Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm a real worrysome new caregiver, too! Thanks to some reassuring words, I've calmed down a bit but, here's my delima of the day:
Despite all I read preparing for Cy (1+ yo cyclura cornuta)to come live with us, I built his basking area on an incline. I'm dying to remedy the situation. Cy is way more comfortable eating in his basking area than on the floor of his cage but a lot of the food that we put up there ends up falling off. I want him to be as happy & comfortable as possible and I really don't want to stress him out. Ari is dying to hold him but Cy's only been home for 8 days and our plan was to begin holding him inside his enclosure in the next few days. So, heres the delemma: do we let Ari hold him outside the enclosure and put in the better basking shelf NOW or do we go with the original plan and wait on home improvements?
Thanks!

I'd say go ahead and fix the cage arrangements now. It might be a good time for Cy to have a nice warm bath and some cuddles while wrapped in a towel afterwards. You've got to start sometime and he's been with you over a week if I remember correctly. Keep in mind that a year old Rhino can pack a pretty good nip so watch your fingers and face.

Have fun and enjoy your new family member!

Is that a small chair, or a BIG iguana.

Roger

it's a normal sized kitchen chair, the seat being 18 inches wide at the widest part. The iguana is a 3 year old male named Scrub. He was intended as a mate for Bubbles, my 5 year old female, and they get along just fine. He made a few halfhearted mating attempts last year at 2 years of age and was quite persistant with her this year but she's still not interested. Maybe next year.........

Bubbles

Ari says, 'Wow! What a beautiful iguana!' and wants to know it's name. Thanks for the advice. I'll feel alot better once his basking area is horizontal. Ari's real excited, it's been so hard for him to wait.
Now, about this bath, I know he may not like it and he might freak out but I'd like to have a more precise understanding of what that means. We'll run the bath before bringing him into the bathroom, we'll use a thermometer to test the water temp and we'll keep the water level real low. Should we keep hold of him (would it even be possible if he's freaked out?) Is there any chance that he can climb out of a slick tub?
Well,tomorrow we go 'into the drink'! Wish us all luck!
Cydney & Ari

Cy may not like his bath much now but in time he will learn to enjoy it. Bubs still doesn't appreciate a bath very much but she will be good and stay in the tub for about 5 minutes.
If you have some kind of mat that you can place in the tub to give him some better footing he might feel more secure. You can use an old towel in place of a bath mat. Place him in the bath slowly and stay with him, talking to him and reassuring him. You may want to keep a hand on him, either supporting his belly if he's really uncomfortable or just petting his back. Try to prevent water from splashing into his face.
I don't think a yearling can climb out of the tub. To be on the safe side keep the bathroom door closed while he is in the bath.
Don't let him see himself in the mirror. They don't understand mirrors and he will see his reflection as another lizard and could feel threatened.
When Cy comes out of the tub and is wrapped nicely in a towel you may want to take the opportunity to clip his claws. You can use any type of nail clipper(I use the kind intended for cat claws) and take off just the tips.
Best of luck with Cy's first bath!