Lacye Straka of Schuylkill Haven with her 16-year-old iguana Guacamole. PHOTOS BY JACKIE DORMER
Published in the Pottsville Republican-Herald on May 8, 2021.
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - Nash Lefever celebrated his sixth birthday with a five-foot long iguana. His face smeared with green cupcake icing, he petted the reptile’s scaly skin as it spread out on the pavement of Schuylkill Haven’s Bubeck Park.
“It felt like dried-out slime that had bubbles in it,” Lefever said about the iguana’s skin.
“It made him want to get a bearded dragon,” said Lefever’s mother Kelci.
In the park the children gathered around the iguana, stroking it and feeding it dandelions, leaves of grass and white bread from a plastic sandwich bag.
Children feeding Guacamole
This was no ordinary iguana, if there even is such a thing in Pennsylvania. He’s Guacamole, the beloved pet of Lacye Straka and her husband Bryan. Lacye, a phlebotomist at a Pine Grove doctor’s office, declares that Guacamole is a “rock star.”
“He is like owning a real-life dinosaur,” she said. “All the kids love him. He’s so mellow, he’s very laid-back. He’s so fun. He has a personality like you won’t believe. He smiles so big.”
Lacye and Bryan adopted Guacamole from the Philadelphia Zoo in April 2020. Lacye had no experience taking care of reptiles but wanted the challenge of raising an unusual animal. She did extensive research to pass the test that the Zoo gives prospective reptile adopters. All of her pets are rescues, and Guacamole is no exception. He now lives with dogs Zero and Winnie, a cat named Bronx and a hairless rat named Penelope.
“Guacamole loves to watch them all day,” Lacye said.
At first, Bryan thought Lacye was crazy. Then, he met Guacamole for the first time.
“I was a little skittish at first with having something that big,” he said. “It’s not like having a dog or a cat. You just have to be responsible. It makes you feel good.”
Lacye’s grandmother (and, Lacye points out, Guacamole’s great-grandmother) Donna Dabashinsky was also skeptical.
“I was afraid of it at first,” she said, “I didn’t know what it was. And ten minutes [later], you’re just loving.”
Guacamole has curved spines running down his back and mottled bulges in his cheeks. In the wild, he would use these bulges to store food and scare away predators like larger lizards, snakes and eagles (a passerby at the park warned Lacye about eagles spotted in the area). Iguanas have a lifespan of 20-25 years. At 16, Guacamole is full-grown, a retiree ready to relax. He would be six feet long if someone had not grabbed him by the tail when he was young, stunting his growth. Iguanas’ tails are large muscles that they use to “whip” predators. In the summer, his skin turns a brilliant green and blue.
“It’s amazing having an exotic animal that is so unique,” Lacye said. “I’m very attached with him. “The first thing I do in the morning is say ‘Good morning’ and give him his breakfast and my day is made.”
Guacamole has over 800 followers on Instagram. He is potty-trained on newspaper, gives kisses, snuggles his head on your chin and loves sunbathing on the couch. When Bryan plays music, Guacamole nods his head as the songs play. He likes a little of everything - country, rock, rap and heavy metal.
“I always wanted one when I was a kid,” Bryan said, “but we never got the opportunity.”
Lacye has pictures of Guacamole at her desk at work. Her patients love to visit him at the Straka’s Schuylkill Haven home, where Guacamole lives in a 10-foot-by-10-foot two-level enclosure. In the winter, the temperature is kept between 90 and 100 degrees. Eight heat and vitamin lamps replicate the life-sustaining conditions of Guacamole’s tropical homeland. Iguanas are herbivores who eat only plants, and Guacamole needs fresh salad every day. In her garden Lacye grows hibiscus plants, an iguana delicacy. He also loves bananas, blueberries and sweet potatoes.
“It’s definitely nothing you can get at a pet store,” she said. “He eats three big meals a day.”
Cleaning up after him is not always easy, as evidenced when he goes in the grass at Bubeck Park. This delights the little girls who are following him.
Lacye grooms Guacamole and cuts his nails every day. Every four months, Guacamole sheds his skin. In order to make this less experience less painful for him, Lacye gives him daily baths. Lacye says that Guacamole is never hostile to children or dogs at the park, but when he sheds “he can get a little cranky.” Lacye peeled some skin from Guacamole and put it in her pocket. It was gray and shiny, like anthracite.
Rozalynn Goodman, 7, laughed as Guacamole licked her finger.
“I think he likes you,” Goodman tells her. “Did you meet a new friend today?”
“He’s cool,” said Lily Snyder, 9. “My mom called him a mini alligator.”
When Lacye takes Guacamole to Bubeck Park for walks, his favorite thing to do is sunbathe on the rocks and watch the ducks swim by.
“He’s a nice-sized iguana,” Bryan said. “Not too many people can say they have that. He’s so chill, he’s just a part of our family.”