has been done correctly, from the start. Thank you SO much guys!

Well, back to square one...(SOMEONE PLEASE TAKE THIS IGGY OFF OF HER HANDS!!!!) What should I do? Anyone know any good reptile rescues in Houston? (time to research) I would totally be willing to GIVE her 20 dollars to take this lizard and see it go to the right home.