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Tegu and green iguana pet owners will be breaking the law if they don’t microchip and get a permit for their pets by July 28. To help with that effort, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is hosting ‘Tag Your Reptile Day’ events. There, owners can get their reptiles chipped for free.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is hosting events to help tegu and green iguana owners get their pets microchipped before July 28. After that date, owners would be breaking the law if their reptiles aren’t chipped and registered with the FWC.
The events, dubbed ‘Tag Your Reptile Day,’ will be held in Fort Walton Beach, Melbourne, Gainesville, Tampa, West Palm Beach, and Lee County. There, tegu and green iguana owners can get their pets microchipped for free from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Staff will hand out a card with the animal’s tag number on it. That information is needed for owners to register for a no-cost permit. The chip and the permit are necessary for owners to keep their tegus and green iguanas now that the reptiles are on the prohibited species list. The move came as an attempt to stop pet tegus and green iguanas from being released or escaping into the wild. FWC’s Jan Fore says creatures like the green iguana cause damage to infrastructures like roadways, sea walls, and sidewalks.