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This very friendly Water monitor has about 20 cigarette burns all over his back, neck, and face. He is blind because his old owner burned out his eyes with cigarettes. The Monitor can only see light with one eye. This poor thing was SEVERELY miss treated and on the verge of death before the guys at the Chicago Herpetological Society rescued him. Now he is a healhty, Friendly, Water Monitor. -(Amazing that it trusts humans after being tortured like that)- As for the old owner he was fined thousands of dollars. I think the old owner should have his eyes burned out with cigars, beaten within an inch of his life, and then thrown in a cage with about 20 starving Komodo Dragons. - Karma is a beeotch.

The funny part is his name...Argus. Bob has done a great job getting this animal back from its previous state.

shot!I hate to see anything suffer needlessly,some folk just don't get it.Man i'll be lucky to see one these great monitors in the flesh never mind owning one and yet there are tossers out there who don't appreciate what they own and do this for "kicks".Sorry it just really pi55es me offI hope he gets hit by a bus!Anyway hope the little guy gets better and hope the tosser who bought him gets his come-upance,you know what they say "what goes around,comes around"
good on you for rescuing him!
jason

I agree with you. That guy should be beat within an inch of his life then thrown into a pit full of angry gorillas and beat with his own limbs. What a sick piece of sh**! Why would someone do something so cruel to an animal? At least the poor monitor looks to be doing well. They have definately done a great job with him.

He should die!!!! Piece of sh**!!!!!!! I hope that something really horrible happens to him. Like the flesh eating virus. Hope he gets that. Or a fungal infection of the nasal cavity. Then burned badly. People make me so mad, look at that sweet guy! Who could do such a thing to such a beautiful, and sweet, sweet monitor? I want this guys head on a pike. >:O Glad the fella is getting better. Hope he gets a nice home, with a big cage.

.

How about scenting him with rats,then tying him up and putting him in the cage with several adult males that haven't eaten for weeks.Fair is fair

... why would you have to tie him up? It would be slower if you didn't. Just lock the door .

I want 10 minuets alone with that sick freak...I just glad the monitor is okay.

I was just talking to Bob on the phone last night about some alligators that he's helped me out with, and we talked about this monitor. Bob and the CHS do a wonderful job with any animals that they take charge of. I feel very priviledged to know some of these folks. As for the disturbed people that take pleasure out of abusing animals, this is only one short baby step from abuse of humans. Studies have shown that many of the famous mass murderers and serial killers started out torturing and killing animals. As a rescue, I see way more mistreatment and neglect of reptiles than I like to think exists. Just this last week we took in a female iguana that was found in a dumpster...she had one of the largest abcesses I've seen so far in a lizard. Makes me wanna carry a baseball bat around with me at all times.

That looks like my Holly... I'm gonna cry. Girl iguanas are so sweet. I hope she gets some caring owners.

Best wishes to you both. D.

This iguana is doing remarkably well. The abcess has been evacuated and the wound debrided down to healthy tissue. We have her on oral AB's. The swelling is subsiding and she can now open her eye just a slit. She's eating everything I put in front of her and she's very active. It will take time to heal the gaping wound on her face but I'm confident that she'll be just fine and available for adoption in several months. Thanks for asking.

Hi
That's great news! She will make someone a GREAT pet, and make sure you tell people the scars will go away in time. She will be beautiful again one day, in addition to staying docile.
Trust me, I know.... my Holly acquired a few due to my ignorance, but each time, I was amazed by the ability of igs to regenerate their scales. Eardrums punched completely out in a dog attack, scabbed over and healed without a trace. Her skull skin was laid open to the bone, and this too, knitted over and with each shed, the scales became more whole, instead of fragmented.

My question is, how do you administer oral antibiotics to an ig?
Won't they make her food taste funny? They can be fussy eaters.
Thanks, D.

is pure evil. I couldnt work with animal control or the humane society, because I would be inprinsioned for murdure. That really heats me big time.
The bright side is that now that poor animal has a chance at some good times ahead. Good work mate.
-Michelle

I couldn`t agree more! Man, if I had tem minutes alone with these kind of people. Then when I got done with em, I`d break all his limbs, tie him to a post, scent him with rotten meat, and food, and put him in a pit of large, dtarving Komodos.

It is simply amazing that this animal IS so friendly. When I first saw him, I thought he might have been a little tired instead of blind. Seeing him bump around his cage was sad. It's great that he has a wonderful home and is being used to educate the public. It is horrible that people can do these things to any animal.

My mother, bless her heart, came up with a very suitable punishment.

Are you familiar with how bamboo grows? Very very slowly, over a period of years, and the tops that grow out of the ground are very sharp and pointed. We suggested he be tied down over a bed of sprouting bamboo and left there.

On a side note, I think that monitor is beautiful. I have a particular soft spot for taking in not-quite-perfect lizards. I have 3 Uromastyx, 1 is a big beautiful male who is missing SEVERAL toes, all of the toes on one of his front hands. Our other is stunted (it's at least 4 or 5 years old and has maxed out at about 6-8 inches, she's a mali) and is almost completely blind in one eye from some infection or another. Our most recently acquiered mali is the best of the bunch, she's only a bit on the thin side since she had recently dropped a clutch of eggs. Our ackies is missing at least one toe on every hand. We think, especially in the uromastyx, that it just adds character. They are the sweetest, funniest little creatures, and I wouldn't dream of trading them for a "prettier" lizard. I am very happy that the water monitor has a good home and temperament.