MARTIN HOUSE EVENT RAISES FUNDS FOR IGUANA CONSERVATION

On Saturday, 28 May 2022, with the pandemic finally in retreat, the International Iguana Foundation (IIF) held a fun public outreach event to promote iguana conservation. The venue was the popular Martin House Brewery, a Fort Worth establishment well known for hosting events to benefit nonprofit organizations. To commemorate the event, Martin House brewed a special beer—a hibiscus saison—featuring the Galápagos Pink Iguana. The beer was refreshing and popular on a hot day in Texas, and part of the proceeds went to IIF to help fund iguana conservation projects.

The IIF booth was staffed by Ashley Whittemore, Jordan Gray, and Rick Hudson (IIF Executive Director) and featured a new line of merchandise. But the stars of the show were the three iguanas belonging to Dr. Resa Willis, who generously helped us with presentations at the event. Resa brought two tame Green Iguanas—including one with beautiful red coloration—and a Black-chested Spinytailed Iguana that impressed many with his chill attitude, perfect for a brewery party. All three animals were excellent ambassadors for iguana conservation, provided exceptional photo opportunities, and helped us demonstrate the distinction between the Common Green Iguana and its endangered relatives, which are the focus of IIF’s conservation efforts.

It was a fantastic afternoon, and we can’t thank Martin House Brewery enough for their hospitality and their enthusiasm and support—not to mention that great Galápagos Hibiscus Saison!

The International Iguana Foundation offers a range of branded merchandise for donors on the IIF website: iguanafoundation.org/contribute.

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Banana Iguanas (Ctenosaura pectinata) are large lizards native to hot, dry habitats such as dry forests and deserts in Mexico and Central America where they regularly experience ambient basking temperatures of over 104º F. In our large Iguana Habitat here in the mild climate, we found it difficult to attain the high basking temperatures these animals desired. Although these animals were active and appeared healthy for over 12 years here, we did not have any success breeding them until adding a Zoo Med Infrared Heat Projector above one of their basking sites. The animals seemed to prefer this heat and spent an increased amount of time relaxing under these heating elements, then finally laid a beautiful clutch of eggs that hatched successfully 77 days later. After many years of trying different strategies to encourage reproduction, we are pleased to finally introduce the offspring of our Banana Iguanas!