How Miss Iggy started it all

Miss Iggy  was the inspiration for starting a reptile rescue.  While she’s no longer with us, her memory lives on and we still miss her very much.  She was found in a woman’s back yard in March, 2000.  She was so sick that she literally could not move her body, not even hold her head up.  We took her to the vet who estimated she had been outside for about a month by the condition she was in.  She had advanced pneumonia, and was dehydrated and emaciated from lack of food and water.  The vet estimated her to be at least five or six years old.  He did not feel she would survive but we were determined to pull her through.  Armed with Baytril and cans of Ensure, we went home with the little green iguana who had pulled at our hearts. 

We set her up in a small, warm cage.  Since she was unable to move, we realized she would do better in a smaller cage that was easier to heat.  Every day we crushed a Baytril pill in a syringe full of Ensure and, while I held her mouth open, Donnie squirted the little cocktail down her throat.  After a week of this, she was able to hold her head up, though it was quite wobbly.  It took several more weeks to regain enough strength to move her front legs.  While we weren’t sure she would ever gain use of her back legs, she did after about two months.  During this time, about half of her tail broke off, possibly due to her being so sick and her body robbed of all nutrients.  Another trip to the vet to debride her tail and reach healthy tissue and she was back on the road to recovery.

When she was well and strong enough to break out of her little cage, it was the last time Miss Iggy was ever in a cage.  We fixed up a bed for her, with blanket, pillow and a uv/heat lamp.  She never climbed the furniture or curtains.  She only would climb onto another reptile cage and sleep.  She had a mat in the kitchen where her food and water bowls were kept.  Her salad was always waiting for her and, if by chance, she had eaten it all and wanted more, she would sit in front of the refrigerator and stare at it until we realized that Her Royal Greenness was still hungry and, peasants that we are, we would rush to get her another plate of food.

Our intention when we got Miss Iggy was to get her well and then adopt her out to a good home.  However, Miss Iggy had her own thoughts about a good home and let us know that she had adopted us and we needed her.  We never regretted it.

As we learned Miss Iggy and her little idiosyncracies, we discovered that she was terrified of storms.  If she was sleeping soundly when a storm came, chances are she would not be awakened.  However, if she was awake when one came, she was terrified and would look for safety.  If we weren’t home when a storm hit, we usually spent several hours when we got home searching for our little green girl because she would find a hiding place to hide.  As long as we were home and within a few feet of where she was resting, she was okay during a storm.  There were many times that Donnie and I would find ourselves rushing home because it was storming and we knew Miss Iggy was terrified and needed us.

Miss Iggy’s favorite food was rose petals.  We used to buy them by the containers full from a local store.  She also liked melon.   We made sure we kept those in stock for her.

While I know how much we loved our little green girl, Donnie and I discovered that the feelings were pretty mutual.  Donnie had been sick and in the hospital not long after she recovered from her illness.  The day he got out of the hospital, I brought him home and he went into the den to nap on the daybed.  Unbeknownst to either of us, Miss Iggy followed him into the den.  Just as he closed his eyes and started to doze off, he felt something hit his arm.  He opened his eyes and looked down at Miss Iggy who was sitting beside the daybed, reaching up and patting his arm.  He assured her he was okay and after stroking her for several minutes, she felt assured he really was okay and after he laid back down, she watched him for a few minutes and then went into the living room to her bed to settle down for an afternoon nap.  Anytime that I stayed home from work due to illness, she would come into the bedroom several times a day to check on me.  She would even lay on her bed and position herself so that she could see into the bedroom to keep watch on me.  It seems she was as devoted to us as we were to her.

A couple of years ago, we were out of town attending a meeting.  A friend who was checking on the animals for us called the morning after we left town to tell us Miss Iggy has passed while we were gone.  Losing her was so hard on Donnie and me.  Even now, we still miss her terribly.

It is because of Miss Iggy that we got the idea to start a rescue/shelter for reptiles that were in need of a loving home.  We’ve taken in many snakes and lizards since we started the rescue many years ago.  None, however, has ever taken my heart the way Miss Iggy did.