National Iguana Awareness Day 2024

I have only owned one iguana in my lifetime. His name was Iggy and he was acquired due to my own bad judgement from my boss at the college where I taught continuing education computer classes for some 20 odd years.

Now it seems that Iggy got along grandly in his reptile enclosure even though the entire room reeked of lizard excrement. It was the winter months and I ran a oil filled radiator on high in the room as well as keeping a 'heat stone' in the enclosure for him to rest upon.

He never struck me as being uncomfortable with this arrangement. He would get a a lot of baby spinach and other mixed greens sprinkled with a calcium supplement powder along with fresh water every day. He consumed these things with apparent gusto.

I cleaned his enclosure about once a week or when it became heavily soiled as it did periodically. I devised a good methodology for quick and efficient cleaning using a lot of white vinegar and water on the back porch. I then dried the thing with a heat gun I used to use on shrink wire wrap tubing.
 

After a year or so I encountered some neighbors who were from Puerto Rico who inquired as to whether they might take ownership of Iggy along with his enclosure and other accessories in use to feed him and clean his environment.

I thought about it and having never wanted in actuality to acquire a lizard anyway I turned everything over to them.

On a chance visit some weeks later I discovered a fairly substantial pile of bones in their yard along with what appeared to be lizard skins and I inquired as to where Iggy was. They then admitted that they consumed him for a family meal one weekend and that Iggy was no more. It was also obvious that Iggy wasn't ever the only main course, either.

This was quite a shock for me personally as I had never intended for Iggy to become a food animal. I thought he would remain the companion animal that I viewed him as being. So much for what I thought.

Today is National Iguana Awareness Day, held each September 8 annually as a vehicle to promote the iguana as pets.

So if you acquire an iguana you no longer want you may or may not wish to pursue whether it will end up as a pet ... or food with the new owners up front. Had I done this I would have handled matters differently.

I had bad dreams of him being dispatched and prepared for cooking for a long time afterwards. I suppose it is just deserts for such irresponsibility in reptile ownership. You see, though I didn't really like Iggy very much I was in it for the duration.

Alas poor Iggy I knew him well Horatio.

Rest in peace.