Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi guys my new iguana is now doing better with handling and not as fearful (Great~) after a month which i played with him everyday. But when i go back to the pet store where i got him, his hatchmates are like twice his size...he's been doing fine, seen the vet, and eating normal, how come he didn't grow as fast as other Igs? Or I should say, it doesn't seem to me that he's grown at all. Anyone know why? I've been feeding him different greens according to the MK website and give him a cal-phos substrate as well, did I miss something?

The pet store is probably feeding them some animal based protein which is incorrect. When iguanas are fed things like dog/cat food which contain a lot of animal protein they will grow big quickly. Unfortunately it is at the expense of destroying their kidneys and it will shorten their lifespan.

I agree they may be feeding something that is unhealthy like animal protein.

It is best to get a healthy growth. The three main things that effect growth and bone development are diet, temperatures, and UVB

DIET :
An iguana's diet should contain the following each day:
70-80% calcium rich greens: Collards, mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelions, arugula, watercress are the better ones. Kale, beet greens, chicory greens and escarole used in combination with the better greens are also good. Stay away from lettuces (except for a very occasional treat) because they have very very little nutrition if at all and the iguana will fill up on it and not eat the nutritional food--in other words it is junk food. Spinach should only be used occasionally because it is way too high in oxalates and phosphorous. The oxalates bind with the calcium making it indigestible and the phosphorous binds with calcium in the blood making the calcium there useless. But spinach is high in iron so it is good if only used very occasionally (1-2x a month maybe).
20-30% vegetables: Winter squash (acorn, butternut, kabocha, ect..), green beans, snap peas, okra, parsnip, yucca root. Summer squash (zucchini, yellow, Mexican or white, ect...) occasionally is good too. Red, yellow, and orange bell peppers are good color enhancers.
No more than 10% fruit: Blueberries, figs, mango, papaya, and prickly pear (cactus) are the better fruits. Strawberries, raspberries, black berries and melons are good. Flowers should be considered a fruit
percentages based on volume
ABSOLUTELY NO ANIMAL PROTEIN OR BY PRODUCTS

Rep-Cal Iguana food soaked is a recommended supplement that helps
**appetite--the color and smell seems to increase their appetite
**hydration--the pellets act as sponges, they soak up twice their volume of water
**regularity--the increase hydration help keep things moving
**mineral/vitamin supplements--no other supplements are needed other than a probiotic

Use 1-2 tablespoons for an adult iguana or one teaspoon for a baby. Soak it in water for about 5 minutes--it will be about twice the size after soaking. Sprinkle this over the greens/vegetable diet.

Link: Food Information Chart

TEMPERATURE
Iguanas need heat to digest their food. They have a hindgut where they get 30-40% of their nutrients digesting the fiber in their diets. There are organisms there that break down the fiber for them so they can get the nutrients out. Those organisms go on strike if the temperature gets below 85. Then all digestion ceases at temperatures below 70-75. So iguanas need to be able to thermo regulate their body temperature. They do this by moving between warmer and cooler areas of their enclosure. So it is important to provide the correct temperature gradients (zones).
Basking should be 92-98 (some say 90-95).
Ambient (overall) should be (80-85).
Coolest (farthest and lowest from basking) should never be less than 70-75
Nighttime NO less than 70-75 but 80-85 is good if not better.
To have this you need a large enough enclosure with the heat set up properly.

Please note: Hot Rocks should not be used. Hot/heat rocks are iguana slow cookers. They need radiant heat from above like they would get in the sun. Yes, they will lie on a warm log but once they lay on it the warmth is absorbed and the log will cool off. With a hot rock it doesn't cool off and keeps slowly cooking the skin and flesh of the iguana. They end up with severe burns because they don't realize that they are getting slowly cooked. My own iguana has a scar from being burnt from her heat rock. I still have it but the cord is cut off.

UVB LIGHTINGCRITICAL requirement
Iguanas need UVB to produce natural D3. They do not utilize dietary D or D3 efficiently if at all and the dietary D3 doesn't break down like natural D3 if not needed. So it is important to either provide natural UVB (through unfiltered sunshine) or artificial. Artificial can be provided by fluorescent tubes (not compact or coil) or mercury.

