Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got my green iguana one week ago this past sunday and he will not eat or drink. I can't say that he hasn't at all but if he has i have not seen him and his food always looks untouched. He is shedding, but i don't know if that makes a difference. I offered squash, cucumbers, collard greens, kale, romaine and nothing. I chopped it up, minced and left it in large pieces. He seems to just sit there and stare at me. I but him in a warm bath and nothing. I was building a large enclosure for him out side but i underestimated his ability to wiggle through the mesh so i'm going to have to wait until he puts on some weight or grows a little. He seems alert but don't know what else to do. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I got him at a reptile show. They said he was about six months old. I asked what were they feeding him just see what they would say because i already knew more or less what i should feed him and the guy said "lettuce, canned iguana food and crickets", so i'm not sure if maybe he is just used to eating other stuff.

Well, I can't help much with what the problem might be, but I'd have been very careful buying an ig from someone at a show who obviously doesn't know how to properly feed him. BTW, you should try to avoid kale, it isn't good for them. Good luck...

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0.1.0 Ball Python - Shaman
1.0.0 Green Iguana - Ike
2.2.0 Cats - Pumpkin, Furball, Pixie, Stitch
1.0.0 Cockatiel - Ozzy
0.1.0 Budgie - Tweetie
1.0.0 Dwarf Rabbit - Rascal

If you just got him a week ago and he's 6 months, then he's probably not used to eating what you offered him. You might want to try coaxing him to eat something. The good news is he's still young, juvies are more food adaptable. But if he's been eating lettuce, canned iguana food and crickets his whole life, it may take him a while to start eating good food. Lettuce is very bad for practically any animal, it's mostly water. I would stay away from bugs too. I usually only give my babe canned iguana food on special occasions. You might want to try eskerole too, it's full of nutrients and my ig loves the stuff.
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~*Chibi*~
Sir Iggy ( 1.0.0 El Salvador Blue Iguana), Ryo-ohki, Orion, Bud, & Finnegan (3.1.0 crazy kitties), Rosebud (0.1.0 cockerspaniel), and Kayko (0.0.1 leopard gecko)

I just got my Green Iguana for christmas as a present from my girlfriend, she bought him from a flea market, along with a couple other reps. The guy was feeding him lettuce and that's it... I've been feeding him some fruit, collard greens, and some nutrigrow iguana diet sprinkled over everything, he chomps down everything as soon as I give it to him. It could be he just hasn't gotten used to you, or the food, like he said.

Mine won't eat directly in front of me yet, he gives me that bewildered look also. I just sit down in my chair and watch him pig out, then he goes and soaks in his water bowl..

Right now he's basking.. He loves it.. i have him in an open-air habitat and he just adores it.. =-)

Good-luck with your iguana
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Savannah Monitor - Artimus
Emerald Swift - Jesus
Baby veiled Cham - Sir August De Winter
Green Iguana - King Arthur
Rose-hair tarantula - Bill
Basilisk - Adam Used to be Adam and Eve but there was a food competition because my girlfriend was taking care of them and she didn't know what was wrong until it was too late.

Hey there
your problem is not with you (except no Kale, and use Romaine sparingly... they get addicted easily and it has zero nutritional value... a life lesson for yourself as well, lettuce is just water...) its with what the iguana's been fed for the first 6 months of its life.
It's going to take some patients and diligence but he'll eat eventually... one thing a healthy ig likes is eating

Don't be discouraged by the fact that the ig won't eat in front of you... I've had my girl for 8 months, she's approx a year old and she still will not eat in front of me.

Make sure you're offering it to him at the right time of day... usually around 11 am or noonish, they've had a chance to bask and warm up

Make sure the ambient temp in your cage is hot enough
generally around 85-90 in the warm end, and no less than 65 in the cool end... iguana's cannot digest their food without proper heat... he'll need a nice warm basking spot. My girl has a ledge right up close to her light (keep the light outside of the cage though so they can't get onto the hood itself and burn themselves...) so she can soak up the heat when she's done eating.

I noticed the same problem when I first got mine, so I cut the portions down... give him smaller portions and at first making it easier to see if he's eaten anything, and if he is, what's he NOT eating?
some people make the mistake of offering their baby igs way too much food which just ends up going to waste... they're little garbage compactors and can eat a lot, but a heaping cup of food for a baby lizard is a little much...just keep an eye on him, if you notice all of his food is gone, give him more, it's a matter of playing around and observing

If he's still being picky, be persistent, keep offering him different combinations...at first it's going to be frustrating and a little expensive since most of their foods are hard to buy out of season

another thing to keep in mind is stress. He's in a new place, you may have other pets or small kids bombing around bothering him... or there may be something in his cage he doesn't like, maybe something he's lacking... how's the humidity? and is it warm enough?

other than that: Melissa Kaplan's Iguana's for Dummies will have all of the answers you need.

best of luck
if he still won't eat after a few days, call your vet.
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Alexandria Neonakis
Owner of:
Olivia the Female Green Ig
Maize(f) and Onyx(m) the cornsnakes
Peter(m) and Lois(f) the Leopard Geckos