Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I saw something last night that was probably one of the worst things that you could do with a reptile. I went to a county fair in Iowa with my children and suddenly my son said he wanted to play a game and win an iguana. I thought it was a stuffed animal or something like that, but no they were actual iguanas. I was absolutely shocked. There were a whole bunch of 10 year olds spending their fair money trying to win the animals.
I really gave her a piece of my mind but left when she threatened to call the police. (I was not violent or anything, just some people are intimidated by a guy who's 6' 4" 275 lbs ) It was absolutely disgusting.
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You can never have just one gecko. Actually it is almost impossible to have two

Was it the McNair traveling carnival? Reason I ask is because they show up here with the same gig in October. Last year there were claims that they were telling the patrons that if all the iguanas weren't won that they would have to be put to sleep because they had too many. To make matters worse, once and iguana leaves the fair the owners go to err...ummm..a chain pet store which will not be named but its the one that sucks (hehehe pick one?)... where thay are told that the iguana needs nothing more than a incandescent light bulb and a 10 gallon aquarium. Yeah, Its a sad situation, but very little can be done about it apparently.

Carnival prize animals are pretty common, even though I agree it's a disgusting and very irresponsable practice. I think it's been outlawed in some states, so far.

And... You're not completely helpless to stop this! Read this article at anapsid.org for an example, the link is below.

Christina Miller
www.herptiles.org
Carnival iguanas

This really isnt uncommon a practice. Samcin from the iguana forum has successfully prevented this activity several times on the east coast. A report the health department would be a place to start.
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Cindy
PHFaust
Email Cindy
Land of the Outcasts!

I hate to hear about that. Once I saw baby iguanas for sale at Superpetz for 6.99 each. They had dozens of them crammed into the same tank. How many do you think survived the first year? None I bet. I usually stay away from places that treat animals this way.