On this page we will show pictures of some of our rescues and others that have touched our lives. Sometimes the outcome isn't always good because the neglect that these citizens of Earth Mother receive either intentionally or through lack of knowledge by those who had them prior to our care. Some of our rescues may stay with us for the rest of their lives while others will end up in new caring homes. As I have said, though this site's name may only mention reptiles, we rescue other creatures.
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These pictures are of Fred (Old Man). He had two "families" before coming into our care. While in the "care" of the first "family" an incident happened. One day the son was tormenting Fred. Fred in a natural defensive response to this torment started whipping his tail. The father didn't like this even though no contact was made. The man cut off a portion of Fred's tail as punishment. Later the first "family" got rid of Fred to the second "family".
This new "family" had Fred and a female iguana. Nature took its course and after they reached mating age, they had offspring. I do not remember how many times they had offspring, but when the second "family" went to remove the children to another habitat the female iguana went into "attack" mode. She hissed, snapped at the daughter (who was the main caregiver), and whipped her tail. The daughter backed off to give the female time to calm down only to be horrified by what she saw next. They female began attacking and eating her young. The daughter tried to save the young but was bitten by the female. After the female iguana had eaten her young, she began attacking Fred anytime they were in close proximity to each other. That was when Fred came into our care.
He was in poor shape not only due to the female attacks but neither "family" understood about nutrition for iguanas. Though the second "family" was better to Fred and supplemented his diet with iguana food from a pet store. Both "families" fed Fred iceberg lettuce. (Iceberg lettuce has no nutritional value at all. All it is good for is roughage to keep the one eating it 'regular'. If kept on a iceberg lettuce only or even with seldom added suppliments, an iguana will slowly starve to death.)
We immediately started Fred on a diet to increase his body mass and try to bring his internal organs back from "nutritional starvation". (In no way am I saying that these people intentionally starved Fred. What I am saying is that everyone interested in having an iguana as part of their family should study into their needs and the things to avoid in all aspects of care. "REPTILES ARE NOT PETS FOR JUST ANYONE. ONLY THOSE WHO TAKE THE TIME TO PUT FULL CARE AND LEARNING INTO RAISING THEM MIGHT QUALIFY TO BE A FAMILY TO THEM.") Fred spent the rest of his days with us. Unfortunately those days were not as long as we would had liked. The unlearned raising of his early life had done its damage to his internal organs and shortened what life he had.
The following pictures show Fred after he came into our care. As I can find all the pictures, I will attempt to show how he "recovered".
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These pictures are of Fred (Old Man). He had two "families" before coming into our care. While in the "care" of the first "family" an incident happened. One day the son was tormenting Fred. Fred in a natural defensive response to this torment started whipping his tail. The father didn't like this even though no contact was made. The man cut off a portion of Fred's tail as punishment. Later the first "family" got rid of Fred to the second "family".
This new "family" had Fred and a female iguana. Nature took its course and after they reached mating age, they had offspring. I do not remember how many times they had offspring, but when the second "family" went to remove the children to another habitat the female iguana went into "attack" mode. She hissed, snapped at the daughter (who was the main caregiver), and whipped her tail. The daughter backed off to give the female time to calm down only to be horrified by what she saw next. They female began attacking and eating her young. The daughter tried to save the young but was bitten by the female. After the female iguana had eaten her young, she began attacking Fred anytime they were in close proximity to each other. That was when Fred came into our care.
He was in poor shape not only due to the female attacks but neither "family" understood about nutrition for iguanas. Though the second "family" was better to Fred and supplemented his diet with iguana food from a pet store. Both "families" fed Fred iceberg lettuce. (Iceberg lettuce has no nutritional value at all. All it is good for is roughage to keep the one eating it 'regular'. If kept on a iceberg lettuce only or even with seldom added suppliments, an iguana will slowly starve to death.)
We immediately started Fred on a diet to increase his body mass and try to bring his internal organs back from "nutritional starvation". (In no way am I saying that these people intentionally starved Fred. What I am saying is that everyone interested in having an iguana as part of their family should study into their needs and the things to avoid in all aspects of care. "REPTILES ARE NOT PETS FOR JUST ANYONE. ONLY THOSE WHO TAKE THE TIME TO PUT FULL CARE AND LEARNING INTO RAISING THEM MIGHT QUALIFY TO BE A FAMILY TO THEM.") Fred spent the rest of his days with us. Unfortunately those days were not as long as we would had liked. The unlearned raising of his early life had done its damage to his internal organs and shortened what life he had.
