Month: November 2015

November 6, 2015

I’ve had Angel for nearly 10 months now. The change I’ve seen in her in the last month has been absolutely amazing. Since my trip back from Reno she’s proved to me to be incredibly intelligent. Faced with the time change in the fall solstice and she has taken well to the sunny window and her new winter room.

Since day light saving time changed last week, on Tuesday I created a little cubby in her closet and placed electric blanket inside.  I introduced her to the cubby at lunchtime and showed her two times how to climb up the ladder and showed her that this cozy spot was for her.

I showed her how warm it was and how safe and comfy it was. I made it resemble her bedroom in my closet. Honestly, I doubted she would get it right the first day, but when I returned from work, I was awesomely surprised that she had found her way in and she was sleeping soundly just where I want to church now this is just great because what this means is that when I go to work and lever in the room she is good to crawl up and be cuddled in warm by the time I get home.

 

I don’t use heat a lot in my home son of the window seems to warm the room to a nice toasty 80° and keeps her window area about 100 on sunny days on cloudy days I will rely on basking lamps and of course I always run a 48 inch UVB T5 fluorescent bulb over her head to make sure that the bulb is far enough away from her that it will cause her any harm by far enough away I mean 24 inches being above her which gives her a little bit of space if she gets up on a pillow or she hangs out on one of her logs though she does seem to choose to extend her feet over the edge of the shelf and lay flat most of the time having her go to her cubby on her own every night.

It also means that in the future if I decide to travel and have to have a babysitter come over or mace and iguana sitter come over will be possible to leave her for a day or more without them having to do too much work.

A basic visit in the morning to ensure she’s up and in her window and feeding her; and then a visit in the evening to ensure she is in her cubby to clean up her potty area.

Speaking of potty area she actually knows now to go in a certain area and I put down potty pads for her since I have to close the door and she has no access to the shower. This is a definite issue, which I will have to work out a better solution.

If I allow her to leave the room and go to the shower I don’t know where she will sleep,  I see that I need to make a ladder up to her area and my closet as well that’s a little difficult since if I do that I may not be able to view the closing closet. Easily just kind of messy I much prefer to place her in the closet at night is way get to say hello to her in the evening.

Overall she has been a great companion.She is no longer the wild iguana that I read about in my first weeks of having her those days are completely in the past now. She allows me to pick her up easily.

She rides on my shoulder she goes to the store in my purse. She has her fussy days in her fussy moments but I’ve come to understand that as a certain way she likes to be picked up and long as I pick her up correctly and gently she’s also gentle with me so we have an understanding now.

We have respect for each other and there’s actually a bit of camaraderie now. She becomes anxious when people visit the house. In her mind she’s wondering if they have come to take her away. But as time goes on and things happen between us she will come to understand that I am going to keep her.

I continue to reinforce this his in her mind and our whisperering, but really the changes come from real life experiences she will experience.

I am happy that  I have an awesome little lizard, she is the star of the show.

November 7

OK, so it has been 10 months since I adopted my shelter girl, Angel. I am reviewing my journal and I see how far she has come.

This little iguana, with all the physical and emotional scars endured, has transformed into the perfect iguana for me. Not only has she blown me away with her ability to learn, she has accomplished things I only dreamt of. Now let’s face it. If you knew Babe, like I knew Babe, you would have known he is a tough act to follow. His demeanor, intelligence and kindness were one in a million. I never imagined another iguana could show such promise. But Angel has really come up to the plate.

Being a youthful juvenile, I have been able to tame and guide her in a way that I wasn’t sure was possible when I began. Yes, I call myself the Iguana Whisperer, but being unsure of her background and witnessing her extremely wild behavior, made me doubt how far I could take this. I was only hoping to save her life and tame her down enough so we could coexist peacefully.

But here we are, 10 months later, with 6 airline rides in cargo under our belt and an iguana that is turning into a super star. Heads are turning and people are beginning to see just how well training has gone.

It has only been in the last month that I began to witness the true presence of respect and gratitude in her. The gleam in her eye as she witnessed the building of her winter room. Her growing realization that this was made just for her.

The warmth of the southern sun on her body all day and the creation of her own cubby cemented the fact that this is my gift to her. The same window she rubbed her nose against until it bled is now accepted as a safe place to live out the cold days of winter. Happily she appreciates this world of comfort that protects her for the world beyond.

Today will be a special day. I will allow her to accompany me in the store. We are even going to the bank today. I have a nice large purse that she has taken to. It allows me to bring her with in and she is enjoying the ride. The purse does 2 things. It allows me to hide her to a degree and I would say only one of 50 people notice her head sticking out. This is great for me and her. It also gives her a platform of comfort and security and keeps her calm.

FYI I find the purse helpful on walks on the beach as well. She enjoys the walk and the crowds don’t gather. At the beach I also wear a hat. She is still small enough to ride on my head and having a straw hat allows her to grip and be comfortable. If I walk in the surf, people don’t bother me as much and I enjoy the waves on my feet anyway.

Also on my list is buying a hot glue gun. I am going to use it to make her things. I dislike the effort of nails and screws and my brother suggested just hot glueing stuff together. What a brilliant idea!

