Mozilla's rehabilitation is going to be a long, tough process. Check back periodically to see how she is coming along!

Week 1

1.11.02
I am presented with the world's most pitiful looking Iguana first thing in the morning at work. She's EXTREMELY emaciated and dehydrated, crawling with mites- they are all over her!, has a huge ugly lump on her nose, and is so weak I'm amazed when she makes it through the day long enough to go to the vet after work. She submits to the vet's exam without any fuss, lying limply in her hand the whole time. The vet puts her immediately into intensive care to be hydrated and medicated. Blood and fecal tests are done, along with x-rays. The Iggy is christened Mozilla, in honor of Netscape's original green mascot whose images adorn these pages. I go home to spend my night worrying about her with a very cautiously hopeful prognosis from the vet.

1.12.02
After a night of tossing and turning and worrying that I'd call the vet and find out she'd died, I finally get up the nerve to call the vet and check on Mozilla's status. Good news, she made it through the night! She's also beginning to look a little more alert, and her x-rays showed good bone density for her condition (not perfect, but no MBD!). The lump on her nose turned out to be a cyst, not a tumor, and the vet removed it. The not so good news is that she is anemic from the mite infestation, lacking in stomach bacteria needed to digest her food, and has intestinal parasites. I'm told to call back Monday to see if she can come home. The rest of the day is spent dragging the iguana cage upstairs and cleaning it and the Dragon Room in preparation for Mo's homecoming. A UVHeat bulb and an ultrasonic fogger are ordered from Big Apple, and a trip to Radio Shack brings home timers and a thermometer/hygrometer.

1.14.02
Call the vet at 8AM sharp, but have to call back later as they had just walked in the door and hadn't had a chance to check on the animals yet. (me? anxious? never!) Called back around lunchtime and was told that Mozilla could come home! Went straight to the vet from work, and came home with Mozilla and a big bag full of medications: Panacur for her internal parasites, Benebac gel to replace her stomach bacteria, antibiotic injections to be given every 3 days, and Oxbow Critical Care Formula for force feeding. Bank account is now $400 lighter. :}

1.15.02 - 1.18.02
The rest of the first week passed slowly. I made Mo a nice batch of Ig salad, with ingredients such as parsnips, peppers, assorted fruit, endive, asparagus, carrots, bok choy, mustard greens, collard greens, and more! However, she was still refusing to eat. I was up early every morning to force feed her the Oxbow formula, and every evening tried to hand feed her some greens. At the beginning of the week she just lay limply as I force fed and medicated her, but by the end of the week she was beginning to fight me when I force fed, and I was able to get her to take a few greens by sticking them in her mouth when she tried to bite me.

Week 2

1.19.02
A small breakthrough. During a soak in the bathtub, Mozilla relaxed enough to drink some water. Still force feeding.

1.20.02
A better day! She ate some hand fed greens in the morning, and was more active free roaming in the evening. She drank heavily from her water bowl, almost 5 minutes! She nibbled on her greens and salad.

1.21.02 - 1.25.02
Slow but steady improvement! She nibbled on hand fed greens most days, and on the 23rd I found her with a leaf hanging out of her mouth - signs she was beginning to eat on her own! On the 24th she ate most of her plate of greens (dandelion, bok choy, and chicory greens this week!) She also had enough energy this week to chase my cat Tadrith across the floor trying to bite his nose off! She's developing quite an attitude. She's still very weak and can't get very far during free roam time without falling asleep on her feet. The 23rd was the last day she had to be force fed.

Week 3

1.26.02
Busy day! During free roam time Mo ate some of her greens from her plate, drank some water from her bowl, and proceeded to poop on the carpet. Joy! She's beginning to act more like a real Iguana now.

1.28.02
Followup vet visit day! And what a very good day it was. The vet and techs nearly fell over when the saw Mozilla. They couldn't believe the change: 'This CAN'T be the same iguana that was here 2 weeks ago!' They were thrilled with her progress. From her original weight of 336 grams at her first visit, Mozilla now weighs in at 440 grams! She gained over 100 grams, a third of her original body weight! She got her claws trimmed, had a fecal done, and had blood drawn for more chemistry tests. Her original blood tests showed that her calcium:phosphorous ratio was inverted, so she came home with a calcium supplement (once a day for 4 weeks) and a phosphorous binder (twice a day for 4 weeks). Another $100 out of my bank account, but thankfully we don't have to go back for another month!

