Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought a green iguana about a month ago, when i first bought her, she was not jumpy or snappy, i could pick her up without her whipping me, but after about a week she became harder and harder to pickup. Now she is very alert when ever someone enters the room, she is exploring her cage all the time, and when i go in the cage she just go nuts intill i getahold of her. Then she calms right down.
any suggestions would be appreciated alot
thanks
dave

Hi,

Sounds like your baby is just starting to acclimate, define its territory and become assertive. Did you let your iguana "settle down" before handling it, or were you handling it as soon as you brought it home?

Normally, when you first bring an iguana home -- and this is especially true with a very young iguana -- you are supposed to leave it in its environment for a few weeks without handling it at all, to give it a chance to get used to its environment. If you didn't do that, it might explain why it seemingly seemed to be "tame." More than likely, it was too stressed at that point to react to your handling.

I'm guessing this is your first iguana. Welcome to the wonderful world of keeping iguanas! They are truly wonderful animals, albeit very demanding.

Julie

This is my first iguana, i am still learning about its needs. I think i have them all met. For an iguana diet can somebody tell me exactly what and how much of what to feed him. I have been feeding the iguana squash, green beans, peas, mango, parsnips. I am confused where i am supposed to get, collard greens and turnip greens?
I also bought a calcium suppliment containing d3, should i be using it?
thanks dave

Hi Dave,

The stuff you're giving your baby is good, but he does need greens. Collard and turnip greens are usually available where all the other greens are in the produce section of any grocery store, although turnip greens tend to be a little more difficult to find. Where are you located?

At any rate, those are not by any means the only greens you can give your ig. Escarole, chicory, endive, and dandelion greens are all good staples. To these, you can add -- in moderation -- kale, red and/or green chard, carrot greens, and red and/or green curly lettuce.

If you can find Spring mixes (also called Mesclun mix), those would be a wonderful way to add a variety of greens to your baby ig without having to buy several large heads of greens that you will inevitably end up wasting. Spring mixes are usually a mix of several baby greens and are either packaged in small bags or available in bulk at salad bars. These greens would also be more palatable to your baby.

The calcium D3 supplement sounds great for your growing baby ig. You only need a small pinch sprinkled over his meal three times a week. Giving too much can be just as dangerous (if not more so) than not giving enough.

Can you give us more details on how you're housing your ig? i.e. set-up, heat/light sources, etc.? Do you have any thermometers to monitor temperatures? Those details would be a big help!

Julie

I have Jose in a med size wooden cage, i am using a infared bulb to heat the cage, i cannot remeber the exact type of uvb bulb, i think it is reti glo or something. I have a hot rock, because the guy at the store said they were a must. Then i got home and went online and every one say it can burn your ig. So i am not using the hot rock, instead i have a tile laid on a heating pad set on low. I have a thermomiter in the cage but i think it is broken, i am going down tommorow to buy a better one.
How long should i leave his uv light on? i have it set on a timer for 8 hours, the guy at the pet store said that was all it needed.
thanks for all your help
dave

Hi Dave,

For daytime lights (including UV), 8 hours is okay but I would go for 10-12 hours, as it closer ressembles a normal day. At night, no lights should be on whatsoever. Igs (and all animals for that matter) need total darkness at night to get restful sleep.

What are you doing for humidity/water sources? Where is the cage placed -- up on a cabinet, on the floor, etc.? And what are the dimensions of the cage (height, width, depth)? Lastly, do you have any other animals (cats, dogs, etc.)? Sorry for all the questions, just want to help.

Julie

His cage is about 3 1/2 feet long, 2 1/2 feet wide and about 2 1/2 feet tall. Its located on my bed room floor. I have a large water dish out for him and i spray the bark chips usually but i broke my sprayer and i need a new one.

How can i tell if its a male / female? I will post some pics as soon as i can find my camera.

I am going to be building a new cage soon. I am hoping to build a really nice wooden cage. How big should i make it.

thanks again
i have 2 dogs, and a hamster

The size sounds good for a baby ig, but he will outgrow it very quickly, especially with regard to the height of the cage. He will eventually need something 6 feet tall, 2-3 feet wide and 6-8 feet long. The bigger the better. Making it wide will allow you to sacrifice the length a bit, for example 3 feet wide by 3 feet long, or 4 feet wide by 4 feet long. You can also set the entire cage up on a small cabinet so that the cage itself doesn't need to be as tall, i.e. a cage that is 5 feet tall set on a 1.5 foot cabinet. It is also a really good idea to put the cage/cabinet on good-quality casters.

Putting the cage on the floor is undoubtedly extremely stressful for your baby! Iguanas really need to be up high off the floor to feel safe. This is especially true with the dogs in the house (potential predators, in his eyes). Can you put it up on a bureau or something? Also, I would ditch the substrate -- your ig can end up eating it (might choke or the stuff might get stuck in his intestines) and it is a potential breeding ground for bacteria. The best thing to use, although not as attractive, is plain paper (butcher paper or paper towels). Once you build a nice big cage for him, you won't need to put anything on the floor, just a big tub of water (baby tubs for 10$ at Walmart work great) for him to poop in.

How much does your ig eat every day? What's his name, by the way? Do you know how old s/he is? As for the sex, you will only be able to see that once he reaches sexual maturity (18-24 months). The web sites below explain the differences between sexually mature iguanas and show some pictures:

http://www.greenigsociety.org/malefemale.htm
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/steve.woodward/sexing.html

Hope this helps!
Julie

His name is Jose. When i bought his he was 3 months old and ive had him for about 5 weeks now. He hasnt really been much of an eater intill this week it seems evey morning his food dish is empty. I give him a small handfull of mixed vegies and fruits. I chopped them up small and put them in the freezer and pull a small amount out every day and put in fridge for tommorow meal. Is it ok to freeze his/her food?
dave

Hi,

My baby, Digit, is about the same age as yours. My cage
is 4'long by 2'wide and 2' tall. I bought a cheap pair of
sawhorses at Menards to place the cage up higher. I would not
use wood chips for substrate. I use newspaper with paper towels
over it. It is very absorbant and easy to clean. How big
is your baby. Digit weighs in at 75 grams now. I feed only
fresh food daily because freezing it destroys some of the
vitamins. He would only eat pellets when I first adopted him
so it took me about 2 weeks to get him completely switched over
to a fresh diet. I give him a few of the pellets but now he
seems to leave them and eat everything else. I also give a
pinch of tums every other day in his food for calcium and
a multi-vitamin 2 times/week.

Linda

Hi Dave,

Giving your ig a diet of just food that you have frozen, in the long run, is not a good idea, as this destroys a lot of vitamins, as Linda mentioned in her post as well. Freezing veggies is a good way to provide more variety when a good variety of vegetables is scarce (like in the wintertime), but these should be added to a diet of fresh vegetables and not make up the entirety. Freezing is also a handy way of having food available for when you need to go away and have someone else take care of your ig.

Hope this helps!
Julie