Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a few random questions and I'm hoping for some advice. We have been using Iguanas for Dummies as our bible but I'd love some info (book or care sheet) specific to cycluras. Anyone know of anything? What about baths? Do cycluras need one every day or is every other okay? My big question is about food. Cy doesn't eat very much and that worries me but I don't know how much he's supposed to be eating (he's about 18mo.old). I put out about 1 cup of food in the morning and most of it's still on the plate at night. He is pooping every day & he just went through a shed. I make a salad of collards & mustards & arugala & dandelion greens. When I have them, I add beet greens. I grate winter squash into the mix and I do think he likes that. Last week, I was low on everything and made him a salad of collards and bagged baby salad greens (everything from arugala to radiccio but alot of red & green leaf lettuce) He ate the whole thing! That was a first! We give him mango for a treat after his bath and he really likes it but he only eats a few bites of it too.
Soooo, should I play with his food? Leave this or that out to see if there's something he really doesn't like in the mix or are my Cajun maternal feeder instincts running amouck and I just need to calm down?
Thanks in advance!
Cydney

cydney,
There isn't a book on the care or cyclura. 2 people are working on one but you have to wait. In the meantime, the only thing out there is the caresheet Daviv Blair has. You can find it on cyclura.com/articles/West Indian Iguanas. Its about 7 pages. OR write or call him and he will send it to you, Crittercorner.com.
Baths, they dont really need them at all. It is a luxury. Its a great way to get them more humidity, keep them clean get, them to poop, help in the taming process. I dont give mine a baths but lots of people do.
Your diet doesn't sound bad. I would check your temps. as they might be low if its not eating. maybe another reason but thats the first thing to check. cyclura can get picky and stubborn about what they eat. Just stay with the good stuff and leave the salad mix for emergencies

His basking area is always between 95 and 110 but maybe the rest of the cage isn't hot enough. It's never below 72 but the average temp is just under 80. Should I try getting that temp up a bit? His tail finished shedding last week and his nose started shedding yesterday.He spends alot of time these days in his hide box which has a heating pad under the floor. He's a pretty grumpy guy. I have one more question. We are going out of town for 10 days. I have someone staying in the house who will feed him and clean his cage but she can't handle him. We're working on taming him but he's still pretty skittish. Should I get someone who is comfortable with iguanas to come in and handle him or will he be okay for 10 days?
Thanks,
Cydney

I have my basking site at 124. Am I correct, I dont know but it seems to work. SD Zoo has theres at 150 for their cyclura. I would blow a fuse trying to acheive that! There was a time that mine hid for long periods too. Shedding is always a good sign- he's growing! Try to turn up the basking site and see if there is a difference, give it a week. There are no set rules just try different things. I would bet everything is fine and hes just adjusting and not real confident yet.
I just was gone for a week, last week. my neighbor takes care of mine. All I ask is feed and poop removal. 10 days won't hurt the process any. Another person he doesnt know may and they are not used to him. You dont want anybody getting bit either. Theses guys live a long time so 10 days is nothing, you have plenty of time to tame him. I am always happy to come back to live cyclura. thats all I ask. patience is key with these guys

Thanks for your help! This forum is such a blessing! I'll turn up the heat in the basking area and see if that helps. Taming is a bit frustrating (I just want to cuddle him so much!) but Cy's not too bad. He runs when I reach for him and sqirms & pees once I've got hold of him but then he calms down and is quite gentle.
-Cydney

Hi, keep up that handling. You will really really thank yourself for going thru this later on when you wake up one day and realize how much tamer he is than he was before. When I look back on Tashmoo's progress it was amazing how she came along. It was slow but worth every scratch and every clothing change after the waterfall!

Carole
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Check it out. www.reptilecare.com

I go out of town for 2-4 months at a time for work. While away the cornuta get basic husbandry - food, water, heat, and cleaning, no handling. When I come back the adult rhinos are still tame, except for one that was tame, then got mad at me several years back, and still hasen't forgiven me.

Some rhino iggs don't like certain mustard greens. When I lived in CA they did not like the ones from the markets, but loved fresh picked wild. From the market, the texas variety were preffered over the standard mustard. Try taking it out of the mix, and see if it effects the food consumption.