From: IO00844@MAINE.MAINE.EDU (((ZERO)))
Newsgroups: rec.pets.herp
Subject: Re: Green iguana:(experience/opinions)
Date: 6 Apr 92 16:57:51 GMT
Article-I.D.: MAINE.92097.125751IO00844
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Maine System

Unfortunately you'll run across a lot of petstores that don't properly care
for their animals, but iguanas seem to be in a majority here.
I visited 14 Connecticut Pet Stores over spring break, 11 of them carried
iguanas.  Only 2 out of the 11 seemed to be doing anything 'good' for them.
The rest appeared to be letting them slowly deteriorate with diets of
iceberg lettuce, no reliable heating source, and unfathomable lighting. It
was terrible.
I have two iguanas myself and believe me, there are worlds of difference
between them and any petstore iguanas I've seen.  So regardless of whether
I can tell if my iguanas are 100% healthy, I can certainly judge whether
a petstore iguana (or any other iguana) is unhealthy. It's not too particularly
 difficult. Most of them can be seen suffering from the same ailments...
what I listed, improper lighting, improper diet, improper heating, and also
sometimes improper handling.

Anyway, I've visited all these stores and yet I still couldn't get the nerve
to mention anything about it to the petstore owners. The fact is, there's
nothing you can base anything on. You can tell them they have unhealthy iguanas
, but don't expect a change.  I've complained to two petstore owners in Maine
(where I live and go to school) and given them (wrote down) all the information
they should need to at least help their iguanas to recooperate. The first
owner took the information but failed to change anything (I went back a week
later, and then 2 weeks after that) and the second owner questioned my
credentials and doubted my advice.  Nor would this person open any of the lizar
d/iguana books they had on display to verify any of it.  I'm not one to
glorify the correctness of iguana/lizard books, but I think an iguana owner/
petstore owner should at least look over something before they decide to have
the responsibility of caring for an animal.  These books at least usually tell
you a sufficient amount of information to keep your iguanas alive without
looking as bad as many of them end up looking in these pet stores. And yes,
there are a few out there that tell you nearly everything you need to know to
keep your iguanas healthy.

Another thing, that I've seriously considered, is calling the animal
authorities...the espca (or similiar group), however, the problem with doing
this is that some of these people don't know what a healthy iguana is supposed
to look like.  I had a discussion about this with one of the owners of my
favorite Massachusetts pet store owners. He told me that he had a couple incide
nts of people calling the authorities on him about his hand raised baby birds,
and they showed up. However, when they did they simply looked at the animals
and said why were they in such a condition. The owner then explained that that
was what they were supposed to look like and that he had gone to school for
such a thing and he, himself was an authority on the subject (which is true).
The authority then backed down and admitted not knowing what the birds were
supposed to look like anyway.
What I'm saying is, it can go either way. In this case the owner was correct
and by saying so got off....however, what can stop someone who is not correct
from saying so and getting off the same way.  Has anyone else had any similiar
experiences?  I haven't had any dealing with these pet authory people, so i
really don't know how competent they are. They could be very...and then again
they may not be.
Anyway, that's all I have time for now...
If anyone wants to discuss things with me, please feel free to email.
Everything above is in my opinion.
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Zero Z. Batzell     | Amiga User.     "We come in peace...shoot to kill!"
(207)-581-7579      | Iguana Keeper.     "NCC-42 U.S.S. HEART OF GOLD"
University of Maine | Video Hobbyist.    "Live long and Don't Panic!!"
student with a      | Star Trek TNG Fan.
(mostly harmless)   | Douglas Adams Fan.     MAJOR: Life, The Universe,
transfer in mind.   | Orson Scott Card Fan.         and Everything.
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