Every so often I like to just jump off the beaten path of always blogging about business and talk a little bit about those beings who make my life worthwhile. I guess it’s my way of thanking them for being part of my life.

Now, my mom is gone and I could talk about her alot! But God decided she needed to go on permanent vacation, and so bless her heart she’s with him now. So, I will instead sing the praises of some of my little buddies with paws and fins.

Today’s post will be about the Princess Elizabeth. She is a lovely iguana I adopted. Or rather, I and my birds adopted……….

There are those who actually know her, and those who know her from having heard about her. Or they feel like they know her! Well, get prepared to know her a little more!

Iguanas can become “with egg” when they reach a particular maturity and if their conditions are prime. They don’t need a significant other to become “with egg” and they have zero maternal instinct.

Princess Elizabeth is a rescue, rescued by my cockatiel Snugglebuggy, and taken in by yours truly. By the way, my old boy Snugglebuggy just turned 17 years old ~ the next pet post I do will be about this lovely wonderful best friend of mine.

So, Liz has been with us about 2 years. In actuality both the vet and I agree she’s around almost 4 years old, judging by her size, etc.

Back to the eggs. Lizzie didn’t have a clue about eggs, didn’t have a clue about the nestbox I made her, didn’t have a clue as to why she was digging like a banshee in the sand except that her hormones might have given her a heads up about the digging. It’s also normal for them to stop eating as their body cavity fills up with eggs.

The first vet I took her to did not impress me with the handling of this delicate matter, so, as my dear iguana started to turn into a skeleton with a big belly, we went to another vet. You can’t just take a reptile to any vet, they have to be a herp vet. So believe me when I say I was VERY ~ or rather we were VERY lucky to find another vet, I’m not kidding.

This lady took the requested xrays and sure enough Lizzie was FULL of eggs. The doctor said in a week she should have them or something would have to be done.

Well, something got done. Lizzie was scheduled for surgery on 4/28/08 ~ and yes indeed, 24 eggs came out, plus she had her ovaries removed, never again to go through the egg ordeal.

I drove up to Franklin Lakes that night in a nasty rainstorm, to pick her up. Groggy little girl she was.

Here is Liz after I put her in her rehab cage that she would stay in for the next 3 days ~ despite painkillers she slept standing up all night ~ do you wonder why? Nice stitches.

Here is Princess the next day just exhausted and giving me the “look”.

Liz would tolerate that nice comfy cushiony rehab cage for 3 days only. Then she HAD to go back into her habitat. The next few weeks were a little weird, I saw her personality (normally very mellow and sweet) change several times, I can only guess as her hormones righted themselves, as the pain and discomfort went away, and as she slowly came back to us.

We went through frenzied little tantrums where she ripped all the claws out of her right hand fingers, teeth baring, and all kinds of nasty stuff. She ripped the entire nail out of each of her right hand fingers, and now is basically handicapped ~ no claws, very hard to climb even in her habitat ~ fingers don’t grip bars like claws do. Now each finger has healed with a nice little stub where the nail was. Not likely those nails will grow back either.

So, I’ve made it easy for her to play when she is out. That’s usually after her daily bath and soak~ I dry her off well, cuddle her for a good while (yes, I have a cuddly iguana) and then she plays in her cat bed on my bed. Then she’ll hop off, and climb up onto my mom’s recliner which is next to her habitat. I’ve fixed it so she can simply walk from the top of the recliner into her habitat on her lower perch.

Note her right hand, no claws, and her left hand, plenty of claws.

Here she is at a different angle, looking at herself in the mirrored doors behind her while I snap the pics.

Thankfully she is back to eating with her usual gusto, and has started to fill out and is nowhere as bony as she was. Oh yeah. That’s only about half of her tail.

Welcome back, Princess Elizabeth! The best iguana in the world!!