Please take a break from worrying about, you know, everything, to enjoy these adorable dinosaurs munching on a plate of organic leafy greens:
These are two of the 15 rescue iguanas living behind the Sirata Beach Resort & Conference Center on St. Pete Beach, where they are fed this mix of spring greens, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, kale and arugula, plus an assortment of other veggies.
"Also they love bananas and grapes for occasional treats," says Lenne Nicklaus-Ball, the nonprofit sanctuary's founder.
These lucky lizards are the charges of the Gulf Coast Iguana Sanctuary, founded by Nicklaus-Ball, one of the hotel's owners, in 2010.
"The iguanas were initially my sons’ pets and as time went on they became mine," she says. "My vet and others soon realized I would take care of other unwanted ones. So we had to expand the habitat and eventually they came to the Sirata Beach Resort."
There, the iguanas have lived rather luxuriously in a custom-built enclosure that is filled with fountains and walkways and perches and plants, good food and things to keep the large animals entertained.
Luxuriously, but pretty privately. The iguanas can see out of their enclosure, but it's not so easy to see in through the mostly-translucent walls, nor is the sanctuary currently accessible to the public.
However, good news, would-be iguana-oglers: The Sirata Beach Resort was recently sold (reportedly for more than $108 million dollars). Which means the iguanas are moving.
"We're really excited," says Ed Peachey, president and CEO of CareerSource Pinellas, the nonprofit that acquired the Science Center back in 2014.
The Science Center already hosts seven sanctuary iguanas at in indoor space. They've been there since they were small, and quickly got enormous.
"All they eat is lettuce," says Peachey. "I can eat salad and still gain weight." (Us, too.)
Those seven will join the Sirata inguanas in the new outdoor enclosure, which they will all share with some injured turtles who are on the mend thanks to wildlife rehabbers, as well as some butterflies.
You still can't go inside of the new enclosure, lest you get bitten, but you'll be able to see the iguanas more easily from the outside. The purpose of this enclosure is in part to allow more people to delight in these iguanas' ways. (Yes, they'll be given the same healthy, delicious, and nutritious meals that are fun to watch them eat.)
It's also to educate folks on the downsides of the exotic pet trade. The reason, after all, that the Gulf Coast Iguana Sanctuary exists is because there are so many unwanted iguanas. Nicklaus-Ball would, in fact, like to see pet stores no longer selling iguanas, since "they are pretty much throw away pets," he says.
These critters can be friendly. But it takes work — lots of time and socialization — to get the iguanas there. It isn't what everyone has in mind when bringing home a pet reptile — one who starts off wee, but grows to about six feet long, has specialized dietary needs… and a mouth full of very sharp teeth.
Which is why the sanctuary gets so many Facebook messages and phone calls, "from people who want to give up their iguanas once they cannot or do not want to care for them anymore," says volunteer Gayle Fairbanks. "A lot of times people who get them and neglect them [and then the iguanas] get mean."
All that said, Fairbanks thinks for the right person, who wants to put in the work, an iguana can make a wonderful companion. She includes herself in that category.
"I have little dogs and they are definitely more cuddly," says Nicklaus-Ball.
"I’m a reptile girl. I can honestly — and embarrassingly — say that I am afraid of dogs," says Fairbanks.
This article appears in Feb 16-23, 2017.