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Congratulations!
You just acquired your first Green Iguana. Maybe you bought a hatchling
at a pet store. Or even better yet, you adopted an iguana from a
rescue. But you're not sure if it's a male or female. Or you’re not
sure how to care for it properly. You need quality information that will
give you the tools to make your iguana thrive. That is the purpose of Resource for Iguana Care and Adoption.
Iguanas
are not for everyone and they require specialized care. But if you are
willing to commit to it’s proper husbandry, are willing to house a
lizard that can grow to six feet long, and weigh up to 15 pounds, and
are willing to give it the veterinary care that any other captive pet
deserves, you will engage with an animal that is intelligent,
fascinating, sometimes aloof, sometimes affectionate, always a
challenge. And your life will never be the same. Welcome to the
wonderful, wild, wacky world of the Great Green Iguana.
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| Meet Kathy - President of RICA |
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The first time I saw an iguana was while I was waiting at a stoplight. I looked over to the driver next to me, and there was this lizard type creature on the dash. We both had our windows down, and I yelled over "Is that thing real?" He nodded yes. "What is it?" I asked. "An iguana" was the reply. The light turned green and we went our separate ways. I got a small handbook on iguanas at a pet store to read up on them. At that time in the early 90's there was a lot of misinformation about iguanas, but some of the things I remember about the book are correct. They get big and the males can be aggressive during breeding season. I had the room, but after reading it more, I determined I would not have the time to take care of an iguana properly.
Then, in 2002 I was working part time for a friend of mine who had a specialty fish and reptile pet store. I have raised fish for many years, but needed to educate myself about the reptiles he sold. And it was there that I met Shawn, who had two adult iguanas that needed a new home. I went to look at them, and I fell in love with the beautiful, bright green female with the intense yellow eyes, and the other female who had all of her long, gorgeous, original tail. He brought them to my house, where I already had a room in the basement set up for them to free-roam.
In June of 2003 I helped another person organize an iguana rescue. I served on the Board of Directors, first as Vice President, then later as Director of Community Outreach, and Team Leader of Home Visits.
In May of 2006, a tragic event happened that changed my opinion of this rescue. It involved the death of one of the fostered iguanas, due to neglect. Moe and three other iguanas were abandoned to live in filthy cages with no food, or heat. Fortunately, they were removed from the premises. But not in time for Moe, and sadly, she did not make it through the night. She was forced to endure a slow, painful death, which was completely avoidable.
I resigned from this organization and created RICA as an outreach and educational portal to help iguanas thrive in captivity, thereby enriching the iguana/keeper relationship. It is my enthusiastic desire to dispel myths, provide accurate husbandry facts, and share tips from real life personal experience that will enable you, the iguana "kept", to enjoy your green friend to the highest degree possible.
I hope you enjoy this website and use it often. Please feel free to give us suggestions to make this site a better place.
Kathy Claugherty
Kept by iguanas since January 2002. 
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| Meet Jeff - Vice President |
Jeff became interested in amphibians and reptiles at a very young age. He conducts fieldwork for the MN DNR and has also performed surveys in Iowa for IA DNR, Nature Conservancy, and collects county records during his many field herping excursions. He is also the annual Field Survey Coordinator for the Minnesota Herpetological Society and serves on the board of directors as Member-at-Large. He has written numerous articles for the MHS newsletter, the IHS newsletter, Iowa Conservationist, Reptiles and Amphibians Magazine, Herpetological Review, and he edited Amphibians and Reptiles of Minnesota Field Guide. He is also the author and photographer for the excellent www.herpnet.net web site. Jeff is an avid herpetoculturist as well. He has bred quite an array of snakes and lizards, plus a few amphibians as well. In addition, he keeps turtles and crocodilians. Working in the past for pet stores and pet wholesalers has also given him the unique opportunity to care for and work with odd species that are not typically kept in most collections.
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| Meet Asra, Friend of RICA |
I've always loved lizards; in fact, the first
book I could read by myself was called Dinosaur Time. (I could pronounce all of the dinosaur names with the
help of the phonetic spelling in parentheses).
At fairs, I begged my parents to get that foam lizard on a wire that would look
like you were walking a lizard on a leash. But I wanted a real lizard—a big
one.
I got that opportunity as a freshman in college, and was consequently kicked
out
of the dormitory the year after, following the discovery of my iguana bathing
happily in the dorm's bathtub. Whoops. (I definitely do not advocate getting pets when
living in places that do not allow them.)
I made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot from my first iguana, including
choice of veterinarian. My first veterinarian told me to feed her crickets
(cringe), but also did help get rid of a skin fungus which she had when I bought her—another
learning experience, as I did not even know what a healthy baby iguana should look like.
Now, several iguana books and online iguana forums later, I know a lot more
about these fascinating giants. I'm glad I can be a part of this new
organization to make a difference for new and potential iguana owners to get it right the first time.
These great greenies can be amazing to watch, hold, and feed—just like little dinosaurs.
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| Meet Kathy - Foster Provider |
| and now Membership Director! |
We became interested in iguanas when a friend of mine "had" to
give his away!! His wife to be said "it is either him or me!" You can
guess who he chose? Anyway, we adopted Iggy, who was 13. The other
reason is my oldest son is allergic to cats and dogs. So we had to
leave the mammal species. Iggy came along and we had him for 2 yrs.
Then he passed away. I was not going to get any igs after that, but got
kind of lonely without a pet in the house. So a few months later I got
3 igs. Newman, Butch and Crusty. A year later they got out of their
outside cage. We found Butch right away but Newman and Crusty were
gone. A week later I got 2 more. Caesar and Turk. A week after that
Newman was found down the street, alive, but barely. He survived. We
had them for 8 years. In the meantime we got Speedy, a female that
wasn't very nice. I was going to tame her and return her. They did not
want her back. So, we had 5 igs. It got to the point where they were
fighting ALL the time. Butch had to have stitches on two different
occasions and I just couldn't go through one of them killing another. I
then found homes for all 5.
That was 3 years ago. Things have
changed and times have changed and it was time for me to get another ig.
That is when I found RICA and adopted an iguana. I also wanted to be
able to help out as much as I could so I am also fostering one.
That
is how iguanas have come into my life and I really enjoy them.
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