Backyard reptile...

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, joe_OC said:

Our Backyard Reptile

 

That's one good lookin' Panther. Curious how old. 

[joe_OC]

He’s about a year and a half in the pic.

[Missi]

I adore green iguanas (Cyclura iguanas too)! They're fascinating and gorgeous! The wild population of green iguanas in coastal Naples has been steadily growing since the freeze of 2010. I do see one hit on the road every few months. I found one that was still alive but I had to have him euthanized due to the severity of his injuries. We have wild populations of a few different chameleon species as well.
Here is my lil fella. He's maybe 3 years old. Have had him for almost 6 months now. Took him from someone who was moving to California and was going to let him go in the woods if I didn't take him.  He was severely neglected. Stunted due to poor diet and improper heating and lighting. He had a terrible skin condition causing flaky lesions but it has since cleared up with proper husbandry, and a broken-off tail tip. I took him to the exotics vet who did biopsies (you can see the biopsy scars on his back legs) but the illness remains a mystery to the vet, the pathologist, and me even after going as far as running an electron microscopy on the biopsied tissue. He's my sassy little dragon but I love him. He appears reddish orange because he is a color mutation called False Red.

[Missi]

[Hillizard]

ICYMI: Iguanas spread in Florida as climate warms: 'They’re a menace' https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/07/02/iguanas-spread-florida-climate-warms-theyre-menace (Disclaimer:  as a kid in California I had three iguanas as 'pets,' which is why I could never eat one when I spent time in Belize).

[palmsOrl]

Wow that blue coloration is striking.  I have yet to see any of these wild here in Orlando, but I wouldn’t doubt that I will eventually.

[NOT A TA]

Lot's of Iguana here in Delray Beach. FL They haven't been killed off in mass quantities since the cold spells around 2010. The whole area smelled rancid for weeks while all the Iguanas and tropical fish along the canal and scattered about the neighborhood decomposed. My next door neighbor has some old Dypsis Lutescens clumps on my property line that had large Iguanas die in them, nasty smell for weeks and the clumps are so dense it'd take hours to cut away enough trunks to find the dead Iguana. . Mexicans regularly hunt them along the canal by my house with slingshots for food and can fill a pickup truck in a few hours.

[GottmitAlex]

Beautiful animals. I read adults (even domesticated) have a mean, skin-shredding, clear to-the-bone bite when they go into aggressive mode. Too bad they don't bark. Bet they're great home guardians.

My son has a red bearded dragon. I know, it's nothing like an iguana except for the basking.

Edited July 2, 2019 by GottmitAlex

[tstex]

Never knew the population explosion in the SW part of US. 

Never heard of eating a lizard like reptile; what do you taste like?  besides ckn.

Any type of animal that could bite and take it almost down to he bone, wouldn't be welcome in my neck of the woods...

 

 

 

[Really full garden]

16 minutes ago, tstex said:

Never knew the population explosion in the SW part of US. 

Never heard of eating a lizard like reptile; what do you taste like?  besides ckn.

Any type of animal that could bite and take it almost down to he bone, wouldn't be welcome in my neck of the woods...

 

 

 

In Guatemala they are hunted to the point of them having very reduced ranges. I have eaten iguana (farm raised) and it is more like fish than chicken.

I would never harm one, but cannot deny they cause an incredible amount of damage in my garden. It is impossible for me to have hibiscus.

 

[Silas_Sancona]

Must be pretty good considering Iguana can sell for as high as for $49-$59.99 per pound, depending if whole or boneless / skinless. Apparently is sold to restaurants across the U.S also.  Average green igie weighs 8.8 pounds..  X  $49.99/ lb. =  $439.91 a piece ..Catch 7  more in an afternoon, that's a $3079.38 pay day.. 'little over $12k if you did this 4 days a week.. Nice chunka' change.  

On a side note, Lion Fish, another invasive, can fetch up to $10.00/ lb.  Each fish weighs 1-2 pounds..  

Edited July 2, 2019 by Silas_Sancona
Edit

[JohnLight]

My other favorite past time. Besides the palms, I breed reptiles. Currently working with boas. This morph is called “SunDragon”

[redant]

I'd have no problem eating them. The population of lion fish has greatly diminished on the FL reefs and in the Bahamas ever since we realized they taste amazing.

 

 

Edited July 4, 2019 by redant

[DennisK]

I kept a pet Iguana for many years, it was tame and would follow me around the house. Would also swim in the pond with me.

I used to eat Iguanas from time to time when I lived in Latin America. Delicious, both the adults and the eggs. I do prefer making them western style though, baked in parmesan and flushed with red wine rather than the ‘sparse’ way the locals prepare them. The ribs and tail are the best part imo. 

Edited July 7, 2019 by DennisK