Crew: Att' Becky

[Guest guest]

Dear Becky,

Welcome aboard. I love the way you did your crew bio - it was so nicely

organized and you included some interesting detail!

Reading your story was a bit of a cliff hanger - to see how you got your

health insurance - perhaps in the nick of time!

You have some medical issues which others of the crew can probably better

address than I can. The important thing I want to know about is Sigmund,

your iguana. How did you come up with that name? (That's the first name of

a man I've studied intensively - Freud.) I'd like to visualize the apt house

you built for him. Can you describe it? What does a pet iguana do???

Regards,

Barbara B from New York City, probably more than twice your age young!

[Guest guest]

Hi Barbara!

Thanks for the welcome. Sigmund is a gem! How I came upon his name is of no

revelation of science but I can tell you that he has lived up to the name.

) It is difficult to tell the sex of an iguana before they mature (around

2-3 years of age) but I knew he would be a boy. Therefore, I wanted to give

him a very distinguishing name that would express his demeanor (and also

could provide a cute nickname like Sig or Siggy). We bought him when he was

about 2 weeks old. He seemed really calm and serene in the cage but the

minute the store owner gave him to me he jumped right out of my hand (fight

or flight response). LOL After we got him home it took lots of loving

handling every day to calm his fear. Once he warmed up to our environment,

he has been an inquisitive little lizard ever since. He is very curious and

with his last cage he had trouble keeping him in there the older he got. He

loves to explore around.

His new cage is a double wide closet (one of those made in the 60s thru 70s)

with the sliding track doors. It is about 3/4 of a wall long, 6 or 7 feet

tall, and 2 and 1/2 feet deep. My fiance (Harley), took the sliding wooden

doors off and installed a sliding glass patio doors (we can see the whole

cage thru glass like an aquarium effect). Then he installed linoleum around

the base of the cage and a foot up the walls with a wood trim bordering the

top. We scattered white sand in the bottom of the cage some tropical plant,

some driftwood, and a dead Ficus tree for him to climb up and down on. About

2 feet from the top he has a shelf across the whole closet that he basks on

and spends the majority of his time. In the ceiling Harley installed

recessed heat lamps and lights. Across the top where he cannot access, is a

long grow light.

This is the most as far as care and initiative he have had to do for him. He

is (in my opinion) a simple per to care for. He is very good and DOES NOT

bite nor whip. If he is threatened by a stranger he may give a warning that

he will whip. He really loves his cage and will stay there even if I leave

his door open. Once in a while he wants to get out and walk around in our

realm. This seems to happen when we are prepping to go out of town for a few

days. It may sound bizarre but I really do believe that animals can sense

things in humans. He even went to the point of hiding in the front yard

before as we were packing our vehicle! We left him on the deck to sun bathe

and he came back into the house, out into the garage, and out the garage door

into the front yard! I think he was looking for us. He has done that before

(wandering around the house looking for me).

What else does he like to do? Well, he loves to sit and watch birds and

listen to them. He finds them very fascinating for some reason. He also

likes music and when he is feeling very happy he bobs his head up and down.

He stays on his shelf for the most part (iguanas like to be in high up places

like trees in the wild). When he has to " go " he crawls off the shelf and

does the deed in his secret hidden spot. Then he sometimes likes to wander

around on the bottom and crawl under things and dig around. If he has not

had enough attention he will scratch on the screen door or glass like a dog.

LOL He is a vegetarian and eats all kinds of greens like collard, kale,

mustard greens, sometimes chopped carrots, bananas, other veggies and a

protein enriched stable dry diet. He likes fresh veggies best and his

favorite is chopped zucchini. He has a corner on the shelf where he eats, a

spot where he sits, and a corner where he sleeps a certain way every night.

He also likes to be pet and given massages. Yes, I admit, he is pretty

spoiled!

Sig is our baby dinosaur. That is what it is like to have him. I find it a

gratifying experience. Our computer is also in the room with his apartment.

Therefore we get to see him a lot and he likes to watch us. He can also see

our yard and all the birds outside because his closet faces the window.

Talk to you again soon.

-Becky )