Xander's Story
One day in August of 2004, my mother-in-law comes home from work and tells me that one of her co-workers has rescued a large (the hand gestures used implied that this rescue was even larger than the 8 and 9-year-olds we already had) adult iggie from an abusive home. Good girl, I reply, and what can I do to help? Well, it seems this woman knew absolutely nothing about iguanas and the only reason she took the poor creature in in the first place was to save it from further abuse. That being said, could I print some information out for her about how to care for an iguana? Sure. No problem, I replied with a false smile. I say the smile was false because, deep in my heart, I knew that once the co-worker saw the requirements to properly care for an ig, she would probably have a change of heart.
Sure enough, the very next day when mother-in-law came home she said the woman had been overwhelmed by the information I had provided and she didn't think she had the time to give it the proper care. On top of that, it seems the iguana in question was "terrorizing" her household - having, among other things, gotten out of its cage (at least once) and starting a small fire by knocking over a table lamp when no one was home... and causing great distress to her cat and dog. The question now became were we willing to take the iguana off her hands so that she wouldn't have to take it to the pound or return it to the abusive home she had taken it from.
Of course, my husband and I were both concerned not only for the iggie in question but for the people it was living with. A violent and/or untamed iguana is not a thing for the uninitiated to deal with. With two adults of our own with questionable attitudes already, we really weren't in a position to adopt another problem child. After a bit of discussion, though, we agreed that we could temporarily house the iguana and find an appropriate rescue group or home for it.
 |
That having been decided, my husband and I got in touch with this lady, Tammy, and made arrangements to go and get the iguana.
We weren't taking any chances, either. Despite the Vegas heat, I wore a thick sweat suit and knit cap, wrapped a towel around my left forearm, had nail clippers and Rescue Remedy in my pockets, a very large beach towel (we had nothing to put the ig in, so we were going to wrap it up like a burrito for the drive home), and great, thick leather gardening gloves... I was ready to do battle with Godzilla.
When we finally arrived at Tammy's house, we were first greeted by a little yappy dog of the chihuahua persuasion and a teenage marmalade kitten... and on the kitchen table was a small, metal rabbit cage with a young iguana in it. My husband and I both looked around the room and nearly simultaneously said "Where's the other iguana?"
"That's it," Tammy replied, pointing to the little green thing in the metal cage.
My husband and I exchanged a brief, eye-rolling glance and I dropped the towel, pulled off the gloves and tossed them on the floor, then I opened the cage and lifted the little fella onto my chest. What a sweet thing. 6.5 inches SVL and that's being generous. His color was bright in the light of the bare bulb hanging over his cage, but his face was covered with dark bruises and scratches from where he had tried to get out of the rabbit cage. |
 |
 |
And his poor tail! Sometimes I am ashamed to belong to the human race. The people Tammy had rescued the ig from had small children... and these children had, among other tortures, stuck the little iguana's tail into a running electrical fan!
Both sides of his tail looked like someone had taken a potato peeler to it. The right side appeared, at first glance, to be healing well, but the left side made my stomach turn when I saw it. It looked to me like the slice went right to the bone - and may even have cut into the bone itself. There was a huge "peel" of flesh that dangled from the exposed wound, and it must have still had some nerves in it because when we touched the part that appeared to be dead the poor little guy just freaked. (For more on Xander's tail, please see our Injuries page) |
We said our goodbyes to Tammy and assured her she had done the right thing by rescuing the little ig. By the time we got home, there was little doubt that we would be keeping the rescue and not finding it another home. And when my husband, Bill, got to sit on the couch with the little iggie in his lap, he nearly melted with sympathy and care. |
 |
That's the story of how Xander came to be a part of our little family. And, as any ig owner knows, the fun didn't stop there.
It was a good week before we could get Xander to eat anything at all, and then he would only take small bites if we held the food in our fingers. We'd had him nearly a month before he started eating out of bowl of his own accord. |
| Xander is also terrified of water. So much so, in fact, that until last week we had never seen him take a drink of water of his own free will. We've always had to administer water with a squirt bottle… squirting the water into his mouth while he is eating something else. When we place Xander into the bathtub at pooping time, he's fine if the tub is empty, but if so much as a single drop of water touches him he turns into a whirlwind of panic and flight. I'm beginning to believe that some of his earlier trauma must have involved being held underwater against his will - he is also quite violent about having his head held. |
Abuse, and the reactions it engenders, is often very difficult to overcome. You'd think that mere kindness and gentle treatment would be enough, but it often isn't. Such is the case with Xander. As of this writing, we have had him eight months and with the exception of his tail amputation he has never been harmed or hurt by any humans - or any other animals, for that matter. Still, Xander is very much tweaky and afraid and ever on the alert for the next evil to befall him. Though we feed him, provide him with warmth and plenty of UV, cuddle him on a regular basis, he still runs in panic whenever we approach him. He isn't mean, mind you, but he is far from tame.
In addition to a powerful distrust of humans which he may never get over, Xander has some other developmental issues. |
 |
As they lack vocal cords, iguanas use body language to communicate with each other and the world around them. The most common body language in the iguana kingdom is the head bob. Iguanas will bob in greeting, bob to threaten, bob to get attention, bob to attract a mate… Mary and Bailey have both bobbed at Xander whenever they've seen him, but, to our knowledge, Xander has never bobbed his head at them or anything else. Even his own mirror reflection elicits no reaction.
Lastly, I think Xander needs glasses. Truly, he seems to have very bad up-close vision and often bites the wrong thing when trying to eat… from his own toes, the food bowl itself, to my own fingers, lips, and nose! Certainly, a vision impairment would help to explain some of his timid nature. |