As a rescuer, I admire your dedication to try to work through this and keep your
pet. I think this may in fact be the best thing for Ivan. Finding homes for
former pet Iguanas usually doesn't work out too well. At least not when they are
already grown, and not if you want to find a good home for them. I have to turn
down a lot of Iguanas ( and sliders, and large snakes, and tortoises ) just
because I don't have the space, and I can't find good homes for them fast
enough. Everyone wants a cute little baby. Nobody wants a 4ft. long Ig. That's
just the way it goes, so consider that, unless you know some really good people
who would take him.

I know a turtle and tortoise breeder who "parks" her sulcata tortoises at night
in the backyard, in an over sized bicycle shed. It's one of those plastic ones.
They have overhead UVB for bad weather days, and 250w infrared heat lamps for
winter and for night time. That would be room enough for an Ig, but I would
recommend making some cut outs panels for screens/windows on good days.

I also saw the design plans for an outdoor chameleon habitat that someone near
me constructed, out of cheap materials. It was a PVC frame construction and
screened. Of course this was lightweight and light-duty, but you can scale it up
as needed if you have a man who is inclined to build.

There are several options other than giving him away, or buying a barn. You can
buy a pre-fab shed, or build something with wood or PVC frame, and harware
cloth. You would have to make sure for winter that it is insulated, and that he
had lighting/heat. That can get tricky. You just don't want anything he can come
into direct contact with and burn himself or knock over and start a fire.

Mike
WFRR
NWRA



--- In IguanaMail@yahoogroups.com, "cdb8128" <cdb8128@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I was wondering if there was anyone who has successfully outfitted a barn or
garage to house an ig in.  If so, what did they do to make it appropriate for
keeping the ig?  I have had Ivan for 4 years.  He is 5 or 6 years old.  He is my
only pet.  Our family is growing.  We are expecting a baby in the spring.  So
Ivan needs to be moved to a new location, so that his bedroom can be turned into
the nursery.  Our house is very small, which was why he got to have a whole
bedroom until now.  The house was supposed to be temporary, but with the housing
market being what it is, we just can't try to sell right now.  And we don't have
enough equity in our house to do the addition we planned which would have given
Ivan a new room.  None of the rooms in our house is really large enough for
Ivan, who is full grown.  So my only real option is to get a barn for him. Of
course we would have to insulate the barn and try to make his cage so that it
would hold heat better.  I live in NC, so we do get all four seasons.  I don't
know if the barn is feasible as an option to keep him in.  But I am grasping
trying to find a solution that will let me keep my green baby.  I have been told
that maybe I am not thinking of what is best for Ivan in considering this plan. 
I don't want him to suffer or not thrive, but I want to exhaust all my options
before I even consider letting go of my boy.  I love him and because of all my
pregnancy hormones am probably a little too emotional to rationally think this
out.  Maybe I am being selfish to force him into a less than optimal
environment.  I love him enough to do what is best for him.  I just don't know
if I can figure that out.  I am hoping that someone out there has had to make a
similar change to accomodate their green one.  I hope there is a way to make it
work so that I don't have to tell him goodbye, because I don't know if I can. 
But I can not let him suffer because my stupid house won't appraise high enough
either.  I just don't know what to do.  I am hoping that with all the set ups
out there that maybe someone will know of some affordable option for us.
>
> Thanks,
> Charlotte
>

It's not that bad unless you keep your Iguana and its habitat unclean. It's like
with any other animal. If kept in unclean conditions and not taken care of,
there can be issues. People just tend to be overly cautious with these warnings.
There can be an issue of infection if you get bitten or contact the saliva or
fecal matter, particularly with an open wound, and you of course want to always
make sure that you are disinfecting your hands and utensils after handling the
Iguana or working in its terrarium. I would give the same advice to anyone with
a cat or dog who was pregnant too.

The list of zoonotic diseases you can receive from a mammal is far longer and
far worse than for reptiles. From mammals you can get hantavirus, rabies,
typhus, plague, tularemia, lyme disease, etc. I advocate caution, but reptiles
are so unknown to most people, particularly in health care, and they tend to
give alarmist knee jerk answers about it.

If you a high risk pregnancy or have pre-existing health issues, compromised
immunity, etc.; then you may want to re-consider. Other than that...just be
clean and safe, just like you would around household chemicals or any of the
number of "potentially" hazardous things a pregnant woman would encounter in a
day.

I have nearly 25 years experience with reptiles, and practice exotic veterinary
medicine at my rescue.

Mike
Wichita Falls Reptile Rescue
National Wildlife Rehabilitators Assoc.

--- In IguanaMail@yahoogroups.com, "rad_sane" <rad_sane@...> wrote:
>
> I just got an iguana and more recently, found out that I am pregnant. I keep
reading things that say that pregnant women shouldnt handle reptiles. Just
wondering how true that is and any advice on what I should do. I would really
hate to have to get rid of him.
>

The structure isn't what matters, insulation is.  But it would probably be more
trouble than it's worth.  What exactly is his current setup?  Is he in a cage, a
tank, or free roaming?


