The oldest green iguana, that broke the Guinness World Records, was found in Point Loma, San Diego.
The heroine of this record is Zipper, who has lived for 29 years and 11 months. Locally born and raised in San Diego, Zipper now resides with Phillip Benham’s family in Point Loma. Their first meeting occurred when his daughter bought Zipper from a friend when she was a child.
“When my daughter asked her mother if she could get an iguana, my wife said, ‘Absolutely not.’ But when I came home, and she asked me, I said ‘Sure, an iguana,’” Benham recalled the starting point of their co-living journey. They didn’t expect Zipper to live this long at first, but she surprised all the family members and also the people around them. Zipper even outlasted the dogs and cats they had raised.
The average lifespan of a Green Iguana is typically 12 to 15 years in the wild, and the latest green iguana, which held the Guinness World Records, lived around 28 years.
What made Zipper the oldest green iguana in the world? The primary reason is that she had no natural predators. Besides this, Benham’s family put their efforts into making Zipper comfortable and building a healthy environment.
“We attribute her long life and health to eating the fresh figs and leaves off the tree in the backyard,” said Benham. When they bought the house from a Portuguese family 30 years ago, there were 23 different kinds of fruit trees. In this environment, it was easy for them to provide Zipper with a nutritious diet, such as fresh guavas, tangerines, figs, etc.
Zipper also gets regular exercise daily. She used to hang out in the backyard with cats and dogs, and she can actively move even in the cage. She climbs up inside her cage and spends much time getting sunlight in her happy spot. Benham designed their house so that they could bring the cage inside the house, allowing Zipper to stay warm during the winter months.
Communication is another key to the longevity of companion animals. While it is not as easy to have a conversation with reptiles compared to cats and dogs, Zipper has her way of expressing herself to her family.
“If she wanted something, she would make more noise in the cage so that we could walk over and see what she was doing. When my wife talks to Zipper, she bobs her head up and down, and when she strokes Zipper, she closes her eyes and leans into patting like a cat,” explained Benham.
Zipper is still in good shape and is enjoying a happy, healthy life, even though she is not as active as she was 10 years ago. Benham’s family is still working on the new record for the Guinness book, and soon it will be available to check on the website.
