Reptile & Amphibian Forums

okay I think I seriously may have the stupidest iguana in the world?! ever since ive had it(a couple of weeks)he's been doing all kinds of wacky things. Here is the latest thats got me pretty freaked out....

So any whom heres the scoop, the iguana is only 2-3 months old?(guess). Ive got him in a 55 gallon enclosure, and for the lining im using an artificial grass turf/carpeting. I read in one of Melissa Kaplan's books that it was a good substrate to use. So ive had him in the enclosure for about a week now and everything was fine. Until this morning after i swapped his night time light for his day time basking light. After a couple of hours i came to check up on him, and could not find him anywhere in the tank, i looked and looked until finally i found a little bulge in the lining and low and behold the little sucker was under it. I freaked out, thinking he crawled under there, got stuck and died!! so i hurried and got him out and he gave me that look, the "why are u bothering me?" look. He felt fairly cool to the touch, so i put him back on his little basking platform.

I went out shortly after that to run some errands, and when my girlfriend got him from work, guess what she found!!?! She called me to inform me of her shocking discovery. Anyways she did the same thing and hoped that was the last of that. I just got home about a half hour ago and of course he was right under there again!? Im starting to get concerned cause his temperature
was pretty cool. other than that he seemed fine, but i just cant figure out why in the world he would be doing this?! It worries me that he may freeze to death or suffocate. Also he hasn't touched his food at all today? the only thing that ive done diffrently was yesterday i gave him a little reptile calcium with his food. sprinkled it on top and mixed it in with his salad. Thats the only thing that ive done diffrently since ive had him and i cant imagine that would be the reason for this weird behavior. I know he isnt getting too hot, because its a long enclosure and he has a nice temperature gradient, ive got 3 thermometers to keep track of that. Before if he would ever got too warm he would just go hide in his little ficus tree to cool off. So anyways im kind of freaking out if anyone has any idea why he is behaving this way or has experienced anything like this please let me know! any advice helps. Thanks, Dave

do you have a hiding spot for him? he needs to be able to hide himself from 'predators' (you and whoever else he might see)

yes. he has a hiding spot, several of them.

he has everything that the books say he needs to have. that is why i am concerned i cant figure out the reason for this odd behavior.

also i dont know if this is just part of his coloration change as he matures, but there is an area on the top of his head which is turning a dark blue/blackish color. it started out as just a few scales and in the past days has been expanding? ill try and attach a picture below.

also ive got a 100w heat reptile basking/heating bulb for him. It sits about 8-9 inches above his roost. ive held my hand out infront of that light at that distance and its comfortably warm, but i just wanted to make that it is a safe basking distance for a baby iguana. I dont want it to be too close to him and possibly burn him?

Do you live in a place you can get the little guy in an outside encloser? My green iguana and my pair of rhinos did fine in northern Wisconsin for a number of years. Since I moved to southern Florida 3 years ago I've seen there health sky rocket. The best thing for any iguana, turtle or tort is dirtect sunlight. If your able to get your iguana out side in an encloser that has sunlight to it all day with an area that is shaded would bring his body temperate up increasing his appetite giving you a healthy iguana. As for the black spot on it's head it could be some kind of bacteria or fungi growing on its head and may start on other parts of its body. if you can't get it outside use some other heating equipment in the tank to keep it warmer I would suggest a couple of zoo med heat pads they are like stickers that attach to the bottom out side of the tank if you do that change the substrate to cypress mulch not ceder mulch to keep your iguana for getting right on the glass. also zoo med make a great heat bulb and uv in one bulb it's calle power sun. T-rex makes a simmilar one. I swear by these if you can't get your guy outside. to keep it warm at night keep the heat pads on and try a ceramic heat bulb. O also try putting some neosporin on top of your iguana's head couldn't hert anything just keep it out of it's eyes of course. I hope everything works out for you.

Yeah like Chris_Burton said make him a hide box. Just take an empty shoe box and cut a good sized hole in it. and by the way your iggy should not be cold to the touch. the ambient(air) temperature in the cage should be at least 83-85. this is so your little guy wont get stuck some where and not able to move. also this aids in digestion.

im starting to think that the reason he keeps climbing under the lining is because he is having one of his more major sheddings since ive had him(2 weeks). I read in Melissa Kaplan's book that when they shed, their new skin is super sensitive and they tend to hide most of the time and not like to be handled. So im thinking maybe he does it too get away while he sheds and maybe because its a fairly tight squeeze it helps him shed his skin. I dont know? im done trying to figure out what the hell he is doing and why he is doing it. He obviously likes it cause he just keeps on doing it. whatever

"He obviously likes it cause he just keeps on doing it."
I think wild babies hide under leaves on the forest floor because they'll get picked off by owls, hawks, cats and any other carnivore.
The tempurature does drop quite low in the Amazon at night(50's?) so they can tolerate some extremes. Color changes can be caused by temperature, humidity, how long it's been since the last shed, mood, and color of the surroundings.
You could glue that carpet down to foam board or glue some magnets on it to hook it down. Make sure the little guy can breath under there.
Mine likes to hide under my pillows and even under the blanket when he sleeps in my room, but he's older so I'm not going to squash him
They are little freaks, chill out and try to correlate natural wild behaviors with his. Give him a towel to crawl under and I'll bet he stops getting under the carpet.
He's a cutie pie!