>  -------Original Message-------
>  From: cdb8128 <cdb8128@...>
>  Subject: [IguanaMail] Can a barn be outfitted to house an ig?
>  Sent: 24 Nov '09 19:30
>
>  Hi,
>
>  I was wondering if there was anyone who has successfully outfitted a barn
>  or garage to house an ig in. If so, what did they do to make it appropriate
>  for keeping the ig? I have had Ivan for 4 years. He is 5 or 6 years old. He
>  is my only pet. Our family is growing. We are expecting a baby in the
>  spring. So Ivan needs to be moved to a new location, so that his bedroom
>  can be turned into the nursery. Our house is very small, which was why he
>  got to have a whole bedroom until now. The house was supposed to be
>  temporary, but with the housing market being what it is, we just can't try
>  to sell right now. And we don't have enough equity in our house to do the
>  addition we planned which would have given Ivan a new room. None of the
>  rooms in our house is really large enough for Ivan, who is full grown. So
>  my only real option is to get a barn for him. Of course we would have to
>  insulate the barn and try to make his cage so that it would hold heat
>  better. I live in NC, so we do get all four seasons. I don't know if the
>  barn is feasible as an option to keep him in. But I am grasping trying to
>  find a solution that will let me keep my green baby. I have been told that
>  maybe I am not thinking of what is best for Ivan in considering this plan.
>  I don't want him to suffer or not thrive, but I want to exhaust all my
>  options before I even consider letting go of my boy. I love him and because
>  of all my pregnancy hormones am probably a little too emotional to
>  rationally think this out. Maybe I am being selfish to force him into a
>  less than optimal environment. I love him enough to do what is best for
>  him. I just don't know if I can figure that out. I am hoping that someone
>  out there has had to make a similar change to accomodate their green one. I
>  hope there is a way to make it work so that I don't have to tell him
>  goodbye, because I don't know if I can. But I can not let him suffer
>  because my stupid house won't appraise high enough either. I just don't
>  know what to do. I am hoping that with all the set ups out there that maybe
>  someone will know of some affordable option for us.
>
>  Thanks,
>  Charlotte
>
>
>

Hi,

I was wondering if there was anyone who has successfully outfitted a barn or
garage to house an ig in.  If so, what did they do to make it appropriate for
keeping the ig?  I have had Ivan for 4 years.  He is 5 or 6 years old.  He is my
only pet.  Our family is growing.  We are expecting a baby in the spring.  So
Ivan needs to be moved to a new location, so that his bedroom can be turned into
the nursery.  Our house is very small, which was why he got to have a whole
bedroom until now.  The house was supposed to be temporary, but with the housing
market being what it is, we just can't try to sell right now.  And we don't have
enough equity in our house to do the addition we planned which would have given
Ivan a new room.  None of the rooms in our house is really large enough for
Ivan, who is full grown.  So my only real option is to get a barn for him. Of
course we would have to insulate the barn and try to make his cage so that it
would hold heat better.  I live in NC, so we do get all four seasons.  I don't
know if the barn is feasible as an option to keep him in.  But I am grasping
trying to find a solution that will let me keep my green baby.  I have been told
that maybe I am not thinking of what is best for Ivan in considering this plan. 
I don't want him to suffer or not thrive, but I want to exhaust all my options
before I even consider letting go of my boy.  I love him and because of all my
pregnancy hormones am probably a little too emotional to rationally think this
out.  Maybe I am being selfish to force him into a less than optimal
environment.  I love him enough to do what is best for him.  I just don't know
if I can figure that out.  I am hoping that someone out there has had to make a
similar change to accomodate their green one.  I hope there is a way to make it
work so that I don't have to tell him goodbye, because I don't know if I can. 
But I can not let him suffer because my stupid house won't appraise high enough
either.  I just don't know what to do.  I am hoping that with all the set ups
out there that maybe someone will know of some affordable option for us.

Thanks,
Charlotte

I just got an iguana and more recently, found out that I am pregnant. I keep
reading things that say that pregnant women shouldnt handle reptiles. Just
wondering how true that is and any advice on what I should do. I would really
hate to have to get rid of him.

I haven't owned one in almost 20 years (except for rescues) and now I have a new
pet iguana, female, about 3 1/2 feet and lovely.

What a joy!

Question though: does anyone know if iguanas are banned ONLY in NYC or the
Westchester area too? I am moving there and must take her. We're inseparable at
this point...

how long does it take them to get to adult size? are there any nerves in the
spikes along their spine, can they feel anything there? can iguanas be trained
to respond to vocal commands? for example, to come when called by name or at
least come eat when they hear "food"

~Ashley