It's Lizard Time

Fio decided to ring in the new year by going Full Murder Boy.

For anyone unfamiliar, this is what an aggressive iguana looks like. Note the extended dewlap, wide eyes, raised dorsal crest, and body flattened vertically so he looks larger from the side. It’s not as clear in the picture, but his color has also gone lighter than usual, especially on top of his head. He was head-bobbing and lashing his tail intermittently while I was taking this picture.

It’s incredibly important for anyone who interacts with iguanas to know how to recognize these signs, especially when dealing with males in season. These animals do not make idle threats- an iguana in this state will attack if approached, and they are 100% capable of seriously injuring a person. I ended up herding Fio back into his cage with a broom, and he bit at it the whole way.

 Zeiat may spent all day sitting in the same spot, but once you know what to look for it’s so clear that she is alert and reacting to everything around her. Her eyes are always moving, and there are so many subtle ways she responds to what’s happening around her. With Fio, obviously people talk a lot about the dewlap being a big part of iguana body language, but there’s just as much information communicated in how he positions his body, where he’s looking, how wide his eyes are, etc.

Featuring:

Scaling the mighty shelf

Couch spelunking

Test driving Zeiat’s new branch

Sampling the local flora

Meeting the locals

Basking break

Basking break: chair edition