Author: admin

Well I did it. I adopted Angel today! I am over joyed, yet fearful at the same time. I have been alone so long and have enjoyed being free to do what I wanted when I wanted. Now I have a responsibility that I take very serious.

Iguanas can live up to 20 years and that is a long, long time. Just to think that I have actually done it. The pain I suffered when I lost Babe was so hard to endure. The last years of his life are still imprinted on me.

Am I really ready for this?

The reality is I have to be ready. There is no way I can turn my back on Angel, it is no longer an option and I realize that now. The anxiety I have gone through in knowing she was living at the shelter is too much for me and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I walked away from her. I’m her only hope and I know that. The only thing that pulls me thru this is that I know St. Francis has a plan for me. That he is the one that helped guide her spirit to me. That there is a reason for all this.

Perhaps it will fuel my purpose in life and to teach others to communicate with spirit within all of God’s creatures. It looks like this is what’s happening.

The coming days will require alot of patience, a virtue I lack in. My friend Eda, prepared me hold tight and get ready for the ride. I hope I am up to it because there is no turning back now.

I picked her up during my lunch break and she was amazingly calm during the drive home. Even driving under the overpasses didn’t spook her as they normally would. She could feel my positive energy and her mind was waking up and filling with interesting thoughts again. I had a harness on her and she allowed me to take her from the dash and gently pick her up without hesitation. I was amazed!

I brought her to her room, but the enormous size of it made her uncomfortable. She is used to being in a small confined space and she needs to feel secure. I placed a blanket in a drawer in gave her a cubby to hide in. She went at once  and hid.  I didn’t disturb her, she had a right to privacy and it was something she need terribly. She had been on display with no place to hide for nearly half a year and that is a very long time for any creature.

I set out  food, turned on her lights and electric blanket on  and went to work.

When I returned I found books scatted on the floor from the bookcase above. She had climb up and wedged herself a safe place to sleep. I put on my gloves and p brought her to my room. I had prepared a sleeping spot for her in a drawer. I placed an electric blanket in side and put the temperature on a low setting.  I delighted that she hopped in and slept all night. It was a good beginning.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings. 🙂

The first thing she does on rising is go to the bathroom. I  clean it up and make a noise that she will associate potty to in the future. I show her the paper towel and make the noise. I tell her it is OK, she is good.

I bring her into the shower, place her there and put the paper towel with the poo on it near her. I make the noise again. I praise her and tell her this is where she is to go potty.

I allow her to exit the shower on her own. In entering the room, her body bends back and she extends her tail as to warn me of attack. She processed to run and hide behind a pillow. I pick her up and place her in the sunny window. She dashes to the window and forcefully rubs her nose to escape.

At this point I remember not to let her get close to my face, her claws are sharp and can do damage, she has teeth and could bite. Not showing fear, I just remind myself to be aware and keep her away from my face and head.

I pet her and talk to her calmly. She is very frightened and squirming to get away. Gentle force keeps her near. I can not let her win yet. I release her when she is calmed, remove my hands from her body and allow her freedom. She waits for a bit, the dashes off the bed and into the corner.

I bring her breakfast in the room, cut it up and arrange is in a pretty way, I let her watch me. I move the food from side to side and watch her eyes follow it, I have her attention. I do mediation and whispering for about 5-10 minutes.

When I open my eyes I gaze at her, I pick up some of the food and place it as if it is growing from my hand. My palm is down, the food is coming from the top of my hand, this is so the fingers are not a threat. She runs. I take time in retrieving her, but she is cornered and afraid.

Still I pick her up and press her to my body for her to be still. I tell her she is good, touch the food dish, let her eyes watch me move the plate. I leave her and return later. She has eaten.

Tomorrow will be another day.

 

Working with my shelter girl Angel has given me a new perspective on a “Wild” iguana. She must have been treated so badly in her past that taming her is a going to be a commitment.  I think the reason God put her in my life is to comprehend the ultimate struggle of other in their taming the most frightened and unruly Iggy.

It’s going to take time, repetition and a lot of patience.

Whispering once a day produces amazing results. I am witnessing that. After our meeting of the minds, she begins to calm and for about an hour we are in harmony and all is good.

She lies next to me and we rest together.  She allows me to pet her and hold her. We relax with eyes closed and when finished, she walks gently and slowly away from me. But then her old habits and instincts kick in and it seems the progress is short-lived.

I become disappointed in my efforts. I so hope a miracle could occur and just eliminate all her past memories of abuse, but it doesn’t work that way. She is about a year and a half old, which make her about a 4 or 5 year old in human age.

I get frustrated and just like a child, she need lines drawn. She needs a strong “No” and a firm grip to understand bad behavior. I would like to just be a nice Pollyanna, but this doesn’t teach her right from wrong.

Being in the room with her and just talking things out, seems to help as well. It is the energy of the conversation and the thoughts you throw at them that are amazingly absorbed when your minds are focused. Food offerings and car rides prove to keep her from concentrating on efforts to escape from the confines of the house and gives her the stimulation she craves.

All she really wants to do right now is get out of the house and run away. Yes, all she wants is escape. Since she’s probably been  a stray for most of her life, freeeom is all she craves. Domesticating her will take time and I am in for the long haul.

At night I find it hard to put her to bed. I want her to sleep in safe in a half open drawer, instead of cold hiding under a piece of furniture on the dusty floor. I have a small electric blanket and try to introduce her to it. She fights it. She is head stong and wants to sleep where no one can find her. She just feels safer that way. We have to figure this out and I hope soon cuz it causes stress for both of us.

One night she found refuge on a blanket on top of a rocking chair, this was ok with me, I placed the blanket over her and she slept there all till the morning. I was thrilled and hopeful that she would return to the same place the next night, but she didn’t. She has a need to sleep in a new place every night. Perhaps in the wild this was safer for her and it worked well, but it isn’t working for me. She has to be kept warm, she is sneezing a lot and I fear she has a cold. So every night the struggle continues.

I am very frustrated.

Days are improving; she is beginning to allow me to pick her up from the floor without fussing. When she sees me walking towards her as she lays in her spot in the window, she instinctively rubs her nose on the window trying to escape. to rub thru the glass, but she isn’t darting about like she used to. She has taken food from my hand a few times, and seemed to enjoy being fed.

I can now release her at the bathroom door and she walks across the floor to the shower and goes in by herself. She goes potty and waits for me. I praise her and make an abundant hoop-la-la.

This extreme enthusiasm must be played out again and again anytime she does something right. This positive vibration of energy feeds her spirit. Happiness abounds inside as she begins to see an avenue of communication. This understanding is the beginning of respect.

With Angel bedtime is the hardest thing ever. About 4 pm she insists on finding a place to sleep. I set up a nice warm, comfomfy cozy place and she wants no part of it. She prefers to squeeze and nudge into some cold corner of the room. It is unacceptable to me because I want her temperature to be constant. I set up a drawer that is private and warm and secure. I put her in, she gets out. I put her in, she gets out. Over and over again. It is so frustrating. Eventually she accepts her bed and falls asleep.

Another big issue is night terrors, She jumps out of the drawer in the middle of night and runs aimlessly in the dark, hitting the wall, simply dazed and confused. I turn on the light; pick her up gently with the upmost care. I hold her and comfort her. Her heart is pounding. I can hear her breath as she breaths heavily. She has had a bad nightmare and it shows she’s had trauma in her life. This girl has had a rough time. Whether it was at the hands of a human or an attack by another animal, her scars show it and her night terrors prove it.

It is important that I keep this in mind. At the same times, lines have to be drawn and she needs to know that I am the Alpha. This will come in time, but for now I need to restrain from anger and if I become frustrated and hit a road block I do one thing.. I put on the harness and allow her some outdoor time in the yard.

Today it seems to be getting harder, not easier. We are playing tug of war with who is the Alpha.

My mantra is “I’m smarter than an iguana”, I keep repeating it as I iguana proof her hiding spots and provide her with ones more manageable to me. I try to keep a sense of humor in this as I surround the base of the bed with cardboard. That little sucker is not going to hide under that bed again! I am smarter than and iguana!

