Iguana Iguana

Hi. My name is speedy and I am a giant green Iguana. We are often called the common iguana, but I don't think there is anything common about me. Iguana Iguana is my scientific name. I was born on the Blue Diamond Iguana farm in El Salvador and then promptly put in a box with other baby iguanas. We were then shipped to a store in Texas. Before I knew it I was taken from the other baby iguanas and sent home with my owner. That's a lot to happen in just a few days!

My owner's mom found Melissa Kaplan's website and followed her recommendations in caring for me. One of the first things they did was take me to a reptile vet. I didn't like the exam much but they found protozoa in me, ones that could have made my owner sick as well. After 6 weeks of medication (3 trips to the vet) they declared me cured. Without that medicine I probably would not have made it, so if you get a baby Iguana be sure it gets to see a reptile vet too. It may mean a longer trip, but other vets just don't know enough about us to take proper care of us.

I am a vegetarian so I am only fed plants. I eat Collard greens, Mustard greens, Turnip greens and something called MK salad. How to make it comes from Melissa Kaplan's site. It includes winter squash, green beans, parsnip, strawberries and alfalfa. I like the greens better, but eat the MK salad too. My owner says I need to if I want to grow up to be 6 feet long. In nature I would eat the leaves while they are attached to the plants, using my sharp teeth to shred them, but I cannot do this with loose leaves. When I was little the greens and salad were made into small pieces. As I get bigger I am given bigger pieces. You can buy Iguana food at the pet stores but that is not anywhere as good for me as the Fresh greens. Sometimes those canned foods contain animal protein, and that is not good for me at all.

Green Iguanas start small and grow fast. Here are some pictures of me as I grew.

August 2 2005. About 1 week after I came home.
September 25, 2005 Being held by my owner. He has funny colored scales.
November 9, 2005 They kept trying to put that white stick near me. They verdict was 3 1/2" STV and 15" STL. That's a lot of tail!
July 6, 2006 Almost one year old.
October 24, 2006 9" STV, 31"STL My owner seems to have grown tougher skin. We get along better now. Hopefully this means mom will stop playing with my toes.
March 13, 2007 I don't like having my picture taken!
July 1, 2007 Soaking in the sun.