I got Sassy for a birthday gift to myself back in October 2010. She came from a home that had many other reptiles such as large snakes, which wasn't the issue, however when I brought her home she was around 4.5 years old (estimated age as I had little info from the owner) she was already 4 feet long and at her size she was being housed in a tank no bigger than 75g. She was in such a small enclosure and because of how many reptiles he had in a tiny space she didn't get much out time due to not enough room.
I was so excited to get her home, I had a temporary enclosure for her that was about 6 times the size of the one that she was in before but I didn't think it was big enough still. So I built a bigger one for her shortly after getting her. At this time I still didn't have a name for her, however once she got into her new enclosure she became very territorial over it, she was sweet as a puppy when out but very aggressive inside of it, so I quickly decided on Sassy and it stuck perfectly. Her territorial aggression came from being housed in a small enclosure, then when given something hug and comfy she had a very strong urge to protect it as her own as it was most likely the biggest thing she had ever called home. I found that this type of aggression was easy to work with and she turned around very fast when she realized that no one was going to take it from her.
This is when I first brought her home, you can see her temporary enclosure at the bottom left, it was a short but long, not suitable for an ig...the following page is the cage I built for her soon after.
Just like many mew iguana owners I made a lot of mistakes. Which is part of the reason why I have such a strong urge to help out new owners and provide quality information about iguana care so people don't make the mistakes I did and can have a healthy happy iguana for many years to come.
For example I housed her for about 6 months with absolutely no UV light, I simply didn't know along with feeding her regular lettuce instead of healthy greens. These are common mistakes and I learned fast from them and quickly got her the care she needed and started doing all the research I possibly could. Luckily Sassy didn't have any health problems from this temporary lack of proper care on my part.
Sassy is the iguana who started all of this, she led me on to rescue and rehome many more iguanas from terrible situations to new loving homes before starting my own collection.
Sassy has grown a lot since I've gotten her but she has always been my baby and will always hold a special part of my heart. She well remain with me no matter what and just like all my iguanas she will get what ever vet care she needs :D
The following photo is of my and Sassy after ding our shooting for a TV show called Adventure Zoo for Rogers TV
Sassy has been here from the start and is the iguana who started it all and has been growing with Ontario Iguanas from day one. I have unconditional love for her, without her non of this would exist.
Thanks
Robin
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