HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — A Florida woman interrupted an uninvited guest in her bathroom on Saturday night.
Michelle Reynolds told news station WSVN that she went downstairs to make herself a snack. After putting her popcorn in the microwave, she went to use the bathroom and "opened the door and did a quick turnaround because I saw this thing in there and quickly shut the door!” she said.
The thing? A Mexican spiny-tailed iguana.
"My first thought was 'OMG, it’s really happening to me. There’s an iguana in my toilet!' Reynolds wrote in a message to 10 Tampa Bay. "I may have used a few curse words."
The reptile was unable to find its way out of the commode so Reynolds had to enlist Harold Rondon of Iguana Lifestyles, a wildlife removal service, to rescue the little fella.
Rondon said this isn't the first time he's had to remove an iguana from a toilet.
"That was the 3rd one in 4days," he wrote in a message.
Over the past two years, Rondon said he has come across about 30 of the reptiles sitting in porcelain bowls around South Florida.
Males can get up to 18 inches long, with tails that can also get up to 18 inches long, he said.
“He took up most of the toilet bowl,” Reynolds said.
The species is native to Western Mexico and parts of Central America, but now inhabits much of South and Central Florida, according to A-Z Animals. It's believed that they were brought to the area as pets in the 1960s, and some may have escaped or been released.
As far as what you can do to avoid seeing an uninvited guest in your toilet, Rondon said you should make sure the vents on your roof are covered.
Reynolds had some advice to share after her experience, too.
"Look before you sit & make sure your toilets are clean because you never know when pictures & video will be broadcasted for the nation to see," she joked.
10 Tampa Bay's Andrea Chu contributed to this report.