The following pictures show Fred after he came into our care. As I can find all the pictures, I will attempt to show how he "recovered".
Starting with the top picture we will tell of each picture and number them 1 through 10.
1) Fred right after we received him as a rescue (rescued from the female at first). You can see that he is under weight and how short his tail is.
2) Fred's resting place near the window. Later we moved his shelf directly in front of the window. This way he could receive sunlight for warmth and it also helps their bodies in similar ways not unlike our bodies process sunlight for vitamin D. Studies are still being done to understand sunlight's benefits for iguanas.
3) Fred with "daddy" Robert. Fred would ride around on Robert's shoulder for short periods of time. Fred liked being on top of the totem pole.
4) Fred with "momma" Denise. Fred spent more time with her since Robert went to work every day and their children were still in school. She and Robert gave Fred free range of their house, but Fred had a harness and leash for walking outside.
5) Fred Stands guard from his shelf with his "hand" upon the back of his climb chair. He only allowed certain family members to set on his chair. He didn't appreciate when Nosey Joe (our male ferret brother) would climb to either check on Fred or play tag with him.
6) Denise showing Fred off. She wanted to show how he was improving, his growth, and to give everyone a glimpse of his tail where it had been maliciously cut by the man of the first family Fred was with.
7) Fred relaxing on his shelf though it looks like he would rather not have his picture taken at that time. Notice how the spines are along the length of his back. Though it isn't uncommon for some of them on an iguana to lay down or bend but Fred had some notched or missing.
8) "You're disturbing my lunch!" Fred seems to say here. He had already finish his vegetables and bananas, but still was picking at his "iguana food". We kept Fred's diet well rounded. One thing people found funny which Fred did when it came mainly to bananas. He would "threaten" the pieces of banana before eating them. This he did nearly every time.
9) Fred giving Denise lovings. He would climb up and lay his lower jaw upon Denise's or my chin for a brief moment as if to say "I love you." Sometimes he would nudge Denise's glasses up from this position. Why? We never figured it out fully.
10) "Best Of Buddies" Fred and Patches, our daughter's cat, napped together and Patches would appear to protect Fred at times when one our dogs was in the house. Of course during this time all our animal family members got along with each other even though sometimes there would be an occasional bit of tension.
11) Beowolf a little rescue we received while in Texas. Luckily for him we were already known for reptile rescues by most of our friends. Beo is now with a loving, caring family we still have contact with even though they live in Texas.
12) Beo playing king over mom. He enjoyed to climb. We allowed our rescues (after they become comfortable with the new surroundings) occasional periods of free range in one or more rooms of our apartment. We always insured that our living quarters were safety for all animals and humans plus escape proof.
13) Monty, our ball python rescue. This one was really lucky to be alive. The young man who had Monty still had him in the box he brought him home from Petco two weeks previously.The young man didn't even know what to feed the snake or how to feed him.
14) Monty loves long hair to weave around in. Here he is pretending to be a hair tie. Monty is still with us. (We did purchase Monty, but we only pay for animals when they are in a situation that may result in serious health problems or death. Most of our rescues are brought to us or we go pick them up.)
15) Roxie and Nosey Joe (yes, we rescue ferrets too) at bath time. Nosey enjoyed baths and would try to get to the bath even if someone else was getting ready to take a bath themselves. Roxie didn't care for baths (unsure why) so it was up to me to give her them since I could handle her without getting all scratched up.
16) Both Roxie and Nosey loved to play, but Nosey was the more mischievous one (he like to tag Fred while Fred was resting on his shelf). Her they are playing with their punch ball. They would push it around, try rolling over the top of it. or drag it around by its rubber band.
17) Here is Chevy, our newest ferret rescue (2013). He was a 5 month old male when we received him. He has already taken up with us and plays with Neeka Rose (our basset hound, an adoption from the Sherman, Texas shelter on adoption day at Petco) and Sella Lolita (our chihuahua, Neeka's adopted baby) though Sella is still not too sure she likes being followed/chased by this new creature in our house.
Turtle Island Reptile Rescue Eastern Oklahoma Sallisaw 2008-2013
