Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.

Click here for Dragon Serpents
Click for 65% off Shipping with Reptiles 2 You
Click for 65% off Shipping with Reptiles 2 You

How to set up a free roamer.. need advice from everyone who ahs free roamers..

Mike D Jul 28, 2004 11:47 AM

Well i have been talking to Sam-N-Ella for a few nights about this but i would just like some other peoples opinions on this...

When i first got my big igg he was always a free roamer and then when i got him he had to be put into a cage.. and when ever he is out of his cage he is alot happier than when he is in it.. so i have been talking to parents about free roaming him in my room when i move into my new room...

How does everyone have there free roaming iggs set up? What do you do with them at night? How do you have there heat and UVB set up?

Also the room im moving into has my brothers old bunk beds i there(which are very comfortable) so i may leave tehm in there and set up teh top as his basking area... it would give hima decent amount of room.. the bunks them selves are big(they came from an air force base) so they are big and strong...

Doing this will also leave the closet empty so if i end up getting the other igg i posted about below i will have a place for him when he gets bigger.. or if my parents decide another igg is to much(they dont like the idea becuase they are so big) it will open it up if i decide to get something else..

And my Big guy will be happy because he will be free again.. and he loves being out and roaming..

Mike D
-----
1.0.0 adopted iguana
0.0.2 Hedgehogs

My Email

YOU DONT OWN YOUR IGUANA, YOUR IGUANA OWNS YOU

HAPPINESS IS LIKE PEEING ON YOURSELF, EVERYONE CAN SEE IT BUT ONLY YOU CAN FEEL THE WARMTH

Replies (6)

sarahadele Jul 28, 2004 01:08 PM

Zeph freeroams, but he goes outside most of most days to bask,eat,poop, and bask Inside ive got a human heating pad on a pillow on my bed that he rests on. On cold or rainy days, he is inside,I put him in my bathroom. Food,water, and poop messes are easier to clean up off linoleum. Hope this helps..
-----
Sarah
IgWhippedInFlorida
groups.yahoo.com/group/IgWhippedInFlorida/

sideman7 Jul 28, 2004 01:36 PM

Funny, just goes to show that each ig is different. My ig is free to do what he wants during the day, and he has three different places he likes... Either the top shelf in my office (which is in front of a window he can look out) which has a UV basking/heating light, my bed, or his enclosure. He appears to be most comfortable (based on his color) when he is in his enclosure (and he is free to come and go as he pleases). He is quite territorial, and the enclosure is HIS. He can be sweet as can be when he is out of the enclosure (well, except for breeding season), but inside is another story. I should put a sign up that says "STAY OUT!". He will fling (all 5' of him) from one end to the other to make sure there are no intruders, and will press his open mouth up against the plexiglass to make sure that you understand. It's all a big show really (although there is no question he would bite if given the chance). I can still catch him off guard and rub his head until he melts... I do have to remove him from the enclosure to clean it though (for fear of him jumping down onto my head)...

Anyway, one thing that is very important to keep in mind with a free roamer is to iguana proof everywhere the iguana can get to. They are unbelievable when it come to finding trouble! They will climb up stuff they shouldn't, pull stuff down onto themselves, etc... The apartment I'm in has mirrored closet doors, I had to cover them with contact paper so Dexter wouldn't see his reflection (he loves picking fights with himself...).

mike d Jul 28, 2004 02:41 PM

oo i know all about tehm going where they arent supposed to.. mine always makes sure he has my attention BEFORE he does it to..

i still have to work on it a little but i think i know what i want to do if i set him up in there....

also i went down to my work today to check on the iggs that we got in that were in poor shape..the one i was helping along was dead this morning along with three other ones... there are only two left from the shipment and neither of them are doing good.. they are in a corner not eating or basking... i think they are all just to far gone to be helped.. kinda sucks..

so i wont be getting another igg

Mike D
-----
1.0.0 adopted iguana
0.0.2 Hedgehogs

My Email

YOU DONT OWN YOUR IGUANA, YOUR IGUANA OWNS YOU

HAPPINESS IS LIKE PEEING ON YOURSELF, EVERYONE CAN SEE IT BUT ONLY YOU CAN FEEL THE WARMTH

jiffypop Jul 28, 2004 08:07 PM

In my lizard rooms I have basking spots set up about 4-5 feet above the floor. The lights are suspended from the ceiling and set on timers. I have a couple of thick towels on the basking spots with a heating pad between in the winter time. Water pans are on the floor with food both on the shelves and on the floor. I have a basking spot set up close to the floor for the roaming torts. Some of the basking spots are set up in front of windows.

ForestTime Jul 28, 2004 09:33 PM

Forest has free roam of the house but his own area is set up in the corner of our living room. It's right in front of a window, he has a big foot stool thing Mike's mom gave us for his bed. It's about 4 feet long by 2 feet wide.

He has a ramp & his wicker basket leaning on it. His heat (moon) light is there (always on) & his UVB light is mounted on the wall above the pillow where he likes to lay.

In the winter I put a heating pad under his towel but he avoids that spot since it got warm so I removed it for the summer. When he gets hot he crawls down & will lay on the cool tile floor.

He can come in either the front or back door & heads for the kitchen to be fed & then he heads to his bed. He has his own lawn chair & another wicker basket out back on the patio for basking.

I did put an open trash bag under his towel in case he has an accident on his bed. If he does, I take it out, hose it off, & replace his towel with a new one.

He's pretty easy. In the morning I open the window blind, turn on his UVB light, take him out to potty & bask & then breakfast & he heads to his bed. In the afternoon, back out to bask & potty, feed again & again, he heads to his bed.

He doesn't get on the furniture (don't ask me why, he was a good boy like that when we adopted him) but I have ig proofed the house.

The only other place he goes to lay is on my son's bed but that's rare. He really likes his "own" space.

Heres a pic of his space...

ig_daddy Jul 31, 2004 06:10 PM

Hello. We have had Iggi free roam for about 2 1/2 years now. She roams the whole house, so some of this won't apply to a room roaming ig. The picture attached is from 2002. The back of the couch was her basking area. Pardon the sneeze on the window. She slept in a floor-to-ceiling cat tree, on a baby receiving blanket, which was on top of a human heating pad.
Image
-----
Lamar, Debbie, Nathaniel and Iggi :>~

Site Tools