A Clermont woman will appear in court for keeping a non-native iguana in a homemade cage on the back patio of her apartment.
Officers conducted an unannounced captive wildlife inspection at the residence of Julie Christine Rios in the Advenir at Castle Hill apartment complex, 13600 Hartle Groves Pl., Clermont, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, according to a citation from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The officers discovered a male green iguana, which is a listed prohibited species, inside a homemade cage on Rios’s screened-in ground-level back patio. She did not possess, nor had she ever been issued, an FWC Prohibited Species permit allowing her to have such an animal, the citation said.
During the inspection, the officers determined the cage door of the iguana’s enclosure was not securely locked by a key, combination lock, key card or any other approved device, the citation said.
Rios was issued a citation for possession of a prohibited non-native species. The Maryland native is due in court on Aug. 13.