I’m getting frustrated but I realize things will be difficult for the first weeks, but day by day things are improving, she is learning. She exhibits intelligence and curiosity, I’m pleased she is smarter than most, but at the same time I realize this makes my task harder. “I’m smarter than an iguana; I’m smarter than an iguana…”

Last night was difficult; I made a mistake. I lost it and yelled at her. I was at my wits end and got frustrated with lack of appreciation of such a nice, safe, warm spot in the drawer.

I told her she was so lucky, that I was trying so hard, and without any appreciation. I threatened to take her back to the shelter. (not that I would, but it was the energy stream that I wanted her to feel). She felt the message and it was proven by the fact that she amazing went to bed and was quiet as a lamb all night.

Obviously I had gotten her attention.

But the next morning she had taken two steps back by my scolding. The progress I made was scarred by my impatience and I had to do something positive to reverse it.

I figured she had been her week, it was time to get her out and go for a ride, and do something fun together. I put on her harness and tested it in the house to make sure it was secure.

In the car I made her ride near me and she began to be content and OK with this. We drove east instead of west. She hadn’t gone this way before and she was intrigued.

We visited a house where they were selling an enclosure. I took her in with me to see it. I place her inside, though I knew it was too small. She explored and then came out and clinged to me. It showed she accepted me as her protector in this strange environment.

This proves that someday this behavior will be common place. I am so looking forward to that day. We spent about an hour out driving and then I brought her home.

I drove up to Oceanside, nearly an hour away to see another enclosure. It was a EXOTERRA, the rolls Royce of enclosures, the price was right. I fell in love with it bought it, It was so large that I had to rent a truck from Home Depot to get it home. It took me a total of 5 hours and my angel of a neighbor helped me get it out of the turck and into my garage. It will take time to set up; but I have found the only spot it will fit. It is 36x36x18 and it is a dream vivarium. I hope she likes it and appreciates it.

Found a trampoline net on craigslist and God willing, it will be mine to enclose the outdoor habitat I’m trying to build for the spring.

When I got home, Angel was sleeping in a corner of the room; I had blocked off all hiding spots so I wouldn’t be so frustrated in finding her. I put her in the drawer with a warm blanket and she was much better at falling asleep.

Her excursion of the day proved helpful Being tired seems to help her chill out. Maybe she just needs to have a good memory to look back at the end of the day. Something that made her feel the day was complete and not wasted, just like we all do.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

 

I finally found a beautiful Exo-terra extra-large terrarium for Angel. I have placed it the corner of the family room and will decorate today. I want her to have a hiding spots and basking spots. I don’t want her to feel like she is on display ever again!! I hope she will find happiness and security and accepts this as her own.

The home is a hit! She has taken to it beyond all my expectations. My fear was putting her into an enclosure would make her feel fenced in , but it is just the opposite for her. Being kept in a small enclosure for so long, she relishes the security of intimate space. It is her first taste of luxury.

I allowed her to watch me put the branches in and decorate it. I opted to remove the Styrofoam back so she couldn’t crawl to the top screen mesh and lamps above. Once complete, she slowly walked over to investigate; she struggled to get in and allowed me to offer her a hand. Once in she explored for hours.

When I put my hand inside to adjust things, she let me and didn’t run. She had the realization that “Is this for me?” Could this be mine?” Maybe I am going to live here now… Maybe our love is here to stay.”

It was an amazing thing. With her mind content and curious, she stayed in the enclosure the entire afternoon and fell asleep high up on the corner branch. For night heat I am using a ceramic bulb, but it still seems inadequate.  I am working on how to keep her above 80 degrees. I always kept Babe as warm as I was.

The next day she wouldn’t leave her home. She didn’t eat but one bite of food. I did bring her to the shower and she pottied. I praised her, held her and dried her and noticed she was cold. I held her close and warmed her on me and blew my warm breath on her dewlap. She seemed to enjoy it, as did I.

I took the opportunity to Whisper with her.

In a half hour she was calm and refreshed and our minds were on the same page. I released my grip and allowed her to walk slowly away. Her instinct to run kicked in a bit, but was diluted. She explored the couch and found a hiding place under the cushions. I attempted to place an electric blanket over her so she could cuddle in, but she didn’t like that.

I brought her back to the enclosure and placed a branch outside to make it easy to climb into. She saw me do it, got excited, went inside and climbed onto her branch. She looks for shelter about 3:30pm, so I put a nice soft blanket on her branch, so she would have something soft to lie on. I felt it would also warm nicely from the ceramic heater over her head. I flipped the switch on and left her alone for the rest of the night, periodically checking on her warmth and comfort.

I think I made brownie points today!

 

A friend and I took Angel to the beach! It was a beautiful January day and Angel was all excited with joy!

It was the first time she had gone and she really enjoyed getting out and seeing that there was more than a cage at the shelter and the home she is so fighting to accept
I was worried about her behavior since it has only been a couple weeks. I  was also anxious cuz this is a dear friend I don’t see often and wasn’t sure how she was going to behave. I was thankful and grateful for her generous spirit of letting her come along.

I wore a large warm fleece oversized sweater and placed her underneath. I harnessed her and leashed her and hid her underneath. I wrapped my neck as not to get any scratches, preparing myself so in case she acted up I wouldn’t act like it was all that big of a deal. Didn’t want my friend to have a bad impression of her.

I know there would be a lot of ooh and awes and she isn’t ready to be petted and handled without fear of her biting or misbehaving.

We had coffee and sat on a bench. She wanted to explore and I let her free on the leash. She proceeded to walk out the entire 25 feet and then begin to try to run and escape from the harness, alligator rolled and the. I continued to bring her back and she was over all OK, but needed pliantly of babysitting

We walked a good miles down the beach. It was cold and windy so she sat secured under my sweater, peeking her head out.
She ventured onto my hat and I allowed her tine in the sun as we walked.

It bonded us and although, she still wanted to get out and be away from me and find her own life, One day she will realize to simply enjoy the experience. That outings are fine, but there is no place like home.

With time she will come to understand this.

BoToday it has been 3 weeks. She bobbed for the first time yesterday!! The head bobbing was encouraging; she sure acts like a boy! Our routine on my days off is the following:

Her morning begins with a warm greeting. I check to see if she is warm and she is still frightened of being touched. The ceramic heat bulb with the heat rope wrapped on her branch is working well, but she is only about 80 and for me that is just not warm enough. I need to make some sort of cubby. She sneezes and snalts too much for me not to be concerned.

I place her food on the bottom of the enclosure. I then sit down on the couch and then let her watch me eat my breakfast. Intrigued, and with a big, big appetite she come down to eat too, and this is the first stage of bonding.

About 10 am I take her to the shower. She potties and soaks in a tub of water, I bought a kitty litter box and it is working well.

I hold and warm her afterwards for about 20 minutes. I take this time to whisper with her.

Afterwards her pampering I offer her fresh greens and 4 grapes dipped in calcium powder. These are currently her favorite treat. It is a great way to insure she gets her supplements too.

During the day I work at my computer as she watches from her home. I vacuum her cage, do chores, and go on errands. If the weather is right I will take her with me,

On sunny days I take her outside with her harness on. I set up a branch high atop an arbor and she enjoys the view. She is good for about an hour, then the curiosity of the yard is too much for her and she begins to wander.

 

We have good days and bad days. The bad days are usually when I’m pushing it, when I think she understands me and she just isn’t there yet. I seem to take 2 steps forward and one step back.

Her drive is strong she obviously has an alpha type personality. I have to let her think she is control in order to bring her around to my way of thinking. Things have to be handled in a way that she feels like the alpha, at least to some degree.

She is very protective of her territory, when my hand enters the cage she gapes, pulls back her tail and takes on a threating pose.

I will stop, show her the greens and make a kissing noise. I associate the kiss as its ok, I love you, don’t worry. I will withdraw my hand, look at the greens and then to her. I continue to try, it takes a few tries, finally she will allow my hand into her space, but I do not look at her, I look at the food dish.

This is a big improvement. Picking her up is still difficult. You can’t let their threating behavior win, so you need to follow thru with whatever you’re doing. In the shower she is learning to allow my wrist under her and she will climb on my arm. This is the goal and it is coming to be, it will just take time.

As of now, she is housetrained but I have to bring her to the shower. She’s beginning to know the lay of the house and knows how to travel back thru the house to her enclosure.

