Virginian-Pilot

DATE: Sunday, May 4, 1997                   TAG: 9705020234

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: THE COASTAL JOURNAL 

SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow 

                                            LENGTH:   87 lines




THERE'S ONE THING TO REMEMBER ABOUT PET IGUANAS - THEY GROW

When I saw Bill Rogers' big beautiful iguana named Bear the other day, I felt pangs of guilt.

Over the years when my son was young and into reptiles, I purchased more than one little green iguana from the pet stores. We knew nothing about raising the lizards and in those days neither did the folks who sold them.

They told us to feed meal worms to our iguanas. Meal worms were all wrong as I subsequently learned because iguanas are mostly vegetarians. When I saw them in the wild on a Caribbean island much later in my life, the big docile lizards would let me hand-feed them hibiscus flowers.

No wonder, every iguana we had, cooped up in a 10-gallon aquarium eating meal worms, pined away and died. I know now how wrong it was to try and raise a little wild iguana - or any wild animal for that matter.

There is more information out there now about how to take care of iguanas, so ignorant folks like us who buy them for pets today don't lose them like we used to.

The iguanas grow up instead. That's a real problem, too, because the handsome green lizards become way too big to care for in a home.

That's what happened to Bear and that's how he came to reptile fancier Rogers. Bear is only 3 years old, but he's also about 3 feet long. An iguana can live as long as 20 years, growing a foot to 18 inches a year.

So a youngster purchasing an iguana should realize he might be caring for the critter beyond college.

Bear's owner was shipped overseas and he had left Bear in the custody of his father. At the time, Bear was living in a 20-gallon tank, not as long as he was. The father called the Virginia Beach SPCA, which, in turn, called Rogers, a one-man iguana rescue team.

Today, Rogers has 11 iguanas, mostly great big orphans whose owners couldn't be bothered anymore. Although Rogers would like to find good homes for his iguanas, Bear is staying put and accompanying Rogers on educational programs, which he gives to Scout troops, 4-H clubs and libraries.

``He's calm around kids,'' Rogers said.

Calm Bear, who was seated on the back of the sofa when I arrived, often has the run of Rogers' living room. Bear was not disturbed when I walked in, sat on the sofa and scratched his head or even when Rogers' dog walked in the room.

Bear had his eye on Rogers' aquarium because iguanas like water. That's one more aspect of raising an iguana of which a conscientious owner has to be aware. Rogers lets iguanas swim in the bathtub.

In a room off the kitchen, Rogers has huge floor-to-ceiling cages where his iguanas live, among many other orphaned reptiles and amphibians. Bowls full of food like kale, spinach, strawberries and carrots were on the cage floors. Dandelions are another favorite, Rogers said.

During breeding season, the iguanas have to be separated because the males get aggressive. You can tell a male by his big iridescent pearly jaw plates, which the females don't have.

Some of the iguanas are aggressive when Rogers tries to touch them, rising up all fours and hissing. They also will bite and whip their tail around defensively. The aggressive ones will be hard to place in homes, he said, but if their previous owners had taken the time to handle them when they were young, they wouldn't be a problem.

``They are easily tamed,'' Rogers said, ``but it takes time and patience.''

Bob, a Chinese water dragon, who looks a lot like an iguana only is more brilliant green, lives here too. Like the iguanas, Bob was given to Rogers because he had grown too big to suit his owners.

``You have to expect that they are going to grow,'' Rogers said.

If you have the right habitat and the time and patience to take on an iguana whose only fault is that he grew, give Rogers a call at 468-1537.

P.S. HELP KEEP OUR DRINKING WATER in Lake Smith safe and turn out for the lake cleanup at 9 a.m. Saturday. Meet at Lake Smith Fishing Station on Northampton Boulevard. To find out more, call Norfolk Reservoir Manager David Rosenthal at 441-5727.

YOU ALSO CAN HELP CLEAN UP West Neck Creek from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. The cleanup will take place at three spots along the creek so call Wild River Outfitters, at 431-8566 for the location.,

FARMS, STREETS, CARS, FORESTS AND HIGHWAYS - ``Where is Hampton Roads Going and How Can It Get There?'' is the topic of The Back Bay Restoration Foundation meeting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Virginia Beach Rescue Squad, 740 Virginia Beach Blvd. Freelance writer Alex Marshall will speak and the meeting is free and open to the public. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by MARY REID BARROW

Bear, left, lives with Bill Rogers, below, a one-man iguana rescue

team.



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