Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well I got my iguana, I read the entire Dummies guide and am reading the ultimate book now as well, I felt I was more than prepared.

And how I got my iguana: interestingly enough my friend saw me reading my iguana book and said he had gotten one a couple weeks ago, I showed him the pictures in the book and he proceeded to freak out, not knowing they were the giants you sometimes see people have. I talked to him and he was feeding him regular salad and such, and not to mention he was using regular UV but he had the enclosure near a window. I explained everything, and he couldn't live up to it, so I took it and reimbursed him for the fee he had bought it at, seemed fair.

He is pretty active and kinda funny, he is in a small enclosure temporarily until I get his finished next week, but I let him roam about outside. He is already eats fine and likes being misted (even though the humidity in my room is about 60 anyways) he closes his eyes and props himself up a little ;p He also has a tendancy to run around the enclosure at 50 miles and hour sometimes and throws his food around... He eats an absurd amount for his 4" SVL length, about half a paper plate... I feed him a mixture of collard greens, mustard greens, a little bit of turnip greens, greenbeans and okra and a little piece of banana for a treat, covered in a pinch of non phosporous calcium/D3.

My health concern/question is: he seems to have a toe that is broken or something, the top is kinda twisted at an angle with a little indention before it, like it was bitten or something... He has no trouble climbing or anything, and it isn't hurting him (its not an open sore). Will this be a problem? Or maybe It will straighten out overtime?

Congrats on getting your ig. I would take him to the vet and have it looked at. If it's just hanging there or if it's broken and not going to heal them they might have to remove it. You should have him checked out anyway to make sure he is in good health especially if he's been without the proper diet and no uvb lighting. Putting him in a window won't get him uvb light because the glass filters out everything iguanas need from sunlight. As far as calcium supplement goes give him the kind that does not have D3. Too much D3 is bad for them and with the proper diet and regular vitamin supplement they will get plenty of D3. I read that on my calcium supplement container. I wish you luck with your iguana. Try giving him some butternut squash. My igs love that more than anything and you can give them as much as they will eat. I hope this info. helped.

Thanks for the info.

Yea I knew about the filtering, that was what my friend said.

The toe is healthy and everything and the nail is fine from appearance... It just looks like it is kinked... But your right, I am going to take him to the vet asap. If they cut it off will he have problems climbing when he gets bigger?

Yea and I will be sure to pick up that squash tomorrow (my family threw away his food I bought anyways ;/)

Also how much does an adult consume? My guy/gal is probably only about a foot long or so Snout to tail and already consumes quite a quantity for size... I usually serve a paper plate evenly disbursed with food and usually he/she eats about half of it, which seems like a lot for such a small guy. I think I read somewhere an adult will eat about a whole little bushel that greens come in a day.

How long should I keep the greens refridgerated before I throw them away and get new ones?

How do you do climbing in larger cages? Shelves/netting?

What are the reccomended size enclosures for adulthood?

What should the poop look like? I read it should be part white, but my iggs appear to be all white...

Iguanas are really adaptable when it comes to loosing toes or even a limb. They can get around just fine without one.

I have 2 igs. one is almost 1 year old(ED or Ella) and the other is 2 years old(Sam). They eat a lot. I give them a full size plate with their vegie salad covering the entier plate and about 2 inches high. They will eat the whole thing. There are those times when they hardly eat anything. You just have to keep their diet interesting to them and not so routine. They like color in their food too. I think he will be happy with squash. I know I keep saying that, but I can't believe how much my iggys like it. It seems like your guy is eating just fine. Remember to mist his food throughout the day to keep it moist.

Make sure when you store your greens that they are sealed good. Do you prepare their food ahead of time? I prepare about a weeks worth at a time of their main greens. Then day by day I cut up their additional treats or other staple foods that I add for variety( squash, green beans, fruits, radicio, endive, carrots, etc.). You can pretty much tell when greens start to go bad by the way they turn colors or get just icky looking. I would buy greens for 1 week at a time.

There are so many different ways to build things for them to climb on. Just be sure if you get branches from outside soak them in bleach(then rinse them really good) or bake them to kill any mites or other parasites that live in the wood. I have branches and platforms, and I am making their encloser taller by 3 feet today. In the new bottom part it is going to be shelves, ramps, and a vertical climbing pole to get to the upper level. I am wrapping the ramps and pole with rope to help them hang on. It is hard for them to climb flat smooth surfaces. Netting and hammocks are good too. Just make sure it is user friendly. I'm going to post pics when I'm done with their addition.

I'm not sure what web address it is, but you can find pictures of poop at green iguana society site. When they go potty it should be clear liquid with white in it and dark poop like solid stuff. If it smells really bad then something is wrong. Someone else will probably have a better example then I do.

All the information I gave you is based on what I do with my igs(may not be 100% right), things that I have been through or things that I have read or advice I got from someone else. I hope I was able to help with your questions.