XPost: nj.forsale, ct.forsale 
 From: duke@mastre.com 
  
 Hi everybody.  It saddens me deeply to have to post this.  I have 
 rescued my Iguana, Mr. Worf as we call him, about 4 years ago from 
 someone who did not want him anymore.  He's been very healthy and has 
 brought a lot of joy to our lives.  He's led a very pampered life, my 
 mom has taken great care of him - I would joke that he must be the most 
 pampered Iguana in the world. 
  
 About once a year he would be "in heat" and during that time, which 
 would last 4-6 weeks, he would constantly be in what we call "attack 
 mode."  But every time, after it went away, he would return to his 
 normal, tamed self.  Until this year.  He's was in heat from September 
 till the end of October.  But after it went away, he remained very, very 
 aggressive and we cannot deal with him.  We can no longer even pet him, 
 he's always leaping at us, trying to attack.  Since he's no longer a 
 baby Ig, I have to be careful and firm in order to avoid getting bit - 
 and if he starts to crocodile-roll while I'm holding him there's not 
 much I can do. 
  
 Both of us love him very much, and my mom is attached to him in a 
 paternal sense - she calls him her baby.  Because of his size, and now 
 his aggressiveness, I was afraid that one day when my mom cleans his 
 cage she would get hurt.  Before there would be no problem going in the 
 cage while he was in it, but now we usually clean his cage by either me 
 holding him in the kitchen (2 person job) or by putting him in the bath 
 tub.  Today my mom thought he was sleeping and wanted to rearrange 
 something in his cage, from the outside.  He rushed and bit 3 of her 
 fingers at once pretty bad.  While the bite wasn't life-threatening, she 
 bled a lot although eventually managed to get it under control.  And I 
 wasn't home to help her, which scares me. 
  
 I am concerned about my mom's safety and I've made the decision that I 
 will no longer put her at risk.  I want to know if anybody out there can 
 take him in, especially somebody who has experience with Iguanas and 
 doesn't live in a small apartment like we do.  We would be grateful 
 forever.  My only other option is euthanasia.  I would rather have it 
 performed on people who sell Iguanas for profit, unfortunately this 
 poor, misunderstood animal will pay instead.  All for the $5 the 
 degenerate who sold it made on him. 
  
 He would really be a lot better off with someone who lives in a house 
 (and the space it affords) as opposed to an apartment like us.  He's 
 very healthy and strong, we've always bathed him in UV rays and given 
 him calcium supplements, along with a vegetarian diet.  It is possible 
 that a larger space would calm him down.  Up until a year ago we let him 
 free-roam, but as he got bigger it became dangerous. 
  
 We are in NYC, and I can bring him anywhere in the NY-NJ-CT tri-state 
 area if there is a rescue house or a kind soul who has the resources to 
 take him.  I will actually bring him anywhere w/in a 1000-mile radius of 
 NYC.  I will also provide all the supplies I've bought for him 
 throughout the years. 
  
 Thank you, please reply either here or via email. 
  
  
 P.S.  Sorry for cross-posting to forsale newsgroups, I am most 
 definitely NOT trying to sell him.  I simply want to get some exposure, 
 in hope that I don't have to kill my pet.  I hope you can understand and 
 forgive me. 
  
 --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05 
  * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)