There is a surprisingly robust underground economy of reptiles moving through FedEx overnight. Non-venomous lizards, snakes, and amphibians can all be shipped domestically with prior approval and FedEx-certified packaging—Priority Overnight only, no exceptions. Most people have no idea this is happening. The FedEx employees in Memphis, Tennessee, found out the hard way.
Roderick Duncan, 41, had purchased a second iguana and arranged to pick it up at his local FedEx location rather than have it delivered to his house—a reasonable call in July heat, given that live reptile shipments have strict temperature windows and Duncan wanted eyes on the handoff. What he didn’t anticipate was the animal’s energy level upon arrival.
The employees, who had assumed the package contained a fish, asked Duncan if he could open the box to confirm the iguana was alive. He obliged. The iguana, much larger than Duncan had expected, launched itself out of the box, across the counter, and directly into FedEx employees’ fight-or-flight responses. One poor worker went down. The whole thing was captured on Duncan’s Meta glasses, which he happened to be wearing as his everyday prescription lenses to document the pickup.
‘Oh S**t, He’s Bigger Than I Thought’
“My initial thought was, ‘Oh s–t, he’s bigger than I thought,’” Duncan told the New York Post. “He was bigger, thicker, more grown.” He estimated the iguana was about twice the size of his first one. Duncan said he stayed calm to avoid escalating the situation, especially after seeing the employee fall. “I was worried about her,” he said. He also knew nobody was actually in danger. It was a big animal in a strange place, doing exactly what a big animal in a strange place does.
Duncan hadn’t planned any of it—he was just a guy with Meta glasses picking up a lizard. But after the clip hit millions of views, enough people cried staged that he had to post additional footage to prove otherwise. “I hate that people think it was malicious,” he said.
Back home, the iguana has apparently recalibrated. “He’s pretty chill,” Duncan said. “He hasn’t really jumped or anything now.” He’s settling into an enclosure alongside Duncan’s first iguana and a dog, and his name is Titan.