Cyclura Baby Beta 2013

Cyclura baby Beta (sex MALE) hatched September 5th, 2013.

Scroll Down to see current updates, photos and video.

Beta has been adopted and now has his own Fan Page on Facebook

Beta was the second one to hatch in this clutch.

Clearly baby Beta The Superman is also Einstein! Check out how intelligent he is. At 5 month old he learned to jump on my hand so he can be taken out of the cage.

Beta’s Story:

Beta hatched out of the egg with the large yolk sack still attached to his belly. His weight was 36 grams. He contracted an infection in the belly-button area, most likely due to exposed yolk sack.

He was treated with the antibiotics and topical cream to help him heal the belly. After a couple of weeks he had struggled with the infection. We were advised by the vet to perform a surgery to get rid of the infected yolk mass.

On September 24th 2013 Beta had a surgery and vet removed 10 grams of yolk mass from his belly. Beta’s weight after the surgery was 24 grams. He made it through the surgery rather well and is on the road to recovery. Beta now has a scar on his belly.

During the surgery vet was able to see some tiny (not developed at that time) sex organs. We believe Beta is a Male.

Beta is turning out to be a very tame iguana because he is being handled twice a day and he feels very comfortable being around people and being picked up.

He is a very beautiful Rock Iguana and has a very sweet attitude. He has no fear of human hands whatsoever and can be picked up at any time. I offer him occasional treats to reinsure his trust in humans. With some love and care he will grow to be a wonderful pet. Click on each photo to see his details.

October 6 2013.  It is so good to see Beta recover so well after his surgery. He is eating and pooping good and behaving like other healthy babies. Beta gained some weight in two weeks after surgery and weighs 30 grams today. He is definitely not scared of human hands and accepts handling without fear. He is very curious about the world  and likes it when I carry him around the room and show him stuff. Check out the video update below.

Beta is doing “Superman” pose 🙂

October 9 2013. Little Beta deserved a treat for being such a cute little Superhero. I offered him a piece of fresh fig and he had zero  hesitation to start eating it. What a cutie! He is still smallest baby comparing to the rest of the babies from the clutch. But if he eats “like a man” he will catch up in a few months!

On October 30th 2013 Beta had lost about 1/3 of his tail. He had been chased around by other babies and must have gotten cornered at one point. He dropped the tail end. Poor guy. We separated Beta  right away and put on high nutrition diet. After a month his tail started regeneration and in 4 months it grew 1.4″. That’s impressive. You can see the video below of Beta and if you pause at 0.15sec you can see the regenerated tip rather well. This video was taken on February 2nd, 2014 and Beta is almost 5 month old here.

Below are Beta’s photos when he was just couple of weeks old.