Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i live in miami, fl there are possibly 10 iguanas to 1 human in this city, at least in my area. why is it that people are not fond of releasing their animals, besides the obvious they are not native? it seems as though they are thriving in this warm humid climate. i actually rescued my baby and he's a 10 month old healthy male!

>>i live in miami, fl there are possibly 10 iguanas to 1 human in this city, at least in my area. why is it that people are not fond of releasing their animals, besides the obvious they are not native? it seems as though they are thriving in this warm humid climate. i actually rescued my baby and he's a 10 month old healthy male!

The problems with non-native species include:

1) They push out indigenous species. Lacking natural predators, non-native species disrupt ecosystems. It isn;t just iguanas in Miami -- it's iguanas in the Everglads, and in the Keys, and other places that have limited and fragile ecologies.

2) Released iguanas cause a social problem for people who have iguanas as companions, because "wild" iguanas eat people's flowers and block golf courses, causing governments to legislate against ownership of such species.

It isn't just iguanas -- it's monitor lizards, snakes, red-eared sliders, and a host of other "exotic" pets that find themselves in the "wild".

The problem is not specific to Florida. While I live in Clearwater, FL, I spent most of my life out West in Colorado. Wild emus, ostriches, llamas, and what-have-you are a serious problem out there. And the environment suffers because people can't take responsibility for their pet choices.

Were I to win the Florida lottery, I'd buy a nice chunk of ground in South Central Florida, and put in a shelter for unwanted iguanas.
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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.0.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde)
1.0.0 Uro mali (Wizard)
0.1.0 Corn Snake (Amber)
1.1.0 Red-Eared Sliders (Jade and Emerald)
0.4.0 Homo sapiens (Maria, Elora, Becky, Tessa)
blog: http://chaoticcoyote.blogspot.com/

that shelter idea would be awesome! your right about the ecosystem. i work at a local golf course down here and they are EVERYWHERE! they tear up the hibiscus plants and god forbid they plant new flowers theyll be gone quickly. we have caught some 5-6' males also.

That's why here in Brazil the herp market is so small. I mean, it is REALLY hard to find a iguana for sale. And when you find it, it is propably ilegal. An legal ig, with all the documents and the identification ship costs around 1,900 reais (450 US dolars). So iguanas are very expensive animals down here. Only a few people have them because the goverment does not want any kind of ecosystem problem. Brazil is a country with a enormous fauna, with lots of endangered species. With the hot weather, imagine if igs were common pets just like they are in the US... imagine if people started to release them because they were agressive, or for whatever reason... it would be a complete disaster. We would have igs all over the place... Tons of them. It is good and bad though... Bacause they are so expensive, we don't have books about igs, only a few pet shops sell herp stuff like vitamins, lights and other things.. and when they do, it is also very expensive. All my books came from amazon.com, and I am always ready to spend how much money a need to take care of my igs. The problem is that there are still lots and lots of "ilegal" iguanas and other reptiles for sale down here. They are way cheaper than the legal ones.. And they are packed on nasty conditions, transported in a box for days... This dealers usually transport hundreds of igs.. but only 5 to 10 of them survive.. And when people buy these animals, they are giving money to the dealer, who will keep on bringing lots of poor igs. Well... I wish things didn't have to be this way around here.. but it is. I'm doing my job that is to take good care of my igs.
Sorry for the long post.
Take care,
Dan

hey i started this to hear your opinion on the matter. thanks for the feedback!