Located in National City in Sunny Southern California
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| I frequent these places: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Poyner Green Iguana Family Located in National City in Sunny Southern California |
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| Patricks Iguana & Herp Forum | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Green Iguana Society Message Board | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| In 1994, I volunteered to help a friend set up a computerized accounting and POS system. One night a man came into the store while I was there. The petstore had just closed and the man had to get rid of his iguana he just bought. His wife had told him either it went or he and it would go. He wanted Eric to buy the iguana. Well Eric decided to buy it but he was just going to let it wander in his office. That was not acceptable with me. I had him go to the petstore the next day. He brought a manual and a hot rock. Well I read that manual and of course it was full of inaccurate information but I did not know that. So we followed it. That was how Baby came into my life, Some weeks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| later some boys brought an iguana in a paper bag. They had seen Baby in her printer box home. They said they had a boy iguana (but was female) for sale and wanted to know if Eric would buy it. Eric decided to buy the iguana. He had originally wanted to name the first iguana Dragon but I didn't let him so he named this one Dragon. Dragon's back and tail looked strange but we did not know what the problem was. Someone later seen her and told us she had had a bout with MBD. Dragon was aggressive with us when we got her but when we put her in with Baby she was very calm. It turned out that she had been abused. They got along great. We didn't know iguanas were not supposed to be kept together. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| So they stayed together and are still together. I took over their care because he just wasn't taking care of them to my liking. I tamed and socialized Dragon just using my instincts. I made him set up a larger enclosure. We used one of the display cases. I had read the manual and was feeding them dandelions, spinach, various vegetables, and chicken (occasionally). Of course that wasn't a good diet but it still wasn't the one Dragon had been on--dog food, peas and carrots mainly. I took them to a vet that said he specialized in exotics but his office was full of dogs and cats. He mainly kept pushing his dry food products and even just added it to the bill. I did not go back. Eric's wife told Eric he needed to get rid of them. He gave Baby | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| and Dragon to me. He took some old cabinets and built them an enclosure in the back room of the computer store. Well when the prices of computers and parts started to drop every day, he had to go out of business. I had to find a place for my iguanas. I was currently only renting a room. So I called my Auntie Merle and Uncle Louie. She said no but he later had her call back and say yes. We moved in late 1996. In 1998, I had to have Dragon spayed due to egg binding and decided to have Baby done. That is when I found terrific vets--Dr. Cecil and Dr. Jenkins. Late 1999, I found the GIS and bought James W Hatfield III's book Green Iguana: The Ultimate Owner's Manual. That is when I found out everything that I was doing wrong. I built the Ultimate Iguana Enclosure and changed their diet. I did have flourescent UVB lights but seen the ads for the PowerSun and switched . But then Uncle Louie died and my learning stopped. I offered to stay with Auntie Merle but couldn't keep the iguanas in the house. So I rented one of the garages to move the new insulated enclosure into it. When I moved them I added a radiant heat panel and plugged it into a thermostat control I also added an automatic mister. Well she eventually went to an assisted living place. The only place vacant was a small room with a private bath so Baby and | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Dragon had to stay in the garage. I then started researching iguana care again. I found Melissa Kaplan's website. This past year I was on the GIS adoption board when I saw Mr. Iggy from Malibu. I decided to adopt him. I drove up in October of 2004 and he was in a 15 or 20 gallon tank. He was the same legnth as the tank. I brought him home and put him in a good size cage that is in the girl's enclosure. I will eventually move him when he gets bigger. I have renamed him Huff. He is pretty tame but needs lots of socialization still. Well when I went to let the adoption board know he was not available any longer, my mouse (button) wandered and I clicked the message board instead. I posted about my iguanas and got a lot slack about them being in the same enclosure. At first, I got a little upset but then decided they just were concerned. That is where I got my start at posting to message boards and forums. Baby and Dragon are almost 12 years old now and Huff is just under 2 years old. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Melissa Kaplan's Green Iguana Care Collection | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||