Day 401

February 13, 2013 

Happy Ash Wednesday!!

I just got back from Catholic Mass, where I got ashed by a Father in Spanish. Who would have thought that Peace Corps would broaden my horizons in so many ways? The Priest also invited me to come with him and the nuns to a vigil very far away. I have no idea what I just got myself into, but I'll let you all know.

Now for the Iguana Update:

It is egg laying season for Iguana, like you all know (of course). Iguanas lay once a year. They can lay anywhere between 10 and 70+ eggs, but they're kinda like chickens in that, they lay the eggs whether they're fertilized or not. The lady Iguana keeps the iguanas inside her for a couple of months until they get so big that she can't fit any food inside her (we know to put them in the egg laying chamber when they stop eating). Then she will come down from the trees and look for a good spot to dig a hole on a sandy river bank, sometimes digging several fake holes to throw off the other lady iguanas, who will look for nest, kill the eggs and lay her own in that same hole.

In Loma Bonita, our first iguana has laid her eggs!!! We are all so proud. She laid 26 eggs, but 2 were broken. So, we moved 24 eggs to the incubator. The incubator is a buck half filled with sand, layer of eggs, and topped off with more sand and then put in a hole in the ground and protected from pests (chickens, ants, dog, hungry panamanians).

Now, we wait 70-75 days for the eggs to hatch (if they are fertilized). Plus we have 7 other ladies getting ready to lay. Keep an eye out for an egg count, and in a couple of months, a baby count! I told the iguana group that they would soon be parents to 200 baby iguanas--that did not please them. I am very excited!!!

When the babies come, they will need to be handled daily (so they will be accustomed to people) and measured to make sure they are growing.

I'll put the pictures up on Facebook