Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My mother called and told me she'd seen an iguana in a small park. She knows my fondness for reptiles, and thought I might want to look into it. And indeed, I discovered a loose green iguana there; about 18 inches SNVL, tail intact.

At that size, the animal is likely an abandoned pet, and its long-term survival is unlikely. I live in West-Central Florida, Pinellas County to be precise; the temperatures have fallen into the upper forties at night recently, and it can get below freezing here for as much as several days in a row. The climate is fine for mammals, but I doubt the iguana is going to do well once the colder weather comes in.

I'm a firm member of the "think globally, act locally" school of problem solving. I see no point in allowing any creature to die of exposure if I can do something about it.

Of course, having performed wildlife/animal rescues many times before, I'm also aware of the difficulties involved in this operation. The iguana is a half-mile from my house is a tiny park near a busy intersection (Hercules and Sunset Point, for any locals out there.) The reptile appears to have settled into a small area bordered by a street, a mini-mall, and a tiny lake.

And just to add spice, the lake contains a five-foot alligator.

I'm no Steve Irwin, and I don't want to win a Darwin Award; I do want to capture an adult iguana before it freezes to death.

I'm open to suggestions about traps and techniques.

At the moment, I'm leaning toward using three people, hoping to corner the iguana near the building. If I could, I'd try to find it during the cooler morning hours, when it's slower. I have a hard-enough time catching my own iguana, Rex, once he gets warm...

I look forward to your comments.
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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.1.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde, Cassie)
1.0.1 Uro mali (Wizard, Dizzy)
0.1.0 Corn Snake (Amber)
0.1.0 Red-Eared Sliders (Emerald)
0.0.1 Musk Turtle (Sausage)
1.1.0 Parakeet (Thor, Zeus)
1.4.0 Homo sapiens (Scott, Maria, Elora, Becky, Tessa)
blog: http://chaoticcoyote.blogspot.com/

Hey.. You said it is 18 inches long.. so it isn´t an adult, it´s still a juvenile. I thought there were wild igs in Florida.
Well, I don´t know. If you think it won´t survive the cold then do something about it. But I really don´t know what to say.
Let´s see what the others will say.
Good luck,
Dan

>>Hey.. You said it is 18 inches long.. so it isn�t an adult,

I was speaking snout-vent-length. With tail, it's probably 3 feet long. It's about 3 times bigger than my 1yo iggy.

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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.1.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde, Cassie)
1.0.1 Uro mali (Wizard, Dizzy)
0.1.0 Corn Snake (Amber)
0.1.0 Red-Eared Sliders (Emerald)
0.0.1 Musk Turtle (Sausage)
1.1.0 Parakeet (Thor, Zeus)
1.4.0 Homo sapiens (Scott, Maria, Elora, Becky, Tessa)
blog: http://chaoticcoyote.blogspot.com/

Please at least try to rescue the ig. Perhaps some apple pieces at the bottom of the tree will entice it down. this Tworked in NJ. With the colder temps, it might be moving a bit slower.

Yes, Yes, Yes! That's my vote! Good Luck. JN

i'm with ncnelsons on this one. you sound like you know what you are getting into, and dont seem to have any delusions about what it will take to care for the ig, so go for it. i strongly recomend takeing a large towel to throw over the ig when you catch him. be sure to cover his face, they seem to get less stressed if they cant see what is going on.
good luck.