I noticed that you responded to a thread that I started in the chuck forum, and was a bit concerned. You seem to be having problems with your desert igs in general, so that makes me really wonder about how you are keeping them. Can you answer a few questions? It will help us advise you.



Husbandry:

What do you have them housed in? Tank? Cage? What are the dimensions? "Two housed in tank! Screen top! Dimensions 10 gallon tank, 20"X12"X10.5". He has been in this for 5 years. No problems with eating before".



What kind of lighting are you using? Do you use UVB? If so, what does your UVB bulb look like? "I use a 37 watt incandescent bulb about 9" above the basking spot. I only use it to warm them up with.

I take them outside almost every day and give them real sunlight for an hour or so. I have been doing this for 5 years".



How do you measure your basking and ambient(overall) temps? Do you use a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a probe or a temp gun? I use a digital thermometer with a probe".



What are your basking SURFACE temps? "The basking area gets to about 97 degrees". What are your overall enclosure temps? "Rest of cage 85 or so. At night down to 81 in the Summer!"





Diet.

You mention that you feed meal worms and lettuce, NEITHER of which is nutritious in general and certainly not a good diet for desert igs that should be 90% VEGETARIAN. "To my understanding feeding DI's some protein is not like feeding Green Iggs. Melissa Kaplan online Iguana expert told me there is nothing wrong feeding them meal worms." Do you feed other types of greens? "Field greens, no spinach. I also suppliment them on stage 1 baby food green beans, carrots, peas & squash, if they refuse to eat their greens. They are picky eaters, and will go for days without eating greens"! Which greens do you use a a staple diet? "I use romaine lettuce, I had a baby grow to an adult in less than a year on meal worms and romaine! I had another DI for 16 years when he died of old age. Went blind Who ate mostly lettuce and meal worms"! The last two days I have noticed the guy refusing to eat will lift up his hind legs like he would deficate and only do a little liquid, and uric acid. Maybe because he is not eating, but I got concerned maybe he could be plugged up. Maybe swallowed a rock in the cage. They are in gravel about pea size. And sleep under rocks in the cage! But I never had problems with them before! Yesterday I gave him baby rice cereal with puree romaine with an eyedropper. Just to give him some nutrition!



Please let us know the answers to these questions so that we can help you help all of your igs, especially this one and the one with the eye infection. "The one with the eye infection is in a 50 gallon tank! I take them all out every day and give them real sunlight"!

Thanks for any assistance! It's appreciated!
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Our Desert Iguanas

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