Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

Been awhile since I posted but wanted to share something that
really surprised me. I have posted in the past about realizing
that I am allergic to my ig Digit. My doctors told me I must
find a new home for him as they will only continue to get worse.
For months I tried to overcome it using different tactics but
eventually I gave up and knew it was for the best for Digit and
myself to place him in a good home. After turning down several
adopters for different reasons and months of trying I finally
found the perfect home. The adoption went through a very
trusted, great reptile rescue. The adopter drove 2 hours to
get him. That was about 5 weeks ago.

Last week I received an e-mail from him stating that he needed
to get rid of Digit as he had become a terror and he couldn't
touch him or even go near his cage without Digit trying to
attack. Digit is just about 4' already so he can,I guess,make
himself pretty scary looking. He stated that Digit was getting
worse instead of better. I drove up yesterday to pick him up
and was a little afraid he would not know who I was. I opened
his cage door. He became still and as I started to talk to him
his eyes dilated and he started to tongue flick. I reached
in and picked up just like always without him even flinching!
He remembered me and seemed very happy to see me. I felt
terrible for his new owner because he is a really nice guy!

I don't know what I am going to do now but it does feel good
for him to be home. He has gone back to his old routine
like nothing happened. For everyone who wonders if igs have
a memory and miss their keepers they have come to know, I
think I can say for sure....Yes! Sorry for this being so long
but thought it was worth sharing.

Linda G

Iguanas do have memory, and if I am not mistaken, they can retain memory for up to three months.

Very fascinating story, tho igs may not necessarily "miss" their owners, they do hate change. They detest it, and it stresses them to the point of falling sick and becoming lethargic, and anoressic. You brought back familiarity and security to the animal. It is not exactly "missing you", but it is a very touching story nonetheless!

Hope you find a way to keep it, it seems quite dependant on you.

-IJ

Thanks

I myself believe they have long time memory too. I originally had one male (Sampson) and three females (Baby, Dragon, Lady). Well Lady was Sampson's favorite. She died in 98 after an operation to remove an abcess behind her eye. I had a portrait done of the three females a year before that. After her death he kept searching for her. He came across the portrait and put his foot on her image in the picture and looked at me. It was like he was saying where is she. I thought it was just a fluke at that time. But a few months later he did the same thing--pick her image out with a sad look. He died January 2004 and he still was able to pick her image out from the three--almost 6 years later.
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Marie
Baby, Dragon, VLS-Huff, Miss Kitty

Wow. Been seeing more people post about iguana allergies. There was a post on another board about that just recently.
Link: Allergy Thread
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Marie
Baby, Dragon, VLS-Huff, Miss Kitty