Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I MADE A MISTAKE! Let me be specific about this in effort to help others to make better decisions. Although we are not new to herps, we are to Iguanas. Being the responsible pet / captive keepers that we are, we took our Iguana in to see the herp vet in our area about 4 days after we took her in. Although this is appropriate for most animals, my experience here, albeit limited, tells me this was a mistake. I think Iguana Joe is exactly correct. IGUANAS HATE CHANGE. By bringing our iguana to the vet right away, we have caused undue stress, as a result she is being very stubborn about starting to eat, which was the main reason we brought her to the vet in the first place. It only prolonged the eating strike. I think it would likely be a good idea when those who are experienced enough to be answering questions and attempting to help others, be more specific about the vet visit, saying something of the nature of “Once your iguana has settled in and is eating well, then it should go to the vet for a check on parasites etc.” Iguanas are not like other animals. Stress is a huge factor in their lives. I see so many posts about proper vet care for iguanas with no mention what so ever about the amount of stress it causes the poor things and what to expect after a vet visit. I’m quite sure that after a vet visit most seasoned iguana owners would see a lack of eating, just from the stress of the vet visit. This is something that should be plastered all over this forum, so people , (especially us newbies) know what to expect. Is this a huge black hole in the info being given by even the people who are writing the books on Iguana care? The effect of stress is not something that should ever be tossed aside or belittled! We keep many creatures that stress alone can lead to disease and death (I think here about our prized Blue Arawanas)!
I know that I am quite capable of force feeding her since I had to treat her for flagellates, but I am holding off as long as possible to minimize the stress at this point. Flagellates can decrease a herps appetite. I have been caught between a rock and a hard place, and I think I did make matters worse. I do however, feel that there eventually will be a happy ending to this story. She still has loads of energy and she has calmed down a lot.
I do just want to thank IguanaJoe for the encouragement and helpful advice. I hope some day you get a pet like a Jungle Carpet Python or something so that I can return the favor. I really do! Thank you for all you are doing to support us with her care and our millions of questions. You are cool beans!

Thanks Tessi, glad to help.
I had to give away my iguana, Soni, many many years ago, to a friend (forum veterans, if there are any left, might remember), and I used to have an 8x8x8 enclosure. Yeah, it k!ck&d @$$.

Years ago we did propose a FAQ-type of thread/post/whatever to avoid repetitiveness and heavy loads on the forum (years ago, especially in the mid-late 90s when iguanas were 'the thing to get', this place had nearly dozen posts a day, very busy...and the Kaplan website was the only website with nearly a hundred pages of info on iguanas). I cannot remember if they did it or not, because I then went MIA for a few years since I stopped being involved in the hobby.
The lowered activity on the forum is, however, a good sign that the then-ridiculous demand for igs has decreased, and people are more knowledgeable than 10 years ago.

I think we should have a good, detailed (but not too lengthy) "FAQ" type link, well visible on this forum. While there are no such things as "stupid" questions, some old questions are at times ignored or overlooked, hence why a FAQ link might be useful. I've seen other forums that have posts that are days, weeks old, and the person never got any help.

It would be great to manage to fit it into one page, in bullett-form, so the newbie can print it out, hang it next to the enclosure, and always have a quick reference guide at hand.

As fascinating as they are, I am not a fan of snakes-as-pets, although if I was to ever get one, I'd go for the bread n' butter kingsnake. Maybe it's because all the ones I have seen were kept in cramped enclosures, curled up 24/7, never be able to fully stretch their bodies or roam for prey the way a snake should.
If iguanas require large enclosures, in my own humble personal opinion snakes should require even larger ones. The same with monitors and tegus... I have seen some enclosure pics that were depressing, at best (an animal that's supposed to roam forests and savannahs, runs around in circles in a closed cramped space like the Son of Sam).
Thanks for the offer tho, much appreciated!

-IJ