My neighbor lost his 3 foot long iguana about a month ago. I posted about it in the neighborhood group, since the neighbor isn't in the group, and it hadn't been seen, but today it was spotted in one of the culverts. Thankfully, it's been rescued, and is back home now. I haven't heard an update yet, but hopefully it will be o.k. It hasn't been too cool at night yet, but it has been pretty dry, which isn't the best conditions for an iguana.
What? A 3-foot iguana? Are you sure it is an iguana? It looks like a little dinosaur to me, hahahaaa. This reminds me of our trip to Singapore last year. We went to Singapore zoo and I was not aware that an iguana was in the pathway. I was talking to my husband when he stopped me and pointed to the iguana in front of me. I almost jumped in fear for it was a big iguana that I thought was something else. Here is the photo of that iguana and the scared woman, hahahaaa.
Haha, yes, it was 3 feet, and quite prehistoric looking. It definitely would have given me a scare if I'd have run into it in the yard or on the balcony. That's a great pic!
What a cutey! I love giant green igs. Before moving to the southwest I lived in an apartment that didn't allow dogs. So, I had other pets, and one of them was Zeus. I bought him from a pet store when he was still an egg and brought him home when he was 12 inches long. He grew into a magnificent beast that was 6 feet long from head to tip of tail. I built an iguana condo for him. It filled up my dining room and was made out of expensive lumber and glass. I provided shelves for lounging around, fake and real plants, proper heat and light, artificial grass on the floor, sliding glass doors, and other amenities iguanas like and need. At night he would lay on one of the shelves and I'd tuck him in with a large towel to help keep him warm. He loved to sun bathe on the window sill, and look out at the street from my bay window. When he roamed the house and walked past my African Gray, my parrot would say "Heloooooo". Very funny. One day Zeus decided he had enough sunning, and crawled off the window sill and got his head stuck between the fins of a radiator that was below the window. Talk about panic! He was calmer than I was. Fortunately, it was a warm day and the radiator was not on! I called the store where I got him from and asked them how could I release him from this terrible predicament. You do not want to see an giant green iguana hanging half-way down from a window sill with his head poking out between the fins of a radiator! The store told me to get some Vaseline and generously rub it on the radiator fins and also on Zeus's head. Gently push, pull and wiggle. Believe it or not, this worked! The local mom and pop grocery store saved their day old veggies and fruits for me to give to Zeus. He was very healthy. The neighborhood kids came by to visit with him.
It sounds as if you took much better care of Zeus than my neighbor does, although I'm sure his iguana is o.k., just not pampered. He has a cage in the backyard for him, but I would assume he takes him inside when it gets cold. Your story reminded me of one time my cat got out years ago (long gone now), and got his head stuck between the bars on the staircase. I can't even remember how we got him out, but I think it was similar to what you did.
Oh that's terrible when our pets get stuck! Cats are curious -- I wonder what he was trying to do. I tried to take good care of Zeus, but it's difficult to mimic the perfect conditions they need to survive in captivity. Unfortunately, one morning I woke up to find him laying on the bottom of his condo on the artificial grass, not moving. He had fallen off the shelf and passed away. I provided everything I could, but it wasn't enough. I was heartbroken. Would you believe I still miss him 18 years later? Let's hope your neighbor has better luck than I did with my ig.