I want to make little ladders for her to climb up to her cubby and her upper bedroom I want her to get used to the design so when I am in Reno I can build the same thing and she will recognize that these lead to good places that are just for her.

Reno will be difficult in the winter. The sunroom will be too cold so a new area will have to be created that she will accept.

(This is one of the reasons I didn’t adopt her last Christmas and waited until I returned. Looking back, it I was the right decision to wait, it would have been nearly impossible to handle her back then. But with that said, returning her was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. Oh how my spirit cried!)

My plan is to create a window shelves in Reno, similar to the one here. I will take a few pieces of the carpet with me so she will relate to the smell. I duplicate the look the best I can and created ladders that resemble the ones I am to create today. It will be a test to see just how well we understand each other.

 

Do you have an iguana or other precious reptile? If so, I’d love to hear from you.

Write me about your experiences and what works for you. Let me know if the information I write is useful and what more I can add to make it better.

People who love their lizards and treat them as part of the family are what I call extreme pet owners. Together we can help others learn just how wonderful our reptile friends are and help give our reptile babies a voice!

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November 17, 2015

Wow, it is Babe’s anniversary and I am calling this Angels birthday, so today, November 17, 2015, she is unofficially 2 years old!

She is about 13″ long from snout to tail and I think she weighs about 7 pounds, not sure, but she is just the right size for handling. She has growing like a weed and will continue to grow

I made angel a birthday cake out of carrots and greens. I cooked them and molded them in to a nice iguana friendly cake!

She has been amazing in the last week or two.

She has mellowed and her intelligence is blowing me away.

Just to think about a year ago I was so upset that little Angel (named Morgan at the time) was sent to the Avian Hospital where she was a tail amputation that went bad.

The vet kept her in that little plexiglass box, giving her injectable antibiotics for 14 days. It was such a mistake to tell about the small inch of dead tai that needed attention.

I  would have never said anything if I knew she was going there , to a bird vet. I was so troubled at my inability to decide to adopt her, and now here I am.

Her tail has grown back nicely and boy have things changed. Babe’s spirit is so with her and his influence is so obvious. She is so much like him. Being younger she is easier to train and learns so fast. but then again, she understands me and I understand her now.

I showed her sleep cubby in her winter room and showed her how to climb up. When I returned that night, I found her waiting for me, cuddled in and warm. I was amazed.

She is hanging out in my room right now, under her lights and on the electric blanket checking out the storm outside. She is my love now.

FINALLY, after 10 months, she has chosen a place to sleep in my closet and I am elated. I set it up with an electric blanket and a heating pad.

She still she wants to go to bed at 4pm every night, It’s like she is still on shelter time. 4pm has always been her bedtime…now with daylight saving time change she trys to get in at 3pm. I was so careful with Babe, but I am more relaxed with her.

If she wants to roam and not be under the lamps all day, that’s OK, I let her and when he starts to cool, I bring her back under the lamps.

I try to keep her up abit later by taking her for a ride at that time, but when at work, I can’t’ stop her…silly girl sleeps 14 hours or more a day…oh well…she is happy, that is what’s important.

She has warmth, UVB lamps, great organic food, so I am doing my part to keep her healthy…. I feel her instinct tell her what she needs.

Last Saturday I was at ll reptile to by some supplies and ran into someone looking for an new iguana. I told him about the and he went and adopted the one right on the spot. He texted me and showed me the photo of a beautifully green boy.

It made me feel good that I helped find a home for another one in need.

I went to the south shelter to find out more about angel. I wish I would have asked for a print out so I could have had the zip code but she was “found in a house” Not sure but she said she probably wandered into someones home. interesting. Will go back next week for a print out.

Nov 29, 2015

We had a great thanksgiving. I loved the fact that I could do anything I want, with no cares of my job or people needing me. Worked on my site all weekend, took some classes online , spent time with angel in my room. It was rainy.

She loved the way the wind blew and the clouds passed over head, the way the rain spattered on the ground. She was entertained by nature’s TV.

I found the new replacement of her uvb bulb seemed to bring more life to her, even though she was just laying around, I could tell it is helping her overall feel.

I purchased aPowersun for Reno. It will give her heat and uva and uvb together. Reno will be a challenge, but I am up for it. You see the sunroom is where she resides when she is there, but being winter, the room will be freezing, literally freezing. So it is up to me to create a nice space she can be comfortable in and happy. A place she will want to stay in.

Our understanding and communication has changed that. We have a mutual respect for each other and each other’s wants and needs. She knows I only care for her and what I give her is pretty far-out and wonderful. But the next month of my blogs should be interesting. Let’s see what happens!

 

 

Yesterday I let Angel watch me build her new window area. She loves it and was quite excited about all the hoop-la-la about her. She went for rides and then cuddled and slept with me for an hour before she went to bed in her closet.It looks like she loves her new window lounge. The shelving unit I picked up works great, along with the greenery she seems to be quite happy in it. the top shelf is aliitle high for catching all the sun of the day, but for the months of November, December and January it should be good. By Feb she should be going outside again.

She continues to bob at the mirror and tries to bite her reflection. I never knew females were as aggressive as males, maybe I just have a tom boy alpha!