Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey guys,

okay so i got a baby iguana a week ago. I am not sure exactly how old he is(months), but he is about 8 inches or so in length(with tail being 2/3 of his length).

anywho, i got him in a 55 gallon enclosure, plenty of room... for now. I have a basking platform for him, and i use a standard 100W 120v white bulb for basking during the day and then a 75w... black/blue light for the night. Now the day light he'll bask under for hours at a time, but when i put on the night light, he'll sit under it for a little while and then go sleep else where in the cage, sometimes in his little coconut hut or up in the ficus tree.

he is a real deep sleeper and even when i get up for work early in the morning and make ruckus he doesnt even raise an eye lid.
my concern is that those areas arent the warmest places in the enclosure and that he may get too cold at night. Maybe im just over reacting, but i just wanted to see if there is anyone on here with some iguana experience that can either put me at ease or give me some advice to help the little guy??

thanks a lot,
dave

Do you have a thermometer on both ends of the tank? Put one where he likes to sleep at night, and check it before you go to bed and again before the day lights come on - then you'll KNOW if it's too cold for him or not.

Usually, babies of any sort need SLIGHTLY higher temps at night than adults, but I'm not too sure about baby lizards too much - my baby ig seems to be doing well, tho.

Good luck!

Get thermometers for him, put one in the basking spot and one where he's been sleeping the most. then you'll know for sure if there's a problem and that can put you at ease. If it is too cold, there are a number of things you could do, try putting a towel over the side of the tank w/o the lamps, an under the tank heater (for the right size).

Also, I was a little curious..

You said a standard 100w 120v light bulb for basking, do you not have a UVB fixture? he'll get MDB if he doesn't get UVB to harness the calcium he's taking in. a Reptiglo 8.0 (coiled fluorescent bulb manufactured by exo-terra) can be used in a clamp light fixture and suspended over the cage to cover UVB light, but wont give off enough heat to maintain a basking spot so you have to double up with either what you're using now or something made for reptiles.

Also, what do you mean by a 'Black light'? One of those ones you put on the wall to see funky things with special pictures or white t-shirts? or a bulb made of black glass designed for reptiles? a simple blacklight that you would generally see in a store is too powerful, and can damage the iguanas skin and eyesight, if it is a blacklight, he may becoming irritated by the wavelengths and going elsewhere to sleep.

p.s. I don't even think your 'standard 100w 120v bulb' is sufficient, unless it's not a simple light you buy to light your house (like I think it is)

No its not a standard house bulb its a special basking bulb for reptiles. Im going to pick up a UVB bulb today or tomorrow after work. The one im thinking of getting come in ethier 5 or 10... they are the same size, i think that is the amount of UVB they emit? which one is ideal for a baby iguana??

I've been told not to use the black/blue lights for night time heat because the animals can infact see that wavelength. Try switching to a red nocturnal light and I bet he'll stick around in the warmth. He probably just can't sleep well with that black/blue bulb and would rather be cold and in the darkness than warm and with light.

You can pick it up (the red-bulb) when you go to get your UVB fixture.
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~Sara~
1.2 ball pythons (Scorpio, Dayzee, and Satan)
1.0 Black-lined plated lizard (Lizzy Butt)
0.1 Burmese Python (Pixil)
1.0 Pacman Frog (Pudge)
5.2 Pet Rats (Emo, Skye, Siam, Lilac, Manson, Spade, and Zilk)
1.1 Dogs (Ozzie and Mandy)
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0.0.1 Synodontis Catfish (Big Spotty Fish)
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