She is annoyed by seeing her reflection in the glass enclosure and is beginning to want to fight the “other iguana”. So, she has chosen to sleep on the bottom of the enclosure, wedged in the back behind the decorative pieces of wood.

I added heat rope on the glass at the bottom so she would have warmth during the night. I taped it down with a special shiny silver tape used for heating ducts. In the process, I forgot how the wood was on the bottom and she didn’t like the change.

So the last few nights she has been leaving the enclosure to sleep on top of the couch behind the cushions, which is OK with me, I can use the electric throw and it works well. I actually like it because she is warmer. My main issue is that I constantly have to walk thru the house to check on her during the night. Would eventually like her to be in my room.

Being a rescue, she has some health issues to overcome and I am hoping she can overcome them on her own. Usually 2 weeks of warmth and frequent soaks in warm water can boost their healing process. Iguanas are quite apt to healing themselves. I did buy a new UVB fluorescent (36″ t-5 5.0) and increased her basking bulb from 100w to 150w. I try to keep it at least 18” away from her branches. I am hoping to see an improvement in color and health. I so want her to be green again.

I also want her to be able to sunbathe outside. I tried to make a cage from large screens, decorated it nicely with live plants, but she wanted no part of it.

She just kept hurting herself trying to escape. Rubbing her nose and damaging her face more is not an option so I had to tear it down. I was SO disappointed because it took me SO long to build. I really lost it and yelled at her for being so unappreciative. Shame on me. She has such a strong will and is so headstrong. I have to be the more patient one.

It’s just that I know how important real sunshine is for her. So, until I can come up with a way to build something she’ll like it’ll be sunbathing for short supervised intervals on a harness and leash.

Outings have been a big hit and have proven to be the best bonding times. I disliked the string harness I bought and made my own harness with leather.

I’m confident she cannot escape this one. The store-bought string one, is hard to adjust, it can be tightened too tightly or too loosely. My design is fairly secure and using a long retracting leash, she can easily travel 15 feet and enjoy a bit of the outdoors.

I am super careful; I need to be aware of our surroundings. I keep an eye out for large birds, dogs and joggers. The boardwalk at the beach is out of the question right now but I relish her first day at the pier.

I have chosen a nice secluded park at the entrance of the bay that few people visit. I prefer to take her here. The sights and smells of the ocean, Right now she takes me for a walk, or should I say a run. It is a hilarious site, running at full speed with a nearly invisible lizard on a leash. It won’t be like this forever, has to enjoy the antics of her youth!

Things have changed in the last few days, I see calm now. She actually let me put my hand in the cage and pet her. She has found interest in her reflection and I saw her attack it the other day. I’m trying to put a back light on the glass, to tone down the reflection.

I wouldn’t mind it, but she is bruising her nose and I’m trying hard to heal the scars she acquired at the shelter. Her attacking the “other iguana in the window” makes me ask “Is she is a he? I so wanted another boy iggie and she acts like such a tom boy. She is so headstrong and obstinate. She always has to be right. Wait, maybe she is a girl!!

 

She has gotten better on the leash outside as well; I have found placing her high on a structure covered with plants is working well, since she is at the top of something, she stays up there, observing the area. It takes her about 15 minutes before she considers moving down, and at that time I tell her “no” and put her back saying “stay here. I spent the morning planting the garden with collards, mustard and zucchini.

I also planted some Chinese kale and turnip greens by seed, this way when one crop seeds, I will have another to fall back on. I let her watch me plant the garden as well. After about an hour in the sun, I put an umbrella up and she was still too hot and wanted down to explore the yard. I discouraged this brought her to the back door to the house and let her find her way in. Every time we come back to the house, I leave her outside the door and let her go in by herself. This will set her up so in time, she will know where the entrance of the house in.

Had a breakthrough this weekend. I helped her with a head shed, gently rubbed the scales that were ready to come off, and then her poor black nose, shed off!! When it released it startled me cuz It was thick and I thought her whole nose was falling off. Now I understand why it was black, it was a scab. Underneath was delicate pink and very tender.

By the end of the day it began to harden over and change to a light grey! Her nostrils shed as well, This is allowing her to breath better and the whistling sound she made is now gone. Still pieces are left around her face but I have to let them drop by themselves, otherwise, more scarring could occur if removed before their time.

After the shower I allowed her to walk back thru the house to her enclosure. I went to the couch and watched some tv and left her alone to explore. To my surprise she did the unthinkable…she walked up my leg onto the couch. It was her way of saying, hey, thank you, I think I can trust you, you’re alright and I think you are going to be my friend.

She even hesitated on my lap, allowing me to pet her!! WOW! Huge, just huge!

Then she slowly walked across my laptop and up into her home! She did this the following day too and it meant a lot to me. THIS is progress! This is promising. This is a taste of what is to come!

Whispering is needed less and less, our stream of communication is present, the respect is evident and the future looks bright

It is only the 3 days I have to work that sets our progress back, but in time she will come to understand that is just the way it is.

Finally she lets me put my hand in her enclosure and pet her without drawing back, at least SOME times. Other times she displays by pulling back her tail and opening her mouth, but it more about don’t bother me, I’m happy and comfortable and leave me alone.

In the mornings when I don’t work, I bring her to my room and we cuddle for a half hour or so, I begin this time with a whisper then petting her with slow strokes.

I take this time to moisturize dry spikes that keep falling off, leaving her will a bald back, I believe due to lack of humidity and improper shedding, the blood flow was cut off from her spikes. I’m having been soaking her daily for 4 weeks, and still they are tight and will not come off.

She is soaking up the attention I give her, she is becoming a little cuddle bunny and it make me happy to see she has come so far.

She loves her car rides too. She is getting familiar with the car and really enjoys the stimulation. The heater allows me to keep it nice and warm and she will snuggle under my sweater when we go to the store.

I always keep her harness on attached to her retractable leash. It proves to put my mind at ease and allows me to let her down when I visit the park or friend’s home.

 

She is also allowed to bask outdoors on the top of a geranium covered trellis. I watch her while I work on my computer and she is really content there. I placed a large branch on top and she loves to explore and climb on it.

Her mind is being exercised with learning and is expanding with new found knowledge. This is essential to training an iguana. They are very receptive to learning new things, new words and hand signals.

Though it takes time and repetition, their intelligence will amaze you. This is what makes them unique. The little mind of the iguana is amazing.

7 weeks

She now allows me to put my hand in her enclosure and will allow me to pet her. She is beginning to trust me and is learning that when I enter her space, it is to bring food or clean up things, or just get her a pet to check her warmth.

When I put my hand inside to clean the salt off the glass in front of her and she stays on the branch, without threating me, or leaving her space.

It’s not perfect yet, she still opens her mouth and pulls back her tail at times, but it is nothing like it was and the behavior seems reactionary now, not a show of force like it was.

I can break up the food in front of her and she will eat out of my hand.

Out of her enclosure she is beginning to allow me to pick her up without running away. This is a big.

She can go outside with a harness, leash and supervision.

She goes for car rides and behaves.

She has begun her first shed and is looking better! Some green is coming to her back and her face has begun to heal.

She has never gone potty in her enclosure, if I don’t make it home in time; she chooses the floor in the kitchen. I’m thankful she has the courtesy to go on the floor and not the carpet. I’m surprised at her intelligence, she is a fast learner. She is becoming my little Angel!

I can pick her up at nearly any time. I let her scoot down the hall by herself; she will run a bit, but not a panicking at full speed. No more slipping and sliding on the floor, just a nice comfortable gate.

Most days are very good, but today she went to the bay and beach and was full of herself. I was with a friend and she began to try to escape and alligator roll out of her harness. She has nearly removed it 3 times and knows it is possible if she fusses, rolls and pulls back. I need to make the arms smaller on her harness, and the soft thin leather I used is starting to stretch out. I’m going to have my dad help me with the design when we go to Reno next week.

Speaking of Reno, I’m making her shipping box, and started using the bed that will be inside the box as a pillow, so it will smell like me. I’m anxious with worry about putting her on board in cargo, but Southwest says she will make it in the unpressurized cargo cabin.

I called my vet Dr. Boyer and he assured me reptiles are shipped all the time in unpressurized cabins. Only thing to concern myself with is that there is a heat source in the box.

