Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Everybody,

About 4 months ago we adopted an Iglet with MBD (we estimate he's about 1 year old, could be less). My husband saw him in a pet store, looking very ill, with a twist in his spine, and offered some advice on taking care of Iguanas to the store owners (we have 4 other Igs). The store owners promptly offered my husband the Ig. "Baby" was quite sick: he had abcesses on his face, some of his toes were broken, his was shaking, he had a twist in his back, his back legs could barely move, he wouldn't eat, etc.

After 4 months of treatment, tube feeding, vet visits and loving care, Baby is now a little spitfire. He climbs, runs, bites, hisses, all the things I would expect an untrained Iguana (yes, I work with him to tame him) to do, except one thing: Baby won't eat.

Like I said, we tube fed him for about 3 months, then tried to hand feed him. We finally decided to wait him out and he hasn't eaten anything in a week and a half. We offer him food everyday, we leave it in the enclosure with him. He won't touch it.

I'm getting nervous. I don't want to see Baby's health backslide. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get him to eat? We've tried fruits, baby food, greens, bread - you name it we tried it. How long should we let him go? He's much healthier than he was 4 months ago, but still not as strong as I'd like. Any thoughts, suggestions ...?

Thanks in advance!

Peace,
Christine

P.S. Here's a pic of Baby a couple of months ago

Hi,

Back again, figured I'd better give y'all some more info: the cage Baby is in is a 4x2x3 mesh cage, with two Reptisuns and a basking light, he's got some hiding spaces, climbing branches and a window view. When he was getting tube fed, he pooped daily in his water bowl, and he gets warm baths every other day (in addition to his own soaking in his water bowl). He was checked and treated for parasites. Obviously, he was treated for MBD. That's all I can think of, please let me know if there are any questions.

Peace,
Christine

im not sure what to do.. i would keep giving him water so he doesnt get dehydrated... you could try making his food into a paste(or using baby food) and putting it on his dish maybe that will work.. or maybe youve already tried it...

If you search back there was a person on here who was tube feeding there igg and then it wouldnt eat from a bowl but then the igg started to.. i cant remember there name on here... but if you search back you could find it.. this person may be able to give you advice...

Keep us posted..

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You probably already know this, but not eating is a symptom, not a disease. It soundls like his cage may be too large for him to feel comfortable?
or maybe he still needs treatment for MBD. Quite possibly, he is still in pain.

It could also be that: He is not warm enough, he does not get enough variety in his diet to keep him interested, he has parasites, something unknown to you is stressing him out, his hot spots are in the wrong place, the treatment for MBD depleated his gut flora, he has an infection, he doesnt have enough of a thermal gradient, his food is not chopped up small enough, he is dehydrated, he is missing a vital element in his diet/environment/ general life....etc etc. frustrating? yes. And i am sorry to bring all this up if you have already examined these possiblities, but they are all worth looking into.

I would make sure that you are offering enough variety in his diet. Stay away from strongly scented fruits such as orange or apple. I would try out spring mix, escarole, turnip greens, collards, dandelion greens and mustard greens. For fleshy veggies i would go for : peas, carrots, squash (this is extremely enticing for igs....the orange color of butternut squash drives them nuts) cooked squash is easy to eat for small igs too. Green beans, summer squash, prickly pear fruit, mango, kiwi, and blueberries are all good too. This is what sunshine's diet consists of. Wit your ig, i would mix only 2 of these components at a time, so as not to overwhelm your little iggy with smells. Chop the veggies really small, too allow for easy digestion. You may even want to keep the different veggies seperate on the plate to allow your ig to pick out what he likes. Make sure that you stay away from certain veggies, too...such as lettuce (all types), bananna (at least while he is smalla nd recovering from MBD), citrus, white cabbage, corn and lima beans. Also, be sure that you have a good calcium supplement with D3 to put on the meals you feed him. Hope this helps.

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