Fluorescents need to be set up
from: http://www.cyber-ig-info.netfirms.com/uvb_light.htm
1) Purchase good-quality, proven fluorescent tubes. We recommend Reptisun 5.0 or 10.0 manufactured by ZooMed®. These lights have shown to produce the best amount of UVA and UVB for Iguanas and other sun-basking reptiles and are readily available in most pet shops.
2) Use (2) of these lights in tandem to gain the maximum amount of UVB necessary.
3) Use a good-quality lighting fixture. Low-cost fixtures have a lesser quality ballast that effects UV output form the lamps.
4) Increase UV output by using a fixture with a highly reflective surface. Covering the reflector wings with common tin/aluminum foil (shiny-side out) will increase UV output by 50%.
5) Place the fixture so that it is no farther than 6"-8" from the back of the iguana while basking. The greater the distance from light to reptile, the less UVB is produced. This recommendation is based on the Reptisun 5 or 10 or similar fluorescents. There are a few new fluorescent tubess out there that may be dangerous at this distance so please do research.
6) Replace fluorescent tubes every six-months as a general rule. UVB weakens and disappears after about six-months. It's important to realize that even though the tube is still producing light, there may not be any UVB left. You can readily monitor the UVB amount by using a Solarmeter 6.2 UVB Radiometer. This handy device will allow you to measure the UVB emissions in microwatts per centimeter squared (mW/cm2), allowing you to know exactly when the tubes have become so weak they need to be replaced. This can save you money in the long-run as some tubes will produce UVB up to one year

Mercury vapor bulb set up will depend on the brand and strength you get. IMO MegaRay by Reptile UV is the best
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Marie
Poyner Corner

I guess I have all the critical thing done right, and my ig is eating well too, it's just doesn't seem to grow too fast..hahaha. By the way, you guys both mentioned animal protein, so how about protein from plant? like I've read from MK salad that they use alfafa to provide protein, is that critical too? that's like the only thing i didn't put in the diet, i do have some alfafa pellet for my rabbit, can i make that to powder and add to the diet?

I dont really know if there is a difference between rabbit and ig alfalfa but personally, their digestive systems are definitly different and the ig stuff isnt all that expensive so I would stick with that.

Actually my ig really doesnt care for the alfalfa when I add it to his diet so I shy away from it. If you are feeding him all the right things, high protein greens fruit etc, I wouldnt worry too much with the alfalfa. As far as plant protiens it is good for him as all the darker leafy greens are all high in protien, its the lettuce's which contain no protien and are horrible for an ig diet.

I also wouldnt worry about his growth rate, a healthy inch added which takes twice as long is much better then pumping him full of animal protien. My first ig, a LONG time ago, was fed animal protien (as I was instructed from the store) and he did grow fast but unfortunately died fast as well. I have had my little guy almost a year (August will be a year) and he has only put on a few inches but he is vibrant, quick, and a healthy eater so I am not worried.

This is Igor he is 2-1/2 years old, he only eats greens, fruits(small amounts) and vegies, he is 9" nose to vent and 31" nose to tail. A lot of his tank mates at the pet store starved to death on a all lettuce diet and I'm sure most of the ones that were bought died from the bad advice they got from the pet store, if it was the same care instructions that I got. I found the web-wite Iguana den and it saved the life on my little friend. I just with that the pet stores that don't specialize in reptiles would stop selling them.

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0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Drago)
1.1 Desert Iguana(Dima, Dianne)
1.0 Green Iguana (Igor)
1.2 Collared Lizard (Fred, Wilma, Betty)
1.1 Desert Leopard Lizard (Simba, Kimba)
1.2 Desert Horned Lizard (Spike, Rose, Jade)
0.1 Hamster (Diamanta)
1.1 Kids
0.1 Wife

He also gose outside on good sunny days to get natural sunlight and gets light from a 160watt ZooMed Power sun UVA/UVB bulb, replaced once a year to maintain good output.
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0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Drago)
1.1 Desert Iguana(Dima, Dianne)
1.0 Green Iguana (Igor)
1.2 Collared Lizard (Fred, Wilma, Betty)
1.1 Desert Leopard Lizard (Simba, Kimba)
1.2 Desert Horned Lizard (Spike, Rose, Jade)
0.1 Hamster (Diamanta)
1.1 Kids
0.1 Wife

Yours doesn't eat alfalfa? Mine will eat it as the main ingredient in his salad. What I do is I soak the alfalfa hay in water until it is soft enough to cut with a pair scissors. I cut them up so very small, that, the stem seems like little shredded piece of carrots or winter squash I mix in with the alfalfa. This way he can't pick out his favorite vegies and greens. I tend to shred everything when possible so they are pretty much the same size and when mixed in the ig can't differentiate them. I even try to shred the green beans I bought. What I learn is hungry will eventually prevail like Malissa Kaplin said, and he will eat everything you mix in the salad. Mine will eat the alfalfa as the main ingredient in his diet because I've train him to do eat it, and now he doesn't even mine eating the alfalfa.

I went to the GNC close to where I live and got alfalfa vitamins. I crush those up and add them in with the other vitamins and sprinkle the mixture over my ig's vegetables and fruits.

If you can't find any, let me know. I have a huge huge thing of them that I don't really need so I can send you some.