I found “snuggle safe” microwavable heating pad that lasts 10 hours. This is something she can lay on, unlike the shipping heat packs you place on the top of the box. I feel comfortable that she will have a nice ride.

I have to try it and see how it goes; I can always rent a car home. I’m doing a video of the ordeal, still my anxiety is awful.

I made a video of how to make the box and put a page up on my website about how to do it.

Watch my video of Angel Flys To Reno!

 

The idea of putting my Angel in a box and taping it up was difficult to say the least. I guess I kept thinking of myself in that box and how I would feel. But you have to understand that iguanas love dark hiding spots. Places safe and secure, where they can zone out their breathing and go into their semi catatonic state. They need breathe very slow and need little oxygen. What they do need is warmth.

But the whole idea of if my plan would work or not, made me an emotional wreck all day. I couldn’t think to even place things ready to to IN my suitcase. What should have taken minutes took me hours.  I was so grateful to my friend Paul who came to my rescue and offered to take me to the airport, I couldn’t’ I could have done this alone.

Packing up my precious iguana in a box because Southwest classified her an exotic animal and shipping her underneath the plane in cargo was just too much anxiety to handle.

But I had been preparing for this for 2 years. I had gone down personally to Southwest Cargo and I talked to Paul about my future plans to get a new iguana after Babe passed and took my of joy of life away with him.

I explained how only and iguana would do and that I needed to fly frequently. He showed me how to become a known shipper and told me he would be here for me when the time came. So, I called him that morning and boy, was here there for me!

He surpassed my expectations and calmed me down, as I explained my anxiety about the trip. Since he would not be working that shift he set everything in motion for me. He was amazing because when I got to SW Cargo, not only did they know I was coming, they were kind and re-assuring.

A girl named Leeza was there. She was soft hearted and empathic, who felt the same way I did…how could they not allow such a charming little lizard on board with me?

Her concern actually helped me with my panic issue, as I gave her a tour of his little box and showed her how I had created a nice comfy habitat inside.

I had placed a cat bed inside and custom sewed the bag so he couldn’t climb under it or get out during flight.I showed her the Snuggle safe heat pad that would keep my baby warm the entire trip.

The whole time Angel took it all in. I had worked for a couple weeks introducing her to the bed inside preparing her for this day. Then we had to do the hardest thing, tape her in the box….oh that was hard. But she willingly went in and sat there. I had whispered with her for days and explained that it was her safe spot and it was made just for her.

She didn’t fuss or fight. She willingly went in and I was delighted that she seemed to love it in there

I had marked the box with her photo asked John to call me when she was aboard so I could avoid a panic issue. Not only did he call me, he made a personal appearance at the gate, bringing with him a photo of the box in the cargo hold.

He had put her in a separate compartment, as to avoid any boxes falling on her or any foreseen incidents as the like. Now that is going the extra mile! John was my hero that day.

He kept texting me to let me know everything would be finding and if there was a problem to call him. Even when my flight arrived, he remembered me and texted me again to make sure she made it safely!

HE makes Southwest Cargo shine! In today’s world, who does these kind of things? He was an honest and genuine person who just knew how I felt and wanted to insure that I would be OK. Words cannot express my gratitude and respect for this man.

But he just didn’t do this, he had the Southwest check-in girl, call ahead to Reno Cargo and tell them about Angel. So that when I arrived the handlers were already there, they glanced up at the plane and I waved to them. The first box off the plane was my Angle and he held up the box and looked at me and I shook my head “YES!” Thank you! That was AWESOME!

Angel was waiting at cargo for me and I quickly opened up the box. The trip had been extremely turbulent and I was concerned about her, since unpressurized means no air and cold temperatures.

I quickly opened the box and when light entered the box, she began to move, I took the rubber band from the bag she was in and she was warm and lively. I held her in my arms the whole way home and when she got home she just wanted her bed and passed out like a light.

I am not sure what the ordeal was like for little Angel, but for me it was incredible. I would have never imagined that the crew of a Cargo facility could be so giving and understanding. They surpassed all my expectations and I am so grateful to them.

The staff of Southwest was terrific, every single one of them from Paul, who guided me on how to be abel to fly with my iguana, to ricl my calming factor, to empathic lees, wo totally empathically understood and to my hero and star of the show John.

No one could understand why Southwest has a policy of that calls little harmless lizards an exotic animal. My aim will continue to be to see that the airline re-evaluate its policy to include reptiles on board, in adequate enclosures, that allow them to have air and warmth on their travels. I want to be an advocate for the millions of reptile enthusiastic, who are either forced by allergic conditions, or just love of the simple quiet creature, to have to put their little pets thru this experience.

I would like to ask southwest if they would be interested in learning more about the experience of live reptiles in cargo. Perhaps they could put the tracker in with angel next time, so we could monitor the sound, vibration, air temp and the like. I would like to work with them to insure all live cold blooded reptile and fish have a pleasant flight, just like my Angel

After returning from Reno there has been a big change. The experience has made Angel realize that together we are one, that I love her and she is safe with me.

She is becoming calm, confident and becoming trustworthy in a varitety of situations. The only issue we have right now is bed time and where she wants to sleep. My goal is to have her sleep in my room, but she has not found a place she likes, even if I bring her bed to my room she fights it and goes looking thru the house for someplace cold and dark and dusty. She prefers corners of the room and places she can wedge into. She just wants to feel safe. I just want her to be warm and, of course, safe as well. It will take time.

I’m getting her accustomed to waking up near me by taking her out of her bed in the middle of the night and bringing her into my bed. It is working. After only 3 nights, 3 being the magic number, she is calm in the window as the morning sun comes in, exploring the room without fear and accepting of new things. She doesn’t run or flee, she allows me to pick him up at any time. Can ride in the car and be taken out without a fuss.

She has come to an understanding and respects me and knows I respect her that we are equal, but I’m am establishing myself as the alpha.

It has been nearly 5 months now and Angel is becoming an angel, at least most of the time. She is turning into a sweet, loving, and appreciative little girl.

She has a nice set up indoors, but because she has a tendancy to wander off to find a cold, dark, hiding place to snuggle, I still have to keep her confined on my working days. She is OK until 4 pm and then her natural tendency to find a place to sleep kicks in.

I have given her a nice snuggle spot within her home, but it seems she just wants out and with her increase in eating, she needs to potty about that time, so now I’m greeted with a mess to clean up as well.

It bothers me that she continues to hurt the scarred area around her eye by rubbing to get out.

Sleeping has been difficult. She seems to still be on shelter time, not wanting to rise until 9 or 10. Even when I get home for lunch, I often times find her in snuggle hut in her enclosure at noon, just waiting for me to take her out. She has no initiative to rise. I guess from her point of view, there’s not much going on in an enclosure.

She wants to hunker down by 4:30 or 5 and the days are longer and she isn’t really tired yet.

I hold her while I watch the news, petting her and telling her what a good girl she is. She is beginning to accept affection now, it is a turning point.

She still wants to dart away at times, but she is realizing the joy of friendship. She has seen how I try to make her life good.

Thinking like an iguana I realized she wanted to wedge between things. She wanted a solid surface on both sides. So I put a cat bed inside a cabinet then I placed an electric blanket within. She isn’t really happy with it and it takes time for her to settle in but it is the best I can do until we finally on an acceptable spot.

Who would have thought bedtime would still be an issue after 5 months…not me!

I had friends help me put together a new enclosure outside  for Angel!

I had two room dividers, we put them together and covered in it screen and plastic poultry netting.

She is relishing the outdoor experience and is content in her new outdoor space. I was fearful that she would try to escape and rub to get out, but the size and the set up has been a big hit.

The secret is that she feels secure inside it. She feels safe from predator’s, she has found comfort inside her habitat! I am so happy that she is is happy!!

I placed a large jade plan inside and placed branches everywhere. I added little shelves here and there to lounge on. I place plastic around it on windy days to keep the temperature consistent and warm.

Days are still a bit nippy in May and June gloom mornings are coming. On the side of the house I have experimented with total freedom, or should I say controlled freedom. She has a large area to leave form the kitchen window and can travel to the fence and even climb a tree if she wants too.

I have been spending nearly all my free time figuring out how to perfect her environment.  It takes time, but the work I put into this now, will pay off big in the future, and I know this. The money I spend on building and creating a space we can both enjoy will be worth it.