1.29.02
Another milestone! Today Mozilla ate two plates of greens! One in the morning and one during free roam time! She's really gotten quite the attitude, and understandably despises me for all the medications I give her. She's constantly trying to bite my knees off. *grin*

1.30.02 - 2.1.02
Talk about a piggy-iggy! Mo's become quite the eater...scarfing down two full plates a day (she especially liked the red peppers I added to this week's salad, tho she wasn't sure what to make of the spaghetti squash grated into it). Although in general she's still skinny and you can see her hip and tail bones still, she's now beginning to develop the beginnings of a pot belly! We've come along way in 3 weeks!

Week 4

2.2.02
Mo's slowly gaining strength. She's spending more time wandering during free roam time, and she's comfortable enough to eat some of her greens while out and about.

2.3.02
Went shopping and bought Mo a heating pad for nighttime, spoiled brat. :) She had a great evening and settled down enough to sit on my knee for a while and tolerated me petting her without trying to bite.

2.4.02
Whoooo! The scab on her nose from where the vet removed the cyst finally came off! She has a big scar underneath, but it doesn't look all crusty and nasty anymore!

2.5.02
Another milestone! Mo is finally strong enough to climb on her branches again! I found her halfway up, all stretched out and relaxing under her fogger.

2.6.02-2.8.02
A good ending to our fourth week. Mo spent some time swimming in her bathtub and being lazy. We're almost done with the antibiotic injections, just one more to go! Hard to believe it's been a month since I got that emaciated, weak creature who was on death's door! She's putting on weight, and it looks like she's beginning to shed, at least on top of her head.

Week 5

2.9.02
A very bizarre day. I think Mo is playing with my mind. She's been gaining in strength and speed, and medication times have been turning into something straight out of the World Wrestling Federation! Today, however, Mo just gave me a resigned look and calmly opened her mouth for her morning and evening doses of calcium and aluminum hydroxide! For her evening dose, I didn't even have to take her off her branch; I reached in with the syringe and she took it right from her branch! Go figure, I think she's plotting something...

2.10.02
Well, yesterday was a fluke. Today it's back to WWF at medication times. ;)

2.11.02
Milestone day....last antibiotic injection! We both breathed a sigh of relief about that!

2.12.02-2.14.02
A good end to the week. Mo also finished her last does of Benebac gel, and I finally got a chance to measure her: 33.5 inches STL.

Week 6

2.15.02
It's amazing how far Miss Mo has come! Today I put two pics side by side...one from when she first came home from the vet, and one from today. Check out the difference!

2.16.02-2.18.02
A busy beginning to the week. We rehinged the door to Mo's cage so I can finally get in without pulling a contortionist act. Also discovered a few mites on Mo (eek!) so she got sprayed down with the miticide the vet sent. She expressed her displeasure by making a big poop painting in the tub! I made it up to her by giving her a new branch that lets her climb up to the window and watch the world go by.

2.19.02-2.20.02
My first trip away to a conference leaving Mo with my faithful lizard-sitter Bob. Altho I was a worried Ig-mom to be gone from her, I came home to a note from Bob saying 'all was fine, Ig ate like a PIG!', so I guess she wasn't phased at all.

2.21.02-2.22.02
A good end to our week....she ate like a horse, 3 plates of food one day! Only dark spot was finding a mite. ugh!

Week 7

2.23.02-2.24.02
Mo's getting more relaxed, she came down off her branch and ate on the floor next to me! She also got sprayed down with Ivermectin solution for mites, and her enclosure got sprayed too. Nasty little bugs!

2.25.02
Follow-up trip to the vet! She weighed in at 576 grams! She got her claws trimmed (yay!) and blood drawn for chem panels. The vet also got a fecal sample to test for parasites and to check stomach bacteria levels. They were VERY pleased with her progress!

2.26.02
Shedding has begun! She's finally starting to shed off all that nasty old skin. Her head is the starting point!

2.27.02
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The vet called with the results of Mo's tests...calcium:phosphorous ratios are normal, fecal was negative, and stomach bacteria is back to normal also! No new meds, and she doesn't have to go back for 6 months! HURRAH!

2.28.02-3.1.02
Eating like a pig, and getting lots of soaks in the tub because she is shedding like mad! Wonderful to see all the new bright colors coming out underneath all the old, fecal stained skin! What a pretty girl underneath!

Week 8

3.2.02-3.8.02
Mo is moving right along. She loves her food, and hates for me to be even a minute late with it. She's still shedding like mad. We started AM potty training in the tub before work this week, and she took to it like a pro.

