I got a pretty bad hand injury, and I can't really work because my right hand is bandaged and immobilized. Not than things have been hectic lately or anything. It's been rather slow, but even if there were a new gig, I don't think I could do it because I can't play the keyboard with my right hand, so it would be very hard to sequence something...
It wasn't her fault at all. It was all mine...
I hired some workers to improve my Iguana's house. So I needed to take her out, away from the soldering fumes.
She's always GREAT and friendly and pretty much harmless... EXCEPT when she gets very nervous and scared.
So my girlfriend and I put her leash and took her outside. She was taking the sun, and was relaxed, until I tried to pull the cord so she would walk a little bit. She started fighting me and she got all tangled up in the leash. She was like a twister, moving, shaking and turning like crazy.
When I saw her, she was all tangled up and I thought she was getting strangled. She gave me ALL the warnings, and her body language was telling me "careful! I'm feeling scared and dangerous now", but I ignored it completely... I just reacted and tried to grab her to un-strangle her, but she caught my hand. Badly. And it took her more than a FULL hour to let go of my hand. It was bleeding profusely, but she wouldn't let go.
I took her inside and tried to calm her down, talk nice to her, etc., but she wouldn't open her mouth! And every time Jackie tried to open her mouth, she would bite me even harder. I could feel her tooth sinking on my skin.
At one point she was going to let go, but my hanging skin got tangled in one of her teeth, and she grabbed me again, only stronger. I even heard a distinct PLOP... that was the sound of her tooth tearing my hand.
She had NEVER bitten like that. She was truly nervous. So after more than an hour of negotiations with her, petting her and talking sweetly, and getting some drops of cold water in her head, she decided it was ok to let go of my hand.
When she did, my hand, from the middle of the palm to across the other side, were all bleeding with pieces of thick chunks of skin the size of a bean hanging out.
I put the Iguana back on her cage. She looked really sorry. She was depressed for a while. Then I gave her some of her favorite food and she ignored it. I was worried because she swallowed a lot of my blood. But after a call to her veterinarian, he told me to just let her calm down. She had her lunch a few hours later.
The vet told me that he was very surprised she bit me, but he understood when I told him the story. He said that what I should've done was simply and gently put some Tequila or Rum in her mouth (just a drop), and she would've let go of my hand immediately.
I should've known!
Man, I just forgot how BIG my iguana is. Her mouth is SO powerful. She could've easily torn off the hand from a small boy or girl!
Anyway, I learnt my lesson: Next time my iguana is nervous, opens her mouth, gets up on her 4 legs, and curls her tail towards me means I MUST wear my protective gloves!
Since she's not really used to visit the garden, she gets very uncomfortable there. She prefers the safety and familiarity of her residence (yeah, her house is pretty big).
So now I'm stuck with a temporarily useless right hand. I'm typing all this with mostly my left hand and right thumbs...
I could mix with my left hand... I can use the mouse with either hand equally well, but playing right-hand parts with the left hand is not that easy, and I'm supposed to keep my hand immobilized.
Oh, and I had to take a Tetanus shot (I HATE shots), and will start an antibiotic treatment, just as a precaution.
But I love my big dumb iguana anyway!
She's just a small dinosaur who reacts on instinct. An instinct that has allowed her to survive and evolve for millions of years