Last month, serious training had begun. She was starting to think she was in control and it was becoming unacceptable. Boundaries had to be set and it was now time to establish myself as the alpha.

But traveling to Reno for the second time has helped. She depended more on me more and a few obstacles brought us together. I loosened the reigns and gave her more freedom. She responded with better behavior.

She began to see that she was able to do as she wanted the majority of the time. I had to intervene with discipline and scolding at times, but she responded to this well. Just like a child, she would need a talking to in order to remind her and she felt the harmony was disrupted.

She loved Reno. It is a large home with two stories, a deck and a third of an acre in a park setting. The weather is warm in summer. Since I work from home, I do not leave her and I am always around.

My family is there so there is a lot of attention and so many new things to explore and so much fun to be had.

Returning to our smaller home, to our quiet situation, she has to stay in her indoor enclosure 3 days a week.

She is rebelling abit. If don’t lock her in, she gets out and finds a cold dark place to hide and her temperature is just too cold. This is unacceptable to me. Not only will her health suffer, it is frustrating to hunt for her after a long day at work.

Because the weather is starting to warm and if I leave her outside if I can. This requires an early lunch and racing home before it gets too cool. I think the short time of her cooling down is better than the stress of being locked in the indoor cage all day.Her nose is running abit, have to keep that in check.

When I return, she rebels of being back here, but after a week, she accepts this as her home again. A lot of attention is needed .

Sometimes I question, why I adopted her. She is a lot of work and takes so much of my time.

But then I remember my depression and my mental state before I brought her home. Caring for her a healthy alternative to prescription medication and the anxiety brought on by depression.

She is my medicine. I guess a lot can be learned from this, that depression can be treated by getting your mind off yourself and caring for others. Perhaps the root of depression is focusing too much on yourself. By caring for another, you have little time to dwell on the insignificance of yourself and the problems you face.

 

It has been 6 months now and everything has changed. Finally we have come to accept each other. She had a major turning point on the 17^th.

To make this spiritually even more precious to me, it was an anniversary day of Babe’s passing that I celebrated monthly. I felt Babe spirit intertwining with her.

On this day I finally gave in to her rubbing at the glass to get out and explore the yard. I have a branch covered in netting that lies outside my bedroom window. It was Babe’s branch and led to the place he would lounge all day outside my window. I had cut a hole in the window screen and this was his exit in and out of the house. I could trust him to go out in the morning and come in in the afternoon. Babe was never caged, he had a life of complete freedom.

It was a nice summer day, I had time to watch her as I worked in my room, so I opened the door and without a harness or leash, I let her go. I watched her from the window, ad watched her embrace freedom.

Slowly she crawled out on the branch, licking the air to smell everything there was. I found the lounge mat babe used to lie on tucked away in the garage. I had kept it all these years, not being able to part with such a blessed joy in his life. He loved his lounge.

I placed it on the Jade plants and she went to it. She licked it and licked it and smelt it from top to end. To my surprise she sat there for an hour or more, content and happy. Just like Babe used to do!

After 3 hours she was enticed by the sound of the running fountain below and just had to check it out.

I went outside to supervise as she explored. The fountain was Babe’s favorite spot and investigated it throughtly. She then traveled around the garden and on to the side yard. The side yard was another favorite place of babes.

He would get out of the car and take this route around the house to get to his lounge. She walked nearly the full length of the house and hopped to the bench to get a bird’s eye below. Slowly she walked back following though house back around.

Then the phone rang and I went inside the house to pick up. When I returned, she was nowhere in sight1

Not much time had passed so she couldn’t be too far. I walked by the window and something made me gaze in. There, right before my eyes, I saw her, INSIDE the house!! Not only had she realized AND figured out that the rod iron cage was the way to get back up, she had found her way back into the house.

I was amazed and this was a blessed moment for me. The spirit of my Babe was here! He was the guiding force in helping her, I knew it. God’s gift to me on the anniversary of his passing..

She spent the rest of the day on her honor. I did not disturb what she wanted to do. She went back out and lounged the rest of the day out on the branch as I sat inside watching movies.

At her usual 4pm time to find a sleep spot, she came in. I was elated! Being a bit early and a very hot day, I placed her in her outdoor enclosure while I made a quick errand.

I returned only to find her absent from the cage. I hadn’t secured it well and she pushed open the bottom of the door.

Great! With a thunderstorm was on the way, tomorrow it was going to be a tough day for an iguana on the run. I walked the yard, listening and looking for any sign of her presence.

I looked at the window and wondered if she could have found her way up into the house. Leaving the sliding door open, I went into the house to make sure she wasn’t there.

Imagine my surprise when I went back to the sliding door on the other side of the house and SAW HER WALKING IN THE DOOR!

You see, every time I brought her in for the night, I would allow her to walk from the cage into the house on her own, gently guiding her in the right direction, across the patio and into the door.

Now this was impressive, awesome and I rewarded her with love and her favorite food, oranges and grapes.

Babe’s spirit was present. The entire day shows how the spirits of those we love  never leave us. They visit us and remain in our hearts and in our lives. There is no way that Angel could have known and acted in such a calm and trusting fashion as she did today. SHE WAS AMAZING!

August 10, 2015

So much has changed in the past few weeks. Angel has had a full turn around. It has happened. She has accepted me and our home. Health wise I was set back when I saw foam and water in her mouth on the 7^th. I thought it was all in the past. I allow her to regulate her own body temp outside. She has full freedom on her basking branch and sunning lounge when I am home, and occasionally I will leave her out for an hour or so I know now that she will want to roam at about 3:30 if she is able.

I watch her exit ,making her way passed the pond and to sliding door to come in for the night. On a few occasions she has tried to wander to hide in the brick planter, but even then, she is not trying to escape, only trying to find refuge for the night. This is encouraging and I am very happy about what the future may hold.

Last week it was finally getting warm, 88, out, and in the morning she got up before I left, which was 7:20.

So I took her little snuggle hut and put it out in her outdoor enclosure. I think this is when her cold returned. Iguanas should be fine for an hour or two at 75 degrees; she was warm when she started. It is a chronic infection, if I can’t get it gone by the end of summer, it is sure to return in winter.

Speaking of winter, I am trying to figure out what I will do about her daytime home. I found a cat cage that goes in the window, I need to go take a look at it, and she may or may not like it. At least it looks nice, but pricey at $200

Anyway, back to her being my best friend now, we went back to the shelter to say hello. She seemed to remember where she was, yet it seemed to be a distant memory for her. I brought her into her old room. It was rearranges and they had put the cage by the window. Something I had asked they do for the newcomers that had since been adopted. I placed her on the top and she smelled. She didn’t panic but when I picked her up, she grabbed me tightly and snuggled her little head close against my face and neck as if to say, I want to be with you. It was a turning point. When I brought her back to the car she was happy. She allowed me to hold her on my shoulder while we drove away. I am beginning to think young iguana’s memories are more fleeting than the older ones. Babe remembered things forever. Perhaps like we are in our childhood, memories are fleeting and forgotten as we develop.

She is growing fast now, every couple months, her head is smaller than her body, or it seems. She is now 14 inches t to snout and her tail has grown back about 8 inches. Just about an inch a month. Her color is better, her temperament is wonderful. Only on the 3 days as I work does she lash out in protest and fall into her old ways.

She has taken to riding in a large purse now. I can bring her with me to the store and beach and well, anywhere without worry. In a new location of a friend’s home, she will case the entire area, going around every wall. She still wants to dig into the corner of a room, or looks up to climb. I keep wondering what she had in her past or what instinct drives her to find a place to hide. She has found one place she really likes, that is my closet. She climbs up to the clothes and sits on the hangers. I have just about found every hiding spot she could go. She is predictable, but still it is an effort to find her.

All in all I am very happy and see babe in her, helping her, influencing her, teaching her. We go back to Reno end of august. It will be only one more time in this box, come Christmas, it will have to be a larger size. J

 

Angel and I just returned from our trip to Reno. She was remarkable. Not only did she remember where she was, but this time she went into the yard and up to the stairs and to the sliding door and when it was opened she went in. This without any coaching of tapping of my feet. When she returned home she got down from the bed and I left the room to make coffee. Shen I returned I found her in the shower going potty. Again, with no coaching or coaxing from me!

I find this joyful!

