IguanaMama

Why a Lizard?

I never outgrew dinosaurs. As a child, I was beyond fascinated by them, and visited the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto annually, after participating in the Kiwanis festival held next door at the Conservatory. My mum used to tell me that if I got a first prize in some class, I would get another little green dinosaur for my collection – a promise that was probably the only thing that kept me practicing in my mid-to late naught years (I started young).

In the late 90s I had a lovely little iggy named Ancalagon, (after the Silmarillion dragon), and when he died, I was heartbroken, and I named my company after him. I felt that travelled too extensively for work for many years to have a pet, but suddenly, in 2009, I decided to make a giant life change, by stopping smoking.

Basically, I needed a reason to live, so I got a baby jungle iguana that I named Cain, and he became my reason. I credit him with helping me through one of the worst times of my life: cold turkey nicotine withdrawal after 23 years. Every time I came close to going back to addiction in the despair of the first 100 days, I would look at him and think about his little lungs. He was the tiny life force that got me up in the mornings during withdrawal and kept me from relapse. I’ve never had another cigarette.

Baby Cain died in 2022 at 13 years old. That’s not yet a senior iggy age – but he somehow got sick. I did everything I could, but he died in my arms.

It turns out that nearly at that moment, a lovely Caribbean iggy in Nevada was laying some eggs (please see pic of Mum Venus and Dad Don Juan), and on October 15th, 2022, my baby iggy hatched. He came to me only three weeks later and was about the size of a cricket. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so precious.

Baby Octavius is growing fast, losing his baby green colour and will soon be a dark grey with a pinkish-white head. He is one of a critically endangered breed called Iguana Delicatissima, endemic to only a few islands of the Lesser Antilles. Due to humans, dogs, cats and hurricanes, it is not known if any are left in the wild. We hope to raise awareness by him becoming a celebritiggy.

He’ll be three on October 15th, 2025, and hopefully around for the next many decades! He couldn’t be a sweeter little guy – he loves cuddles and pats, gets crazily excited for his daily fruity treats, munches his greens like a muppet, and is, in my opinion, perfect.