Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey guys..... I spend most of my time on the Tortoise forum, but I am now in the process of adopting an Iguana and I thought I would come here for help. The one I am adopting is from Scales and Tails and I got my application approved, now I am waiting on final decision from the owner. Well after reading this Ig's bio it says that he is 7 years old and has been fed dog food... I am assuming his whole life. I was warned that he will probably have liver and kidney problems and I was wondering if anyone has had similar problems with their Igs. Does anyone have any helpful hints or advice on what to do with this poor little creature if and when I get him? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

The first thing of course is to get it to a vet. Make sure they check kidney, liver, etc besides for parasites and MBD. Then you will probably have a bit of a problem with feeding him. At first if he is like most in that situattion you will have to mix dog food in with his greens and other veggies. If he will eat without doing this than great but so far I haven't had one that does! If you coat a little bit of the top leaves in dog food and than burry a little more dog food under the leaves that hopefully he will eat the greens with it and you can then wean him from the dog food. If an iguana is used to only eating one thing even if it is bad for him you usually have to wean him from it. We have one that they fed chicken nuggets to all the time and at first she wouldn't eat anything but that, now she only eats healthy iggy food and is doing well!!

Stephanie

my iguana was fed dog food before I got him (i got him when he was 3 and a half) he just "turned" 4 years old, and at 3.5 his blood levels showed he had MBD (which was treatable) and kidney disease (which isnt) I give lots of fluid, good food, sunshine and tlc.
Sarah

I am hoping with his age this it isn't too late...... I'm worried and I don't even have him yet! Ok, so I have to be sneaky with the food huh? I will try and get creative and then keep coming back and asking for ideas I guess. Sunshine is a definate..... i'm assuming he doesn't have a UVB or get calcium supplements since his owner can't even take a minute or two to research what he should be feeding his Ig, let alone other requirements.

Thanks guys.