In Reno she was an excellent guest and displayed only affection and curiosity. She did have one encounter with a large maple tree, which she climbed up 20 feet while I was distracted. Her harness and least were too high to grasp, but I had assistance from my mom and sister in law and grabbed a ski pole to get the leash while my sister in law brought me a ladder. She held it while I climbed to nearly the top rung and grasped the little climber. I should have carried her all the way down, but I handed her to my helper and the leash was caught in the ladder. Jaynce little angle hung from her leather harness and was quite scared, but my design of the leather vest, proved not to harm her and although quite shaken from her ordeal, and perhaps a bit sore from the strains of trying to pull out of it, she was safe in my arms.

That evening she didn’t try to come into the house at her usual 4:30 time. She actually stayed in the window of the sunroom until 6pm and I had to bring her to bed. She snuggled into the closet and slept like a log all night. I did worry that she may have been injured herself, because of her odd behavior of not coming into the house, but then realized that she thought I was a bit mad at her and didn’t want to face the music. She was also a bit upset at the ordeal and I think she realized that when you climb a tree, you have to come down. On the tree she did try to come down backwards, like I had seen cats do, and then she tried head first. It was a learning experience for both of us.

October 17

Angel has come a long way. She is very spirited and her training has begun. Whispering has taken a new turn. Early morning I take her from her bed and bring her into mine. I cuddle her while she sleeps, I snuggle her head close to mine and tell her that I love her. When she awakes, I take the opportunity to whisper. I go into her mind and lift her gently and she is calm and trusting. I show her how I want her to be gentle with me when I hold her and how she should move slowly and not hurt me when I let her down. At this time I am also receptive to her needs and wants. I allow her to throw pictures into my mind and listen with my heart. I see she is just fearful of ME hurting her! The way I hold her is not comfortable and I need to be more careful with her. She is sensitive and reverts to fear when being held. Together we meet a common ground of understanding and I end our session with kind words and a gentle hug. I allow her to sleep in while I write and do my thing.

The rest of the day went as well as it could be. She wakened to breakfast in bed. Her appetite has decreased since the Fall solstice, which is normal. She spends the mornings in my room on an electric blanket and under a warm lamp. It has been cold and cloudy, so she needs to be indoors now. With the winter coming, I am preparing her South facing window. I bought a nice shelving unit and spent yesterday rearranging the room and getting everything ready for the new addition. My Babe used to be content lying on big pillows on the bed, he was a senior and not nearly as active as this little one. Everyone enjoyed watching Babe in the window. Many have asked where my new girl is and I am looking forward to having a nice area that my neighbors can gaze into and say hello when they pass by.

We went for rides today and she was very receptive. She even snuggled at the end of the day and we napped before she became eager to go to “her” bed in the closet.

I credit this to our whisper, but also to the fact that it is Babe’s anniversary of years, 11 months since his passing. The spirit never dies and animals always return to us. I feel their journey on the other side is simpler and they come back more often to visit. It is very obvious to me. I feel his presence and witness it through my Angel ALL the time, so today was a special day.

October 27, 2015

Angel goes to the beach with Steve and I Angel went to the beach today and she had a great time wearing her little harness and leash. She was able to take a trip down the pier where she met a lot of friends. One person took some pictures of her for I didn’t have my camera with me.

 

The day was beautiful, surf was high and the Moon was a super moon. Because of that we had really extremely low tides we went down the beach and she walked along ways in which went under the pier and rode around on my hat and my friend Steve was very kind to put up with the crowds in the questions and her at attitude in antics.

We all enjoyed the day, fun times!

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!

Your privacy is very important to me and will not be shared with any one else. So please drop me a message below and make my day!

Your email address will remain confidential.

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!

 

 

Angel had a great trip to Reno. My cargo handlers Tashi and Paul were in San Diego, and John and Dennis were in Reno. Being winter and the holidays I was concerned about flight delays and the warmth of the box.

I microwaved the snuggle safe for 4 ½ minutes this time. She was just warm enough, though it being a bigger box now, in hindsight, 5 minutes would have been OK, but always better to be on the side of caution.

The pilot announced no drink service, since it was going to be turbulent. Great! I did what I always do, prayed to St. Francis to help me in this time of need, and he came thru, not a bump and even a gentle landing as the snow fell all around us! God is Good!

In the morning, Angel was a bit dismayed when she saw the bareness of winter. “What happened to Camelot”? was her reaction when she looked outside the window upon the white snow and leafless trees.

Since November, I noticed a big decline in food intake, which is normal after the fall solstice, and her poo is small, which I guess is due to her not eating. But nevertheless I feel she is with egg.

So much so that I brought her to Dr. Boyer before I left to see what he thought. He said if she was gravid, (with egg) she wasn’t showing yet but it was the right time of year for her to lay. He told me I would be able to tell because she would stop eating for 2 weeks! 2 weeks!? He also said that since she is an adult now I can cut back on the calcium to once a week and the minerals to once a month, unless she is gravid.

So…since she arrived in Reno she hasn’t eaten much and her food intake has dwindled down to nearly nothing…oh, my. Sometimes, I have to push something in her mouth that I have dusted with calcium.

I put her in the bathroom and run the sink and offer her a drink of water from a glass that I drip in front of her. It works well. She is thirsty and drinks her share in the morning and evening. Her poo is raisin small.

Today I’ll see if I can get an appointment with her Reno vet Dr. Maker. I’d like to get an x-ray and see what’s going on inside, eggs or a blockage, or perhaps just peace of mind for me. Just never had a girl iguana and with boys you just have to deal with the aggression, which is easily fixed with giving them a surrogate. A stuffed dinosaur or alligator used to be babes favorite during the breeding season.

As far as her lounging set up, I bought a reptisun bulb for heat and uva/uvb and put pillows and electric blanket in the window of my room. She is abit isolated but took to it and stays there most of the day, watching the wind and rain and snow fall outside.

She gets down in the morning to potty and takes a walk downstairs where she rubs on the slider door to get out in “her” sunroom. I open the door and let her out so she can see how cold it is. She checks it out for signs of other iguanas and fights with her reflection in the windows.

Upstairs she goes to the back slider and wants to get on “her” deck. Yes, she remembers the house and all the places to go in it.

She constantly wants to get lost in the living room and finds refuge in hiding spots. I have spent a lot of time hunting for her, but I have been working a lot and she hasn’t had the attention she needs.

I am vacation now for 2 weeks so I will be spending more time with her. I am hoping today we are going to make an appearance at a pre-school as a featured guest. Angel will love today. She loves being the center of attention!

 

It’s Christmas morning. A much better Christmas than last year when Angel was alone at the shelter for the holiday. I was so worried and stressed of her being there and then to find out later the volunteers who promised to care for her went on vacation and had other hardships so they were not able to visit for those 2 weeks.

I wish I would have taken her before Christmas, but it would have been so difficult bringing her to Reno and then back to San Diego. She was so unruly and unmanageable at first. I made the right decision, God had he reasons, I have to accept it. Young iguanas memories are short lived so this eases my mind.

Nearly a year later and I am so glad that I adopted her. She has turned out to be quite an intelligent girl, with a personality that shines. She has forgotton all about her previous life and loves the life of privilege she lives now.

I think she is definitely with egg. Her food intake has dwindled and I am lucky if she gets a bite in a day. I bring her to the sink and fill it up with water. I drizzle a glass of water in front of her and let her drink as it runs in front of her mouth.

I think I can see the eggs now. Her potty has changed. It began as narrow and ribbony, to that of small raisins, to now more like small mouse droppings. Am I concerned? Yes. But of course it has been a holiday week and I am hoping that her Reno Vet, Dr. Maker will be in next week. I plan on bringing her in for an evaluation.

Her last apt was on Dec 10 with Dr. Boyer. He said if she was gravid (with egg), she wasn’t showing yet, but the time of the year was right. He said she would stop eating for 2 weeks and her belly would fill out. When I notice that she is digging I am to give her a box to lay in. He suggested a plastic tub filled with about 12” of potting soil or coconut husks, but to make sure there was no perlite in the potting mix. I am to keep it warm with a heat source above.

