Backyard reptile...

[TikiRick]

This guy typically suns himself on my dock in the mid afternoon. They are not native to Florida, but I believe Cuba. He must be 36" from nose to tail and weigh about 30 pounds. He can run fast, climb tall, and swim like a fish. A regular reptilian triathlete. They do eat palms, philodendron, and their absolute fav is the hibiscus flower.

[gsytch]

Rick- We've got them running rampant in our Starkey Park Preserve, about 5 miles inland from me near the coast. They are everywhere, and increasingly being seen in neighborhoods. I believe they can carry salmonella if you handle them. Greg in New Port Richey where it still doesn't rain this year!~

[ghar41]

A fascinating well known reptile!  

This is the Green Iguana Iguana iguana a native of Mexico south to the Tropic of Capricorn.  It is an introduced species to the US and has been breeding for many years in southeast Florida and on Virginia Key and Key Biscayne as well as many Pacific (including Hawaii, where it was introduced in part through the pet trade.) and Carribean Islands.  In the Carribean it invades the natural habitat of the declining Rock Iguana Cyclura sp.  Besides crowding out native species, it's also a distructive, voracious omnivore.

If attempting to handle, watch out for the sharp toenails as well as their tails, as they like to whip them at potential predators.  Humans have progressively become a main predator as Iguanas are a source of protein in parts of their natural range.  In these places they are affectionately known as the "chicken of the tree......"  Yummmm.... :laugh:

[Kathryn]

Gotta say Rick – Love your lizard!

[ghar41]

Is it?  Could it be??  A gravid female???

Rick maybe we'll be calling you daddy!        

[TikiRick]

I've been called "daddy" before, but this will be a first from a lizard!

[metalfan]

I used to have one when we lived in Galveston. His name was Patootie. We lived on a saltwater canal with dock access only 30 ft from the door. He escaped from his cage one day, jumped into the canal, swam across to the dock of a house across the way and set up shop there. We would see him sunning on the dock almost everyday. We tried to recapture him, but he was too smart and too  fast for us. They can carry Salmonella, and one that size can also easily bite off one of your fingers if he is in a foul mood. But they are fun to look at! I know that they have become a nuisance in So FL.

[PalmGuyWC]

Rick, great shots.

Try to get some photos when the males are in their breeding colors, like the one like I saw at your place once when they turn a bright orange color.

Paul Drummond and I once saw one at Fairchild Gardens that must have been at least 5 feet long.....He was huge and his front legs must have been as big as a mans arm. When he stood up on his front legs and flashed his dewlap, it was an imposing sight.

They can be seen everywhere at Fairchild Gardens and have devistated their hybiscus collection.

Florida has many introduced species that are becoming pests and encroaching on the native species. I understand moniter lizzards are a pest on the West Coast of Fla, and that Boas and Anacondas have been found in the Everglades, not to mention all of the exotic fish that have been introduced. There are several species of introduced birds including parrots of different kinds, including Macaws.

Dick

[Kris]

Dear Rick  

though iam not a fan of reptiles certainly love to watch their stills and in their habitate.

and by the way that lizard joke was very nice...

And Dear Gina  

Dint i tell you that those folks have their own way of life,never grow them with human beings.they have their own life and

likes & dislike.and iam shure you have frightened him,since you know how well they bite...!

i think many in the U.S are tresspassing in the regular lives of animals ? here if we grown such animals one could very well get arrested.since we are trying to grow them in

capitivaty.many bollyhood actors are facing some of those

charges for just keep tricoloured parrots in beautiful cages,

and growing deers in their gardens.

love,

Kris  

[SunnyFl]

(TikiRick @ Jul. 28 2007,16:52)

QUOTE

This guy typically suns himself on my dock in the mid afternoon. They are not native to Florida, but I believe Cuba. He must be 36" from nose to tail and weigh about 30 pounds. He can run fast, climb tall, and swim like a fish. A regular reptilian triathlete. They do eat palms, philodendron, and their absolute fav is the hibiscus flower.

Hibiscus flowers?  Oh noooo

Great photos, Rick.  How close did it let you get?  I saw some of them at Fairchild, both the orange and the green ones - I was chasing after them, trying to get pix, which I'll have to dig up - they're fast critters, aren't they.

