Reptile and Amphibian Rescue Network

ReptileRescueLA.com / RARN.ORG - Rescuing sick and injured reptiles and amphibians in greater Los Angeles, California

Bibi

Hello! I’m Bibi, and I’m a juvenile iguana (about 5 months old). My story starts out sad but ends up great!

The little girl who used to take care of me didn’t really know how. She didn’t know I need direct sunlight, with places to cool off, just about every day. She didn’t know that my species lives in the rain forest and so I need to be misted with cool water. She didn’t know what foods I like—torn-up collards and mustard greens, bits of chopped mango and melon, sweet potato, squashes, green beans and blueberries. Pretty soon my legs started to swell and my spine bent. I was very weak, I would shake like a leaf, and my bones were getting broken because nobody knew what I needed.

But here’s the happy part. One day, the little girl’s uncle noticed how sick I was and they took me to a special reptile doctor. He put me on calcium supplements and good food, with sunshine, water misting, and lots of care from a kind lady in RARN. Now I’m on the mend and will be a loving animal companion all my life!

Trisha

I am Trisha, a female water dragon (Physignathus cocincinus), and boy do I have a story to tell!

As my species name implies, I need to live near water. “Water dragon”—that’s a no-brainer, right? Well, in my first home I was not given anywhere NEAR enough access to water. I was always thirsty and weak and just plain didn’t feel well. After a while, I was taken with two other female waterdragons to an animal shelter. The first thing they did was give us a good long soak in a tub of clean, cool water! Then we were given tasty waterdragon food and we chowed down! Next thing you know, all of us were feeling so well we laid eggs!

Then RARN took us in and continued our good care. We’ve become really friendly, happy, and very relaxed around humans. One of us has already been adopted, but I’m still waiting for a permanent home with someone who knows what I need. Starting with WATER!!

Yard

Yard the turtle Hello! My name is Yard. I am a three-toed box turtle (Terrapene carolina). I lived happily in woodlands for more than 20 years, eating worms, berries and insects.

Then somebody picked me up and shipped me hundreds of miles to a pet store in Southern California. My right rear foot got hurt and became so infected that I lost part of it. So I only have three feet--get it? "Yard"!

Luckily, I was in a very good pet store which paid for a veterinarian to take care of my foot. The store gave me to a local reptile club which adopted me out to a kind man named Lyndon. Since 1989 I've lived the good life, getting some sun, plenty of exercise, and eating tasty worms, melon, berries, and other fruit.

I am proud that I am one of the animals that inspired the formation of RARN.

Godzuki

Godzuki smiling Hi, I'm Godzuki, a common green iguana (Iguana iguana) from Central America.

Know why I'm smiling?

Because I made it! When I was about three months old, I was picked up off the streets of West Hollywood by two kind gentlemen. They kept me warm and safe until they could leave me with RARN. Boy, was I sick! A lady treated me in her home for malnutrition, severe dehydration, and a bad case of intestinal parasites.

For the past 10 years I've had fresh fruits and vegetables to eat, some direct sunlight, a daily warm shower or two, and plenty of high places to climb to, which I love. But the missing spines on my back show I didn't get the kind of care and food I needed when I was very young.

I would never have survived those mean streets of Hollywood without RARN. Literally.

See why I can't stop smiling?

Bibi

Trisha

Yard

Godzuki

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