I am thinking I will introduce her into a suitcase with an opening on top. She keeps trying to hide under the bed. so this seems like the place I will put it. I don’t know about putting potting soil in. I have seem others on YouTube that just lay in the cage, so if I try an electric blanket with other soft blanket inside, she may dig and make a cubby with them. It would be easier for me, the mess of the dirt in the house and all.

It’s Christmas, but I’ll try to make a box in between church and cooking the turkey.

I can’t feel the eggs yet, it is just her potty that worries me. What if it is a blockage? Next week I’ll get an Appointment with Dr. Maker to get an xray. It is going to be a Merry Christmas. I am with my family, snow has fallen and Christ is born 2,015 years ago!

One Year – Angel is with Egg!

Yes, it’s true, Angel is now with egg, or as the doctor says “She’s Gravid!”

I have weighed the options and for her sake I am going to spay her this Friday. It has been an enlightening experience to see her go thru this and it has taught me a lot.

I brought her to Dr. Boyer last month and he said she could be, but she wasn’t showing. I asked how could I tell and he said she would stop eating and would fill out in her belly.

So the next day she stops eating for the next 2 weeks.

I have to say that I have learned that once you establish communication thru whispering, all doors open to the thoughts between the minds.

This is to say that when I tell her something, she really understands what I am saying and takes it seriously.

How can I say this?

So 2 weeks later, I brought her to Dr. Maker in Reno. I supplied water to her by filling the sink up and drizzling water from a glass in front of her. She laps it up like crazy. I keep an eye on her poo to make sure the that it keeps clear, a bit of yellow is ok, but means slight dehydration, so I up the opportunities to drink during the day.

Back to her check up with Dr. Maker. She confirmed by x-ray that eggs were developing. She explained they were all in the sack now and would be calcifying in the next 2 weeks. During this time the eggs are soft and could break if she is handled roughly or jumps or falls, or you see what I mean.

I asked her if it was OK for her to eat. She said yes, she can eat. Up until this time she was eating very little, a few kidney beans and a forced bite of collards was all I could get there to eat.

I told Angel, see, you can eat.

She understood and the very next day she started eating everything in sight again. Her poo was moving again and I was elated.

For the last 2 weeks she has been eating normally. I give credit to the fact that she understood.

Yes, Whispering works. Once you establish communication and a meeting of the minds, they are able to understand you. Maybe not the words you say, but the thoughts you think. They understand what a vet is, that they are there to help them identify the problem that they need help with.

This is a big breakthrough in my belief. I am witness to it now. I am going to believe in it and stand by it.

So, Angel is going to Dr. Boyers at 11 am on Friday. I will bring her electric blanket and set up her little cage so she is secure and comfortable before and after her surgery. I am hoping to be able to bring her home on Friday and care for her at home. I never like leaving them at the office. No one is there at night, so what is the use? I can drive her up there in the morning for Tom to look at and he should be ok with that.

It is hard to think that I am going to spay her, but it is for the best. If I am not going to breed her, why should she have to go thru this every year? The stress on her and the nutrition issues, let alone the laying and all that goes with it.

Stayed tuned to see if her personality changes. I hope she keeps her spunk, I hope she is still the curious explorer, but I also hope she mellows some and becomes my big love bug.

We’ll see. She hasn’t’ been much of a cuddler, but last month she showed signs of wanting attention and petting and cuddling, it was heartwarming. Let’s see what happens next.

Pray that the surgery goes well. I know she is in the best of hands, but I still worry.

I have to say she has really become the little iguana I hoped she would be. She is tame and sweet, though headstrong and stubborn at times, I am now respected and the bond is has grown between us. She has my heart and my love.

 

 

Friday – January 22

OK, the day has come for Angels big Spay surgery.

I brought her in at 9.

In the car, I held her and whispered with her.  I told her the big bulge in her body would be gone soon and told her I would be back for her at the end of the day.

I feel confident that she is in good hands with Dr. Boyer, he is such a great person and vet! He works with me and my idiosyncrasies and you can imagine I have a few!

He allowed me to set up her holding cage with her heating blanket and her sleeping cubby.

I thought this would make her feel more comfortable, but to my surprise she responded with, “Why are you leaving me with my things here? Are you leaving me here for good? “

She has come so far that I had forgotton about her true fear in life, abandonment. It never crossed my mind, but I couldn’t redo it now.

I signed the papers for the $1300 surgery, which  included her blood panel from last week.

I returned at 4 pm. and Dr. Boyer told me the surgery went very well.

He removed about 2-3 cups of eggs from her, honestly, I don’t know how they fit in her tiny body.

The assistant intern took photos for me of the operation and here are some, it is graphic, look if you are as intrigued as I was at what goes on in the process.

 

Saturday – Jan 23

Dr. Boyer allowed me to bring her last night, only because he knows me.

Recovery from anesthesia is different for each animal. Their subconscious becomes evident. They really don’t know why they act like they do, it is just their true nature that becomes apparent.

For Babe, he would take a couple quick steps forward, but I didn’t expect what Angel was about to do ALL NIGHT LONG. Alligator rolls clockwise, then counterclockwise, I held her near me in bed all night. Needless to say I got very little sleep. There is a reason that they keep your pets overnight. I understand that more now, but still I was happier to have her near me during the ordeal.

Poor girl, her entire subconscious mind was filled the fear of run or be eaten. It brought back the way she was when I first adopted her. Could it be because the last thought in her mind was is I had abandoned her, I don’t know, all these feelings come thru when anesthesia is applied

This went on all night, I tried to comfort her, but even this was greeted by hatred of my touch. She didn’t want to be near me, but I had to control her by wrapping her in the blanket near me. The anesthesia slowly wore off and by morning it was nearly over.

But she was angry at me. All the trust I had build up disintegrated, she was now the lizard I had a year ago, fighting my every more, fearful of my hands, great!

She said ”How could you do this to me?” “The only human I trusted and you betrayed me” I would put my head on her pillow and she would turn around and face the other way. I felt so bad.

I fed her good food and she ate. Slowly she began to forgive me, or maybe forget the subconscious thoughts that had surfaced.

I picked her up and she continued to alligator roll. I thought perhaps pain had something to do with it and I began to place her on a pillow to carry her. She seemed appreciative of this.

January 24 – Sunday

Today is Sunday, the 2^nd day and some things seem better. In the morning, I gave her clavamox as an antibiotic. I placed her in the shower at 9:30 to potty and she stumbled a bit, not sure if it was the tight wrapping that protects her wound, but all that alligator rolling must have put a strain on all the surgery and stitching within her, thank God Dr. Boyer had wrapped her so tight, if I would have seen her violent outbursts he would have been worried.

I administer the pain meds and she is resting fine now.

She seems to be forgiving me. She had an eye shed and I helped her with it this morning. It solidified that I am gentle, helpful and caring. I think we are going to be alright, but this experience made me realize how far I have come. The prospect of having the same girl that I did a year ago was pretty scary.

The day moves forward, she is coming around but I have to ask:

Was it a mistake to spay her? I know it is only a couple days but I worry all the work I did was put down the drain with her spay. Maybe it was a mistake, will she ever have the seasons of the iguana again? Have I lost her? Will she return to me?

Just drained with worry. Today she still alligator rolled a few times when I picked her up. Thinking it could be pain, I was more careful,, carrying her on a pillow, which kinda worked, she seemed more calm when I pressed her near me.

When the pain meds kicked in she began to rub her nose on the window, like she did in her first days with me.

I allowed her to sun in her cage outside, but she was only continent for an hour and then I let her out to walk but she didn’t go into the house, she aimed for the yard, not what we have been working for. She seems to want to leave. She I angry and doesn’t understand why I did what I did yet. I hope time will heal her.

Let’s pray and see what tomorrow brings. It may be a time to Whisper again.

 January 25 – Monday

What a difference a day makes! All is good now! She is coming back to me now and she is quite the explorer now. She must feel so good without the weight of the eggs and the main meds that I can’t keep her down. In the afternoon it is all about the tree outside her window. She so wants to climb it, yes, climb it already! She is anxious and wants to get out and move and explore…!

Of course the tree is off limits but she has it on her to-do list.

Her attitude towards me has improved and I was actually able to hold her and pet her today . . . YEA!               We went to the dr. office and picked up the photos they took of her spay, they are amazing and I am going to share them with the world. Laura was the photographer.