Week 9

3.9.02
Mo decided to play with my mind and NOT poop when tubbed in the morning. *grumble* Just because I was 30 minutes later than usual because it was a Saturday! She also had me worried because she didn't eat all morning, but by late afternoon she had tucked in to her greens, and pooped when tubbed after dinner. *phew*

3.10.02
I had a bridal shower to go to in the afternoon, and while I was gone, hubby set up MozTV for me! She now has her own webcam so I can waste even more time at work watching her. ;)

3.11.02-3.15.02
The rest of the week was great. She never turned down a meal, and I had a great time watching her during the day on MozTV. One of my classes even got to tune in and see her.

Week 10

3.16.02
Finally got some new pictures of Moz and added them to Gallery 4. She had a great time roaming the dragon room and getting into EVERYTHING! She liked sitting in the window and watching the world go by. She was very annoyed to have to go back in her cage when we went shopping. She and the other dragons also got a treat today....the first of the dandelion flowers! (picked from our lawn - no chemicals added!) Yummy!

6.24.02
It's been a while since I updated Mo's journal. Bad me! Mostly life has been pretty quiet, with a few exciting moments. :) We went on our first 'Road Trip' to Pennsylvania to meet up with guanalady and her 2 iggies. Mozilla was very well behaved in the car (in a carrier, of course) and settled in to her new surroundings very quickly. She explored the ig room at guanalady's house, interacted very nicely (ie: no fighting!) with the other 2 igs, and even chowed down on her salad while she was there (Mo NEVER turns down food!). Guanalady got her hooked on canned green beans, which she now gets once every other month or so as a treat (not a staple food by far!). She did manage to scare the bejeezus out of us by sneaking out a hole in the top of the sun cage she was sharing with the other 2 igs, but after much climbing on step ladders and hysterical giggling, we managed to get her down from the top.

Once we got home, I got inspired to build her a sun cage of her own. Off to Home Depot I went and knocked together a pvc and garden mesh sunning cage. She loves it! We had one scary day when I had her out in the cage all morning as I was landscaping,I decided to make a 15 minute run to the nursery to get more plants, and when I came home she was GONE! She had snuck out a 2 inch gap at the bottom of the door where I must have missed putting a velcro tie!

Needless to say, I was in a panic! I had the whole neighborhood out searching for her, looking under decks, in bushes and trees, and in backyards behind fences. No luck. I was devastated. I had to go get the hubby at the train station, and we were supposed to head out to Delaware that evening. The temps had been warm during the day but were due to drop sharply overnight. I was sure I'd never see her again. After an hour and a half of fruitless searching, I had to give up and go get hubby. He insisted we stop home again on our way to Delaware and take one last look for her. As we got out of the car at home, a horde of neighborhood kids came tearing down the street screaming, "We found her! We found her!" I nearly fell over in shock. One of the neighbors had found her 3 houses down, up a tree. They got my Ig-Grips I had left on the deck, and climbed up to get her. They put her in one of the Reptariums I had on my deck, and put her and the cage in their garage so she'd stay warm and not be able to escape again! Did I mention how much I love my neighbors? :)

These days I am *MUCH* more careful when she is out in her sun cage. I always triple check that I have every little bit sealed up tight, even places I think would be too small for her to get out. She is definitely the escape artist!

Our latest news is the new arrival of another rescue iguana to our household. Mandrake was one of a trio of iguanas surrendered to my vet. I helped find homes for 2 of them, but we kept Mandrake because he was just too darn CUTE! He has his own webpage telling his story. We are in the process of building Mo a nice new cage, much bigger than what she is in now, so that Mandrake can go in her old cage. Mo's not quite sure what to make of Mandrake yet, and I don't dare put them together anytime soon since Drake is about half the size of Miss Mo (who is getting quite chubby!)

8.22.02
Miss Mozilla is doing VERY well! We went in last month for our 6 month vet checkup, and she amazed everyone at the office! They could not believe how fat and healthy she was. She weighed in at a whopping 1640g, about 3.6lbs! Hard to believe she was only 336g when I first got her. She is growing in length too, currently 12.5" SVL and 40" STL, up from 33.5" STL at first measurement. She eats like a pig!

Mozilla and Mandrake also went to their first Ignic this summer. I was a little worried about how they would behave around other igs and lots of strange people, but they were on their best behavior! Mandrake spent the time head-hopping and stealing baked ziti off of plates, and Mozilla allowed people to pick her up and handle her, and even let Mandrake climb all over her.

