Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i was just wondering if any of you take your iguanas out in public(petstores and such). i like to bring my smaller lizards(water dragon, uromastyx and bearded dragon) out to the local petstore(nasty petco) to try and educate people about them. so i want to try and bring my adopted iguana out after he settles(getting him on saturday) in of course. and show people what those cute little green iguanas turn into after a year or two.

also do those leashes work well that are sold in pet stores(trex comfort leashes i think) or will they not work well because of his size?

thanks mike
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1.0.0 water dragon
0.0.1 mali uromastyx
0.1.0 painted turtle
0.0.1 common snapping turtle

then the ussual
2 dogs
6 cats
misc fish
hermit crabs
rat
misc. fish

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We take Iggi out in public as much as we can, so we don't worry about what she's doing at home alone. When she was smaller, we had a medium sized pet carrier, bungee corded onto a baby stroller. A 17A-hr battery was on the bottom, powering a 400W DC/AC converter, which had a human heating pad connected to, and spread out on the carrier bottom. This allowed us to keep Iggi warm, and mobile, while she was still in a carrier. Now she is 52 inches long, and 8.2 pounds. She needs a large carrier. We take her on vacations with us. We always look for pet friendly hotels. This December, we are taking Iggi into PetSmart to have her picture taken with Santa. We're going early, to try to avoid as many dogs as possible. As far as leashes go. We tried a leash on Iggi when she was about 1 year old. She went into an alligator roll, and almost choked herself to death. In my opinion, the spikes on an iguana make them poor animals to have on leashes. At 3 years old, Iggi doesn't need a leash when we take her outside for her daily walks for exercise and sunshine. Both Mellisa Kaplan, and James Hatfeild talk in their books about how to "hold" an iguana. This usually has the iguana laying on your forearm, with its head in your hand, and its tail between your arm, and your body. This way you can control it. In all the time we have had Iggi, I have NEVER held her. She sits on my shoulder, because she feels safe there. At this point, I must add that we have raised Iggi unlike the average iguana. If you have concerns about your ig trying to get off you, try taking a second person with you, to take the ig off your back if it crawls down your back. If your ig is small enough, you might consider a carrier.
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Lamar, Debbie, Nathaniel and Iggi :>~

I take My Big guy, SMirnoff, out to flea markets, street fairs, pet stores, or around the neighborhood when It's warm enough. My boss might want me to bring him to work for a party we're having at work because of a movie release (I work at media play). I use a hip leash on him just in case. Every now and then i will say He acts like a little kid and throws a tantrum but they are few and far between. I call him My ambassador ig. He's such a doll that I have actually gotten people terrified of reptiles to pet him. He usually sits himself with His hind feet on my shoulder and his front feet on my head. Sometime Her crawls all four on My head and sometimes I have him laying on my arm with his tail between My arm and body, His front legs between My fingers. He travels well that way too. He will NOT go into a bag while we go where ever we go. He eithers sits on the back of my car seat or on my lap, or on the passanger seat. Always restrained by the leash so as not to interfere when I drive (that's rare, usually someone else is driving). He HATES being in a sack. He acts up more when in a bag then anywhere else. But he makes a great ambassador for his kind. He has actually saved several igs that were being kept incorrectly, and has stopped people from buying that were going to and that hadn't done any homework. Anyway, it all depends on your igs personality. Some can go out, others can't (my little guy is a JERK!!). You'll have to judge your own Ig as an individual.
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2.0 Iguanas, 2.4 Beardies, 0.2.1 Saharan/Nigerian Uromastyx, 0.0.2 Leos, 0.0.1 African Fat Tail, 1.0 Columbian Rainbow Boa, 0.0.1 Fla Garter Snake, 0.1 eastern garter, 0.0.1 Banded California King Snake (M.I.A.), 0.0.1 Corn Snake, 0.0.3 Fire Belly Toads, 1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle, 0.0.1 African Sideneck, 2 Horses (soon to be three {Baby next May!!!}), 4 cats, 1 dog, and I'm done for now.....

Felix loves to go out to the Pet Store. He rides in a large dog crate so he can look out the back window.

Zephyr goes out everywhere, but he is the calmest ig I personally know/of. Everybody at my Petco loves him (they do not sell iguanas there and a few of the employees have iguanas and we talk about diet and heat and whatnot. Also a lot of people cant believe that the cheap lizards actually get this big-nice to "prove" it (with my small 3' 5" ig...)

Sarah

My 8 year old girl hates all leashes lol she'll actually death roll with them on...but than again it takes time for some animals to get adjusted to wearing a harness. My iguana is a bit over 4 ft long and around 12 lbs. She is an absolute doll! I bring her to schools quite often to try and educate the public. Overall if you are comfortable with your lizard, and feel he/she will not be overally stressed by the situation...than I do not see anything wrong with trying to educate the public! www.niad.org has some good handouts!
Amy