Anyway, it looks like the experience is behind us now and her memory is fading of the procedure. She is looking forward to feeling better and I am looking forward to having my girl back, and never having to go thru the egg laying ordeal again! Once again, YEA!

February 14, 2016

It has been nearly 3 weeks since angles surgery. She is doing great and healing well. The first thing I noticed about her is that she was elated about the loss of nearly 1 pound. So light on her feet she wanted to jump and climb as soon as she got out.

I have had to keep her from doing that but when I go to work I have found she has started to climb up everything she can. She even climbed the wall and I came home to jewelry and pictures on the floor. I was concerned about her pulling stiches loose, but she looks ok

Her wanting to cuddle diminished a bit, but I force her to lie with me for a half hour and just nap with her. She calms and it is a good thing for her to know that I love her and just want to hang.

He is allowing me to put my head close and lay it by hers now, something that after surgery she wanted no part of.

Surgery brought back a lot of old fears, and it is up to me to cast them aside.

I see a need to roam and move more. Possibly because she was so uncomfortable before and now appreciates the ability to move

I set up an area outside giving her more freedom and a shade cloth above. The overhead protection is what she likes. I am hoping to set up an iguana run from the house to her lounge so she can go out the window on her own in the morning like Babe used to do. I could trust Babe not to leave the yard, but this one has climbing trees on her mind.

I’ve been cleaning the yard and hope to have it done by spring.

Her food intake was enormous the first week but has tapered off to a bowl a day. She will eat treat foods viciously but I keep them down to a monument, she needs a balance diet.

I am going to the nursery to get some greens this weekend. Got some growing now, but need to get my garden seeds planted and the wine barrels ready for the spring ahead. It sure is nice to be able to go back there and pick them as I need them. Hoping to have enough so I can rely on what I grow. Will make a page about that.

I keep working on my book and website. All is good, Can’t wait to go to Reno next month, spring means the sunroom and the yard will be blooming. My friend is coming down to stay in the house when I leave which means I don’t have to worry about

Lost I did something really stupid today and I am paying the price. I left Angel on the Deck for 10 minutes and she is gone! I am frantic and my world has been torn apart!

Spring had brought about a sense of exploration for Angel and since we arrived in Reno I notice her eating had dropped to nearly nothing. It is quite unlike my boy Babe was. After mating season, he was tame and his appetite grew.

I saw her wanting to get out of the sunroom and thought a nice sunbath on the deck would be a nice change for her.

I forgot to pack her harness and was going to make her a new one, so I opted to leave her leash free. Normally I will put her harness on, attach it to the retracable leash. At least if she gets out, she is dragging the bright red leash and is easily located. But not that day!

I left her for 10 minutes and she was gone!

I alerted my family and they all came out to look. I searched nearby, but she was no where. Their was no wind and the conditions were perfect for a search. I spent all day out side and into the evening, still no site or sound of her.

The next morning I was up early and got out binaoculor and sat on the deck. The night had dropped to 39 degrees. I was worried. Babe had survived colder temps but he was much larger. Still I know how durable iguanas are, so I knew she was most probably ok, just lost.

I proceeded to search the yard in grid style, each 10 feet square, up and down, until I had searched the entire 1/3 acre.

I made flyers and talked to the neighbors. I was crying, it made me realize how much I would miss her, how much I had invested in my love for her, the website, just the emptiness that would proceed.

Every minute of today was spent outside, listening to the sounds, watching the trees, going over every square foot of th 1/3 acre the house sits on.

A lesson for me is how much she means to me, how my life would change without her. All the time invested in her, my website, how she helps me write my books, how empty life would be without her little face.

What was I thinking not putting her harness and leash on her? Well, first I had to make her a new bigger harness and that wasn’t ready yet, half done, but not all the way. I just wanted to give her some sunshine, just wanted her to have a nice lounge on the deck, and now she is gone!!

Oh the pain of knowing it will be 39 degrees and she will be out in the wild, freezing, with all the preditors, I really can’t think of it right now. I have to get my mind off this and think of my plan tomorrow. Got to try to sleep

Didn’t sleep much, my dad was really worried, he stayed up all night and even went out with a flashlight and looked. Poor dad, he is so worried about me and angel.

Nothing, she is just not here. I blocked the yard into squared and looked at each square foot. Nothing. Got our the binoculars and looked in trees. She just isn’t here.

When I had taken her on walks, she had been trying to go under the fence to the neighbors yard, so I called him and asked if I could search in the morning. “Of course”, he said. He will leave his gate open tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day.

Got up early and went to church with mom and dad. Lite a candle and asked god for a miracle.

I knew she wouldn’t be up until it warmed probably around 11 am so I errands in the morning with my mom. I drove right by the high school behind me and gave them a few flyers. They said they came up with a plan involving the PE teams, groundskeepers and teams practicing on the field. I was elated and their support and kindness gave me hope.

It was watering day and the sprinkler were on. I just thought of how cold she must be.

I went to the neighbor’s yard and began to sing “Oh what a beautiful morning”, which has become our song. I searched everywhere. I had meditated on her and envisioned her by yellow flowers. There were plants in boths corners of the yard, I looked, but nothing.

I went on the deck and looked out with binoculars.

At about 11:30 I decided to expand my search and walked the block. I saw kids from the school on the other side of the fence and they were looking for my iguana for me!! It gave me hope.

I decided it was time for posting on craigslist, and the animal shelter. I was nearly done and the

phone rang. My brother said “you found the iguana?” I looked out to the back yard and saw the kids gathered by the corner of the yard.

 

My heart jumped with joy! They had found her where I had been an hour before, just laying there, flat and motionless, a meer feet away from where my mom prays the rosary. In hindsight she was probably wanting to get home but the fence was in the way.I gave them the reward money, though they didin’t want to take it and I found out later that they donated it.

I warmed her up and gave her a few sips of water, I was careful, the had been thru a lot and didn’t want to hurt her kidneys. After an hour I brought her to her little cubby which I had warmed and placed her inside.

She was still bery motionless with little movement. She seemed exhausted and dazed, but welcomed the comfort of her bed. I tucked her in and she slept until the morning.

The next day she was still not walking well. She was acting like she had fallen. Called the vet but in a few days my fear diminished as she recovered and began to eat once again!

Angel was back, my girl was home and life was OK again!!

Never, ever will she be outside without a harness and a leash!!

Thank you god for giving me back my little angel!!!

 

WOW! I have to write that this was the first time Angel sat with me, by her own will and allowed me to massage her neck and love on her. She sat proudly on my chest and sat with me for at least 10 minutes.

I have been working with her in the morning when she awakes and in the evening before she goes to bed, trying to snuggle with me and let me show her affection. She has nothing to do with it unless I hold her under the covers, OR if I take her from her bed in the early hours and bring her under the warm blankets, when she awakes she sits with me and while under the covers she would let me gently stroke her. But never before has she sat near me, in the open, with the freedom to leave, and allowed affection!

One thing I did change in my behavior was the reaching over to pet her and kiss her while she sat on her bed in the window.

Each time I did it, she cowered like I was going to hit her, so I avoided this for a long time. And if I just tried to kiss her, it was a pull back and turn away.

I examined what I had been doing in the mirror and it was abet frightening. The large hands and the moving lips and kissing sound. So I decided to put my hands behind my back and just touch her with my nose without making a sound. And it worked! She allowed it and began to expect my greeting.

She realized I was trying, that my behavior had changed and she in turn is allowing me to give her affection! It is an awesome breakthrough for both of us.

She has been eating a lot again and growing like a weed. Last month she learned to go in to potty in the shower when I am not here. She usually waits for me, but if not here, there she goes up and over and into the shower. She had been going by the toilet or in front of the shower. I placed her water bowl in there, and I think that could have been her motivation.

We went to LLL Reptile yesterday. They were amazed at how big and beautiful she has become. I bought her a new Power sun bulb, the other one had almost 6 months on it, It hasn’t been on 12 hours a day, so it is probably good for another 3 months, so I will bring it on our vacation and leave it there for our visits there, this way I don’t have to keep packing it.

Speaking of vacation, it is just 11 days away and I can’t wait to see my family. I am going to bring g a piece of net to enclose the deck so I can feel comfortable leaving her outside.

Well, we are on our way to the produce market now, she is a regular purse rider now and she is just my awesome girl that I truly love!