Mozilla's new cage is finished, and she LOVES it! It's 6' tall, 5'3" wide, and 3'3" deep. She has lots of room to climb and bask, and she really seems to enjoy it. Mandrake moved into her old cage temporarily, but has since moved into a new PVC cage with a lot more room.

Mozilla has really settled down a lot recently. She now tolerates going outside on a leash - I use a ferret collar as a hind leg harness, and she will soon be upgrading to a small dog collar as she is growing so fast! She lets me handle her without much fuss, and even lets me trim her claws with no argument. Her biggest achievement this month was a visit to the pre-first grade class that I teach on 'I' day. She was on her best behavior and let all of the kids pet her. I was very proud of her!

She and Mandrake get along OK now, although I will NOT let them out together unsupervised. For all that Mozilla is twice Drake's size, he still has delusions of grandeur and tries to mate with her. When he starts to bug her too much, they get separated. She loves to taunt him by climbing the sides of his cage when he is inside and sitting on the top staring at him. They are both going to be annoyed with me soon as I have a foster iguana coming this weekend to stay until a permanent home can be found for her. ;)

12.11.02
It's been a while since the last update, and boy has Mozilla been keeping me on my toes! The foster female, Little Green Witch, was with us for a while, and recently went to her new permanent home in Iowa. In the meantime, we have 2 new foster igs, Q*Bert and GJ (pronounced jeej). Mozilla is in love with GJ, but he wants nothing to do with her. Poor boy is scared to death of her.

We hosted our first IgNic this summer, and Mozilla was pretty well behaved. She was terrified of Gail's little bearded dragon, Gwena, though! What a wimp! Her 'friends' Liz and Squirt were there, as well as little Zeus! We all had a good time and the igs managed to get into just about everything (of course!).

Mozilla went in to school this summer to meet the students in a summer class (pre-first grade) that I was teaching. Our letter of the day was 'I' and our worksheets had an iguana on them, so Mozilla was our special guest for the day. She was on her best behavior, and let all the kids pet her without a fuss.

Now I am dealing with a horribly hormonal iguana, since our last vet visit showed that Miss Mo was gravid! She has a belly full of eggs (infertile) but so far has not laid any. She is completely wound up and spends her time scrabbling all over her cage, and torturing the boys when I let her out to free roam. She is off to stay with Auntie Gail for a while this weekend since we leave next week for 9 days in England, and I don't want to leave my poor dad with the joys of a gravid iguana. :} Hopefully she will lay those eggs SOON before I need to be committed! *grin*

2.15.03
Well, Mo decided NOT to have any eggs, and reabsorbed while staying with Auntie Gail. The brat! All that worry for nothing! She returned home and is happily enjoying pride of place again. She finally convinced me to let GJ stay with her, so we are having a trial run this weekend while I am home for the holiday. So far so good...they are acting like an old married couple! ;) We have a new foster due in soon, a rather wild female who was brought to my vet's office to be euthanized but will be coming to foster with us instead. She will be joining us as soon as she is spayed.

3.10.03
We are overflowing with igs! ;) Over the weekend, Hooter, the iguana who was at my vet's office, finally came home to foster. She got her name because when she arrived at the vet's, she promptly bit one of the techs on the...well..chest! :} We decided not to wait and have her spayed, but to bring her home and start socializing her. I think she is mostly a fear biter, and not a 'mean' iguauna. Hopefully with some proper handling she will settle down once she realizes she will not be harmed. So far, she is doing well. She came in on Friday and got settled into her new cage. She has eaten and pooped, and does not seem too nutty. I've left her alone for a few days to acclimate to her new surroundings, and will start handling her today after work (with plenty of body armor on hand! *grin*). Mozilla, GJ, and Mandrake are all rather bemused by her. Mozilla expressed her displeasure at me bringing another Ig home by pooping in the middle of her food plate this morning. Lovely. Had to scrub it down before feeding this morning. Bratty ig!

Our other new Ig is staying for just one week. On Saturday I picked up Moira, a hard luck case who had come in suffering from MBD and a broken back, as well as severely stunted growth. She had been fostering with Gail for a while, and is now in great shape. She had been adopted by my friend Cindy, and will be going home with her on Saturday! Yay Moira! She is staying out in the herp shed for now, in a cage next to Q*Bert's. Q is rather annoyed that he can't get to the pretty lady next to his cage!

Mozilla is also in dire need of a good tubbing...going to toss her in today when I get home. She is going through a hard shed this month, and even the humidifier in the room is not helping much. Time for a long bath!

© 2002 - M. Martin