Feisty and Spike, a Little About Them

First, I must admit that I was afraid of snakes when I was growing up. I found them to be fascinating, but there was no way I would get close enough to actually touch one. Then I met and married a man that ‘touched’ everything! He had traveled all over the world as a ‘Navy brat’ and if it had scales, he would pick it up and bring it home. Unfortunately, he never outgrew this quality. So let’s fast-forward to just a few years ago.

My husband, son, and myself all get into the car and drive out of town a few miles to a well-used gravel road. In the area we live in, the Pacific Northwest, there are primarily two types of snakes that you would see on the roads: rattlers and gophers. These two look very alike, and will even sound the same when approached, providing that the gopher snake will make ‘noise’ when it shakes its tail. In this area, all snakes are killed because they ‘might be’ rattlers. So off we went to rescue the snakes and keep them from getting hit by cars and trucks. We have continued to do this for the past four or five years.

We later became the owners of a gopher snake, whom we lovingly named Feisty. He earned this name, so it was not given lightly. Feisty loves to roam and will attempt to escape his enclosure every chance he gets, much to my dismay. He also loves to ‘threaten’ anyone that gets too close to him and his ‘territory’, except of course, for my husband Rick. Rick will carry Feisty around the house when he cleans the enclosure or changes the water. Feisty does not waste this time either - when he is near me his favorite thing to do is ‘rattle’ his tail and hiss as loudly as possible. This is his ‘threat display’ and makes him seem very dangerous, just like a rattlesnake.

A year or two after getting Feisty, I wanted a lizard. Of course, I didn’t want just any lizard. I wanted an iguana. Off we went to the local pet store to see what kind of lizards they had with the hopes of finding a cute iguana. We found the cutest little green iguana with beautiful orange-gold eyes, and ‘he’ came home with us that day. Along with Spike the iguana, came a ceramic heater, UV lighting, and iguana food. A few years later, after researching more and more about the care of iguanas, we became very worried when Spike quit eating. Spike was a roamer, and was allowed access to the entire house, so the fear of Spike eating something that caused a blockage was what came to mind. Lucky for us, and for Spike, we live only 30 miles away from a University that has a huge animal hospital and treats exotic pets. After a call, we were off to take Spike to the doctor. Spike was in good spirits and decided that looking out the car’s front window was the best way to travel. I can only imagine the stares that we got from passing motorists as Spike flicked his tongue in his best ‘Hi there!’ After arriving and filling out the needed forms we waited with an impatient iguana for the doctor’s assistant to call us back. The doctor took one look at Spike, smiled and asked us what had been happening and for how long. After repeating the story of Spike’s refusal to eat, the doctor turned to his student and asked for a ‘diagnosis’. He was still smiling, and I was worried about my four and a half foot ‘baby’. I don’t recall what the student said to the doctor, but the doctor replied with ‘Could it be that the iguana is gravid?’ I was not too sure what the doctor was talking about, but by the smile and hint of a laugh, I just knew that Spike would be fine. My husband understood all too well what the doctor was saying and he began to smile and laugh just a bit. I had to ask what was wrong and was informed that my ‘he’ was in fact a ‘she’ and was full of eggs! I was shocked!! Spike (sometimes called Spikette now) was fertile and getting ready to lay her eggs: there was no room inside for her to have any food in her stomach.

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