Melissa Kaplan's
Herp Care Collection
Last updated January 1, 2014

Iguanas Mailing List

Who the list is for?
How do I join the list?
What if I don't have an email account?
Are there any list rules?
Are there any archives?
What if I have some questions before I subscribe?
In closing...

Who the list is for?
The list is for serious iguana owners and people thinking about getting iguanas. It is a place to learn about proper iguana care and behavior, share tips about things like building housing, potty training, and dealing with breeding season challenges. While most of the discussion is about green iguanas (Iguana iguana), many members have other iguanids such as spiny-tailed iguanas (Ctenosaura sp., also called black iguanas), and various Bahamian/Cuban rock/rhino iguanas (Cyclura sp.).

How Do I Join The List?
If you have an email account, all you need to do is to go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IguanaMail and follow the instructions appearing on the screen. You will need to create a password, so be sure to write it down somewhere so you can find it again if you want to go in and change your account status.

What if I don't have an email account?
Check the yellow pages in your telephone book under Internet to find the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in your area. There is also, of course, commercial service providers such as AOL, Earthlink, Prodigy, CompuServe, and WebTV.

You can also get a free web-based email account through various web entities, including Yahoo!, Hotmail, PetHobbyist.com, and NetZero. The nice thing about these free email accounts is that you can access your email no matter where you are, just so long as you can get into the Internet through a web browser.

If you do not have web access, you can do it by email. Just address an email (with nothing in the subject line or body) to the appropriate address to subscribe or unsubscribe, or to switch from normal to digest mode, or back to normal from digest mode:

The IML is a self-serve mailing list: members are expected to read the information provided by the list owners and take care of subscribing and unsubscribing themselves, or changing their account to Web Only-No Mail when they are going on vacation or otherwise want to remain subscribed but not receive mail for a while. Likewise, members on Web Only are expected to change their account status themselves when they want to receive mail or unsubscribe.

Are there any list rules?
All email discussion lists have some rules to help the list function more smoothly. The rules for Iguana Mail are few and should be easy to live by. The following is a brief description of the rules; the full text will be included with the Welcome letter you get when you subscribe.

1.     Play nice. Attack issues, not people.

2.     Use specific subject lines, like "Need help finding reptile vet in St Louis MO" instead of "Help!"

3.     Don't quote entire letters in your response - just the fewest lines necessary so that the rest of the listmembers know what you are talking about but they aren't overwhelmed with text they've already read. There is a maximum number of kb that will be accepted by Yahoo!Groups, so why waste that by inserting everything everyone else has said!

4.     If you don't know what the many emoticons (also called 'smileys' - sideways facial expressions made with punctuation marks like =:o ) or commonly use Internet abbreviations mean (like IOW = in other words; IAIYH = it's all in your head; IMHO = in my humble opinion), see the glossary of Emoticons and Abbreviations.

5.     If there are things that annoy and irritate you when done by other people on other email lists, don't do them on our list.

6.     The IML is for the use by IMLers only. The IguanaMail moderators will not share subscriber names with others, nor will Yahoo!Groups. IMLers who spam the list will be terminated.

7.     We want the IML to be a pleasant place to come and learn and share. Passion is fine. Anger, baiting, harassing, flaming and engaging in disruptive communications will result in being terminated from the list.

8.     Just as offline communities have rules and guidelines for behavior, so,too, does the online community. For tips and suggestions on how to ensure you will be welcomed in just about any online community, please check out the Netiquette, The Core Rules of Netiquette, and Introduction to Network Etiquette websites. For some other do's and don'ts to requesting information online, check out The Art of Getting Help.

Be sure to read the Welcome letter you receive when you successfully subscribe to IguanaMail as it has some more guidelines and instructions. Don't forget to save it for future reference!

View the Online IguanaMail Archives
The searchable archives of the daily digests are available online - by users who register with Yahoo!Groups - at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Iguanamail. You don't have to be subscribed to the list fo view the archives. If you decide to subscribe, you can do so from the archives page.

In closing...
As the list grows in time, we will have an archive of digests. We will also have Files and Photos areas and a Bookmarks area for favorite links that all listmembers can access and share. Note: There is a size limit to the amount of data that can be stored in the Files and Photos areas. Be sure to compress all graphics files before uploading. Nonessential/aged files and photos will be removed periodically by the moderators to make room for new data uploads. If there is anything you want to save from these areas so you can access them in the future,, save them to your own computer.

What if I have some questions (about the list, not about iguanas) before I subscribe?
Just write the moderators at IguanaMail-owner@yahoogroups.com and ask! This address is only to be used to contact the moderators. To post mail to the list itself, address it to: iguanamail@yahoogroups.com

The moderators, in alphabetical order, are:

Alta Brewer
Melissa Kaplan
Katie Kearns
Bill Myers
Roger Van Couwenburghe