But if they eat palms and hib flowers, I sure don't want them in my neighborhood.

(krisachar @ Jul. 29 2007,10:17)

QUOTE

bollyhood actors are facing some of those

charges for just keep tricoloured parrots in beautiful cages

We have wild parrots here.  This is a pic of two Nanday conures at my bird feeder.  I love to see them in the wild, freely flying for miles, and contact-calling to each other.

[metalfan]

Kris,

its true that some of the animals that have become introduced exotic pests were intentioneally or accidentally let go by pet owners. But its also true that sometimes they stow away and get here from places on their own with no intentional introduction by humans, American or otherwise. Like Zebra mussles, and Cuban Treefrogs. Also insect species that can devastate crops here in the US come in "accidentally" in the holds of cargo ships from other countries, get loose, decide that they can survive, and go to town if they don't have natural predators here. It's not always people's intentional fault, sometimes its just plain bad luck. Custom's agents can't possibly catch everything that enters at every port. But people do play a role sometimes, you are right.

One of the worst problems around here is cichlids. These are bracking water aquarium fish that people have dumped into lakes. They can stand cold very well and easily survive the winters here, and have multiplied like crazy and overpowered native lake species in some places.

[Tad]

the government also helped by releasing some on purpose, like the cane toad.

[waykoolplantz]

Pellet gun the only way to handle these croton-eating monsters.

Rick...get a camo outfit so your neighbors wont see you as you eliminate them

[fastfeat]

Where you see one, there are many.

Lived for a year in Miami Springs (Dade Co, FL) on a small private lake. The bastards would drag 3gal Dombeya cacuminums I was growing for a plant sale at Fairchild out into the lake, after mowing off most of the tops.

They aren't an issue yet in Loxahatchee (western Palm Beach Co) yet, but it's only a matter of time, I'm sure. Fortunately, I think the 'gator in my pond will keep them at bay in my yard.

PS--they're tough to kill with a pellet gun--too small a caliber. A .22 works well. If you're not in a 'hood that has regular gunfire to disguise yours, I'd suggest a small crossbow. Eat what you kill!!

[metalfan]

Ohhh, I wants to see Tiki Rick in camo!!!!!

[PalmGuyWC]

Don't ask him to, or he will....face paint and all with a dagger between his teeth!  Do it Rick. Of course stelthing from behind a palm tree.

[www.dadluvsu.com]

Those damn things are always around the dock... I'm sick of seeing the poop on the dock and the boat.  I've decided I'm going to skin them and troll the carcases, if I don't catch anything, I'll drift em on a balloon and surely catch a shark or something.  Messy "exotic" pets...  

[TimHopper]

Rick, If you will invite me to your next party, I'll bring rum runners, a surf rod, and broccoli. Tim

[metalfan]

Well you know, they do eat them in Mexico....

maybe they will become the next highly expensive exotic restaurant meat sensation! In which case, all you So Floridians could strike it rich with very little effort!

[waykoolplantz]

My Gamo seems to work fine...when the scope is dialed in.

Trinidadians & Hatians consider the meat a delicacy...low fat too

???

[oppalm]

Maybe you can trick him (the iguana) into having a martini at the tiki bar.   when he gets liquored up you simply wrestle him into a bag and send him on his way.

[alex_7b]

I imagine a lizard that size can trim the rat population pretty quickly.

[PalmGuyWC]

As Rick stated in the opening of this thread, Iguanas are triathelets and can move at amazing speeds, on land and in the water. They seem to prefer living near water often sunning on mangroves. They are very skittish around humans and when threatned they dive into the water, or else run like hell. They are also masters at camouflage and can blend right into their surroundings.

Dick

[palmmermaid]

I vote for killing them.  I know it is probably illegal but I would anyway.  Maybe put some poison on hibiscus flowers and set them out.  A little arsenic should do the trick.

BYW, I did eat iguana when I was in Bonaire.  They are quite tasty.  They have open season on them in order to help protect the native ones.

[Gileno Machado]

Wow...

