Born 3/30/1999
Died 3/25/2002
Peter is one of two babies produced by George and Mojo. Formally he was the Unnamed One. This year I know for sure that he is male, I named him Peter after Peter Falk. Like Peter Falk (of Columbo fame) Peter started out being blind in one eye.
Peter was born (hatched) on 1/11/1999. I noticed that his eyes were different colors. I brought him into the vet along with another iguana to show Dr. Hess an iguana with 2 different colored eyes. Actually, his eyes aren't different colors. The dark one was fully dilated and was cloudy due to cataracts. At this point his neck wasn't deformed. Over the next year his neck got more and more deformed. As near as I can tell this was the result of holding his head at the odd angle so he could see out of his good eye. He does have a number of turns in his tail. I've seen this type of deformity due to elevated temperature during incubation.
His first year or so was a little doubtful. I wasn't sure if he would survive. Some days he would bite at my fingers due to hunger. I'd hand feed him to help. After 2.5 years he is small for his age, but is growing regularly. Now he is big enough that I no longer chop up his food using scissors. Within the last month or so I've been giving him some small grapes as a treat.
Peter lives in a small cage that is designed like Fred's. Not very tall (2') and fairly small (2' wide and 4' long). Climbing isn't one of the things he does well so there are no basking shelves, but the bottom of the cage is 3' off the ground. There are times when he can move in a straight line with ease, while others he flips himself over.
Due to growth he can now see shadows coming at his bad eye. It is no longer fully dilated and you can see the normal color. However, it is still cloudy. Of course the deformities will never heal. As long as he wants to live, I will not put him to sleep due to the deformities and mobility problems.
On December, 2001 I started hand feeding Peter at night. Never force fed him just offered him food and he would eat. After that I'd set him on the floor in the living room to explore. After he'd walk (better described as hopping) around for a while I'd put him back in his cage.
On March 25, 2002 I came home from work. The iguanas were all outside in their cages enjoying the sun. I started bringing them in to their sleep spots. Looked at Peter and thought he was sleeping. Carried in a couple more iguanas and tapped Peter's cage. Expecting him to wake up, I saw no motion. At that point I realized that he died. I carefully carried him inside and brought the remainder of the iguanas inside. After giving him a little kiss and telling him he was a good iguana, I buried him next to his mom George.
Peter was a very special iguana who will be greatly missed.
