Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got my little one about 6mths ago roughly. Basically rescued him from the pet store, if he stayed there any longer he most likely would have died.

Thing is, Vet said he is overall healthy but he isn't growing fast enough. It was a good couple of months from when the vet first saw him and he was at 20 grams, since then he's only gained 7. Granted the little guy is growing longer and is very active, eats like little pig. The vet told me what to feed him because everything I was reading said this and that was bad for him because of this and that reason.

Ok, so now I got him things that will provide him what he needs. Cept, recently... Faelyth "Iggy's name" Doesn't appear to like fruit anymore. For the life of me I can't figure out why, I give it to him in the mornings and at night, mostly as a treat. Recently though, he takes a bite and doesn't care for it anymore.

Right now what i'm feeding him as a main meal is some spring mix salad stuff in a bag. Has all kind of stuff in it. I mix up brocolli, carrots, sweet potato sometimes celery, grind it up in the food processor and sprinkle it on the leafs.

I'm kind of wondering if it isn't attracting him, doesn't seem to eat as much as I would think he would. I know he has tiny little stomache, but he's also growing.

Tank hangs around 80-90 at night 90-100 during the day. his UV is on a timer (Though I'm getting a new uv this weekend). This last weekend I got him a little heat rock for extra heat at night. Has a big bowl of water to swim and soak in.

So the question lays as to what can I do to get him attracted to food... especially fruit. He's young enough that I should be able to break him from this picky eating stage. Just not sure as what to do.

Are there any good sites that have Iguana menus.. He's the first baby iggy I've had so I am on a learning curve with this little guy. Vet helped alot, but I don't want to go to the vet for every tiny thing, especially when Faelyth has a clean bill of health.

Thanx in advance.
Kazzy ~

hi kazuyal the first thing i want to say is get rid of the heat rock they will only cause burns to your ig when they lay on it igs dont heat up from there bellys only absorb heat from above. next you are giving to much fruit they should only have fruit no more then 2x a week. the spring mix you are giving is not what they need they need good greens like collard,mustard,dandlion,arugla,turnip. because lettuce has no nutritional value a good diet i follow is www.iguanaden.org i follow that diet and have a very healthy ig now for the last 3 yrs.or you can try http://anapsid.org its melissa kaplan site her book iguana for dummies is a great book to have a lot of good info in it.and you dont have to grid up there vegs just chop them into small chunks.and last the lighting should be a basking bulb not to go over 95 during day and a uvb full spectrum fluorescent or a power sun or mega ray flood bulb that have both uva and uvb and heat and at night i have a infrared red bulb for heat and no light temp can go down no lower then 75 not sure what size cage you have. my igs is 5x5x3 and multi lighs for heat hope this helps iggirl1

The spring mix doesn't have any lettuce in it. It's got lots of dark greens in, escrole, spinich, dandilion and a few other mix. I also mix in parsley. I grind up the carrots and other veggies because he is so small, when he gets bigger I won't do it like that. As for the fruit, it's just a little bit in the mornings and at night as a treat. I don't give it to him as a main dish, don't even put it in with his food. Even then, he isn't eating fruit anymore, he totally disregards it and wants nothing to do with it.

I only got the rock for a little extra heat, he actually doesn't use it but I got to go the pet store and return something anyway so chances are I'll return it too. It was just a thought. It gets pretty cold in the apartment at night, specially now with winter.

As for the uvb and heat lamp, i'm getting a new uvb this weekend, off a site the vet gave me. Haven't had the money to get it before now. www.beanfarm.com also getting a different heat lamp for him too.

I have never seen one of the these bags with the correct type
of greens. What these contain are types of romaine, boston
lettuce, etc. All of things are useless to your ig. Please
take our advice and buy the correct greens.

Linda

First and foremost, I would not feed my ig salad from a bag...most of the time salad from a bag doesn't contain the correct greens your ig needs (they contain lettuces, which are not a nutritious food for your ig) and it isn't as fresh as the greens you bag yourself from the produce section. Below I have included a link to a great care information site, more specifically their food chart. This chart is a guide their are other great fruits and veggies that are not included in the chart to try and feed him/her. Another thing that is always repeated over and over again...variety...feed your ig a variety of things. Do not just stick to the staples...also add in items from the occasional category (broccoli is one of those occasional items). Please refer to the food chart I have included below and look for further information on other ig websites.
Food Chart