We don't have those reptiles here in NE Brazil, not even as pets but I think they look great.

The funniest thing happened when we travelled to Cozumel and my wife Barbara was sunbathing by herself at the beach while I was doing some snorkeling. After a while she came running to join me in the water because a "baby weird dragon" had just come close to her armchair...I had a good laugh when I finally met the "dragon" on the beach...

[metalfan]

Alex,

Iguanas are vegetarians.

[wendisplantation]

Actually, when I had my iguana, the vet told me to feed it meal worms on a daily basis. He said they do eat some meat in the wild. I enjoyed my iguana, but I had to get rid of it. i did give it to a responsible person that still has him today. They take a lot of care as pets, but I do know that they devastate crop fields in southern Florida-

[metalfan]

We may have had different species. We were told that they only ate fruit and veggies, and we had to sprinkle vitamins and calcium powder on the food. I can see how they might eat whatever they could find in the wild though, bugs and stuff. It just makes sense that they would.

[Really full garden]

I hate iguanas ! I have both the green and the black.The greens and juvenile blacks do the most damage.It is impossible for me to have hibiscus,crotons.mussaendas,waterlilies,plumerias.They eat all the allamanda flowers and the worst crime of all  - my vanda orchid flowers.I have had horses and cattle get into my garden and do far less damage than these monsters.I also have a problem with unsavory types sneeking into the farm to hunt iguanas and everything else that moves.

                                                                                                          Scott

[Sandy Loam]

Speaking of iguanas, does anyone know how far north their range is in Florida?  I see them all the time when I visit South Florida, but they do not seem to be wandering around this far north (too cold them up here, I suppose).

[kurt decker]

That's a baby green iguana, Rick. Wait until it grows up, like the one I have at my farm. 

[Moose]

5 hours ago, Sandy Loam said:

Speaking of iguanas, does anyone know how far north their range is in Florida?  I see them all the time when I visit South Florida, but they do not seem to be wandering around this far north (too cold them up here, I suppose).

They are pretty darn tropical. They start falling out of the trees when temps dip below 40. Get very sluggish in the 40's F. I think they look to hang out in water during the cold snaps.

They are an invasive nuisance in the Florida Keys, 

[Zeeth]

9 hours ago, Sandy Loam said:

Speaking of iguanas, does anyone know how far north their range is in Florida?  I see them all the time when I visit South Florida, but they do not seem to be wandering around this far north (too cold them up here, I suppose).

I've seen them as far north as Bradenton, but they aren't common. They start being a bit more common once you get to southern Sarasota county (Venice) on this coast. 

[Yunder Wækraus]

On 7/29/2007, 6:52:57, TikiRick said:

This guy typically suns himself on my dock in the mid afternoon. They are not native to Florida, but I believe Cuba. He must be 36" from nose to tail and weigh about 30 pounds. He can run fast, climb tall, and swim like a fish. A regular reptilian triathlete. They do eat palms, philodendron, and their absolute fav is the hibiscus flower.

 

 

Awesome! I was always jealous that folks an hour or two south of our old house had these dinosaurs around and we didn’t. They are magnificent beasts. Fairchild has some huge ones, but the biggest I’ve seen were on the walls above the moat in the fort in Key West. I’m pretty sure a few of those males were pushing 6’ in length.

[bubba]

Saw another group of younger babies than the group of young babies 2 weeks ago. Prodigious! Great swimmers, who will be headed to the Stream to avoid any upcoming cold fronts.

If you look closely towards the ear, they have recently developed a new feature (mole like) that incorporates AI to GPS them towards the Stream in the event that front ever makes it down here.

[joe_OC]

Our Backyard Reptile

 

[Sandy Loam]

Wow, amazing!  I have never seen such a colourful iguana.  (Is that an iguana or something?). I assume that thing reptiles are not just roaming Orange County, California, are they? 

[joe_OC]

He's an ambanja panther chameleon from Madagascar...like most of my palms. 

[JubaeaMan138]

There is a area apparently out in lake forest in Orange County I believe were chameleons have been spotted out in the hills. There’s some pretty good articles in the net on it . 

[JubaeaMan138]

Correction it is in laguna