Reptile & Amphibian Forums

since getting our iguana home and broken in she eats like a little horse she is only about a ft but her little tummy is HUGE .. is that normal? the iguana eats tons of food and poops atleast once a day .. and a pretty big amount ..

my mother also has an iguana but its a BIG girl probubly like 5-6ft with the tail .. and i have seen her iguana get pretty big before going to hte bathroom at first she would only go once a week now she has her down to every other day .. she rescued the iguana .. but she told me not to worry that the iguanas tummy is getting big .. she told me as long as hes eating and pooping hes fine .. it just might take him a while to get used to his new proper diet since they were feeding him only greens in the pet store .. while he was there he was rather skinny in the tummy now hes a fat tummy *lol*

is it a good thing ?

if shes on the right diet, and pooping/passing everything fine, i wouldnt be concerned if she was gaining weight.

Sarah

oh, but i also wonder if your new ig might be bloating slightly on the new and improved diet a la greens? I dont know if thy can poop and bloat...?

Sarah

what would be good for bloat .. i dont think he would apriciate it if i picked him up and started burping him *lol* .. sorry little joke ..

Hes also shedding and hes slowed down eating just a little bit .. bit hes still pooping a good bit .. but i added a water fountain to his cage to raise the humidity and i have snitched the turtles sprayer to spray the iguana so he can shed a little more comfy

long warm soaks and massages to the belly might help

Sarah

if he is bloated, try gently massaging his tummy. rub in a downward motion - but warning - this may stimulate him to poop on you, too! the massaging has greatly helped the iguana in my care with mbd who is bloated. as i massage his tummy he 'burps' and little and even passes gas. every time he burps or passes gas he 'deflates' a little and it certainly helps him feel better! not to alarm you, but i've heard that bloating can be related to organ failure - HOWEVER i think it is because of the diet change since that can also cause bloating in igs.

I wouldnt be worried about the pot belly as long as he/she is eating and pooping. He is just making up for lost time and soon he will grow to accomidate this new tummy Keep feeding him. OH and the fountain will be a pain top clean if he decides to poop in it!! so I would remove it ot make it so he cant get in it to do his pooping
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Heather, Vern, Andy, Router, April And OODLES of fish

i wouldnt mind cleaning it out ... as long as it keeps some more humidity in his cage since hes sheding .. i have been spritzing him and his cage with water to raise the humidity as well .. wouldnt that help him poo as well ?..

also could the size of his food have something to do with the tummy being big ?.. he doesnt seem to like the peices of greens i cut up into smaller peices he will go right for the whole leaves and stand on them and munch