I've been floating around for awhile without saying anything... but since I posted yesterday I figured it was time to come out of the shadows 
Those of you on greenigsociety.org might recognize me, but for the rest of you, I'll give you a brief introduction.
My name is Alika and my ig's name is Xander. He(?) is about 19 months old, and we've had him for almost that long. We made the decision to get a green iguana because my husband had one as a kid and had been pestering me for another. We did our research, but unfortunately, the information we used was from library books and, we now know, horribly outdated. For the first year of his life Xander had a heat lamp and was being fed mixed veggies and iguana pellets, along with a commercial wet iguana food called iguana bites and the occasional scrambled egg. We thought we were doing pretty good with him, but couldn't understand why he wasn't growing like he should.
Early last month, Xander was rushed into the emergency vet's with a broken femur. At that time, he was also diagnosed with MBD. That's when we started doing our online research and realized how outdated our information really was. We bought "Iguanas for Dummies" along with another iguana book - the title of which I can't remember (I'm writing from work).
Today, Xander has a UVB bulb as well as his heat lamp. His diet has been improved, and he now gets a daily salad of collard greens, turip greens, mustard greens, bok choy, cilantro, and watercress in addition to a small amount of the fruit or vegetable of the day. He received a liquid calcium supplement twice a day the first week he was back from the vet's, and he now gets a powdered calcium supplement twice a week. He also gets 30-60min. of outside time a day, using a hip harness and 1-2 bathtub soaks a day. His cast came off last week, and he is looking and feeling much better. He's expected to make a full recovery, and will visit the vet this fall for a follow-up exam and x-rays.
I wish I would have utilized online resources sooner, but I always had more respect for books in the library. Not anymore. Luckily, we caught this disease early. Xander just finished shedding, and we're expecting a growth spurt soon. He's also getting a new, giant cage this month.
Hope I can learn a lot from being here and maybe help some newbies out, too. Don't make the same mistake I did... BUY an UPDATED ig book and keep in touch with ig keepers online.
Without further ado, here's Xander: (this picture was taken 6/28/04)
Alika
