Reptile & Amphibian Forums

He lives in my basement with me. he roams freely where ever he pleases, he eats rainbow salad and chunky soup (but he picks out the meat) he has a heat rock. and hes uv lamp burned out about year ago. he spends most of his time laying on the furnice. is he ok?

Dear God!

Stop feeding him the chunky soup and get him on some real greens and other veggies (FRESH!). Dandellion Greens, Collard Greens, Mustard Greens, Snw Peas, String Beans, a little fruit apples, oranges, bananas. No Spinach and no Lettuce!

Along with the food issue, you need to get a UVA/UVB lamp ASAP! It is crucial for proper bone structure and growth. A ReptiGlo 5.0 is a good one.

And, find a good vet that is known to specialize in Iguanas and get him checked out.

Also, when did his tail fall off? And how?

-Philipp

And oh! One more thing! Dont forget that you cant feed an iguana any sort of meat! It is bad for them! They are vegetatarians. Not T-Rexes.

"Dont forget that you cant feed an iguana any sort of meat. Its bad for them"

First off let me say I am in no way recomending this just merely stating a fact. 7 years ago I had several igs dropped off to me as rescues all were just babies, the owners found out how big they get and decided against keeping them. Anyway to make a long story short I ended up with 40 igs. There was so much controversy over how to keep them and care for them that I decided to seperate them into groups to figure out what worked best. One group was fed nothing but greens and found that over half ended up with MBD and died. The second group was fed a diet of complexly mixed salads and faired well none of them died, all lived and were eventually adopted out. Group 3 was fed nothing but prekilled pinkie mice and day old quail this group did extremely well excellent color better than the other groups but became mildly aggressive, they all lived and grew very well. The last group was fed mighty dog dog food exclusively and grew fairly well they kept poor color but seemed to grow ok. After the fist few months they began to die ( I tried to reverse the damage but to no avail) all but one died he grew to 6 feet 2 inches and 26 pound his diet was the only one that I never changed. All of these groups were kept in similar conditions as far as caging and lighting goes. You have to remember these lizards hang in the canopies in the wild and will prey on baby birds, eggs, insects ect. Iguanas, as with most animals, are opportunistic feeders (especially juveniles).

Just offering up some info. Not recommending anyone try this with there beloved pet. This was done so I could for myself understand the best way of keeping the Green Iguana.

Thank you
TB

are only fed a fruit, veggie, and greens salad, with pinkie mice or a day old quail offered once to twice monthly. Again I only wanted to let the populous know that the whole meat thing is not true if fed in moderation. Now I would not suggest anything with hair but pinkie mice once in a while will not hurt it gives alittle fat in the diet, but only in moderation. This has been my experience with all of my IGS, We currently own 6 and all are doing great they came in as rescues and were very thin but now are putting the weight back on and getting lots of TLC.

The above are just my opinions and not advice to anyone. I would never suggest any body do anything with their beloved pets that may cause harm or stress. I have been dealing with herps for 26 years first of which are the IGS. If anyone is looking to aquire an Iguana check with the rescues and shelters. There are a ton of IGS out there looking for loving homes. Do your part and help some of these creatures if you can.

Thank you
TB

his tail broke about 6 months ago, i havnt noticed it growing back.

he was climbing on my stereo and the speaker fell on his tail. oh and i play electric guitar and I crank it pretty loud, will that hurt his ears? is his life in danger? i really dont want him to die. im what people consider a loser and hes probably my best freind

Oh boy... First and foremost, if you are going to let your Ig free roam it, then please iguana proof you and your igs living space. That means moving/covering/rearranging anything that can possibly fall on him and tear any more body parts off. Second of all, svinarsk is right. Get rid of the soup! I think he gave you a pretty good food list. You can also try hibiscus, grapes, sweet potatoes, blue berries, strawberries, etc. And you definitely need to get him some full spectrum lighting. I would provide several basking spots for him in your living space. As well as giving him adequate soaking time in a bath tub or large container (make sure he can get out when he is done). Also, AND THIS IS A BIG ONE, start supplementing his food with vitamins. I use Miner-All by Sticky Tongue Farms every other feeding and Essential Probiotics every 3 weeks with the Miner-All. Otherwise you are going to have a nasty case of MBD on your hands. And that disease, like many takes a lot of time to try to reverse. Hope this helps!

Good luck in your endeavors,
JS

OMG he prob has the disease! he lives in my cold basement, he hasnt had a UV lamp in a FULL YEAR. and i feed him chunky soup. those are all the things it says NOT to do. this is bad. i have neglected him. hes going to die, isnt he? does he look healthy? this is a very recent pic, about 3 days ago. and he doesnt have those spikey things???

randy, don't freak out. Just make the necessary changes ASAP and that will make all the difference. It is really nice to see someone really trying to correct problems with husbandry and that is genuinely concerned about his iguana's health. Good luck, I wish you and your ig wellness. I have been rehabilitating rescued iguanas for many years and have seen many that I didn't think would live, pull through and make it. I have seen many that look ten million times worse than yours recover with proper diet, lighting, and supplementation.

i am not an expert in the iguana feild and i dont belive that anyone is. so i sat down and i typed out this little care sheet

if you have any questions tho i will be glad to answer them to the best of my ability. you can email me zombie2979@aol.com talk to me online at Zombie2979 or just start a new post and i will help as best as i can.

i have said it once and i will say it again you need to set iguanas up correctly for them to thrive. This IS NOT cheap!!

CAGING
1) they also need very large enclosures that cost a decent amount of money to make. there cages need to be large and they need to hold heat and humidity. they need a minimun of 6feet long 3 feet wide and 6 feet tall. you need things for him to climb on. and he needs a water bowl and a food bowl. and i always keep food avalible for mine all of the time.
DIET
2)get them on the right diet. NO more Lettuce and Chunky soup. it is not good for them. use your calcium everyday. feed them dark leafy greens(collards,danilion, some kale, escarole, endive, mustard) go to the store and pick that stuff up. you can also use some vegetables(carrots,pease,green bean, squash, bell pepers) you can also use some fruit(grapes, mango, some banana, peaches, nectarines,berries, melons, citrus fruits, can be used in moderation..these are mostly used as treats.
LIGHTING/HEATING
3)get the right lighting get ones like the repti sun 5.0 or iguana light. you need these for your iguana to thrive. if you dont have these your iguana WILL get MBD. and MBD means vet and vet means expensive bills. you also need heat lights Ceramic heat emiters work great. they produce no light so they can be kept on 24 hrs a day. do not use thosse red and blue lights for at night all they do is stress out the iguana even more than they are. also as stated before expect your electric bill to UP. yours temps should be around 90-100 for a basking spot and around 80-85 on the cool side. with out this thermal gradient your iguana cant thermoregulate and if they cant thermoregulate than they can digest there foos right and it WILL rot in the stomach.
HUMIDITY/SOAKING
4) give your iguanas soaks every day or at least every other day. this will keep them hydrated and will also entertain them(my iguanas love bath time). not all iguanas will drink for a bowl of standing water(my older one will the younger will not). you also need to keep the humidity up in the cage. around 50-80% is ideal. with out the proper humidity your iguana will not be able to shed right and WILL become dehydrated which can lead to loss of apetite and after that death of your poor green friend.

Mike D

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