Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi again everyone! I have yet another question for you...this one is about using artificial plants in the iguana environment.
Does anyone "decorate" their enclosures with artificial plants? If so, what type (i.e. plastic, silk...)? Any suggestions on this would be so very much appreciated.
I just feel that Gahzirra's enclosure looks so bleak, and sterile...I'd like to give him a more "homesy" feeling.
Thanks in advance (again! LOL!)
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Meredith
***********
"What will people think when they hear that I'm a Jesus freak; What will people do when they find out it's true?
I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak; Cause there ain't no disguising the truth!"
(DC Talk: Jesus Freak; 1995 Virgin Records)

I do have some. "Vines" i guess they are called from Wal-Mart. 6 and 9 foot ones wrapped in some strategic places. For instance i but any power cords in some plastic PVC type stuff. It is plastic with a "slit" all the way dowm the side. Anyway, I have "covered" them with the plastic vines. Then, the UVB light I have on top is right along the eye path, so I but more in the front of the cage on the cieling to block it. Over all it looks great and I have seen no idication the he has ever messed with any of it. In fact I am thinking of adding more to the interior and exterior corners just for looks.
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Mike
0.0.1 Green Iguana
0.0.1 Pac Man Frog
1.1.0 Albino African Clawed Frog
1.0.0 Corn Snake
1.0.0 BIG Golden Retriever 105 lbs

>>Hi again everyone! I have yet another question for you...this one is about using artificial plants in the iguana environment.
>>Does anyone "decorate" their enclosures with artificial plants? >>>

Hi Mederith,

There are lots of vines, a silk wreath of leaves and a real 4 ft palm type tree in G'Kar's enclosure. I tired to use leaves that he would find in the jungle. There are also large palm leaves that we put on the inside back of his "house". No flowers just in case he decided to eat them. He just tongue flicks the leaves before he tears up and down and through them.
My husband built a 6 ft x 4 ft x 9 ft Plexiglas and wood enclosure and lined it with heavy duty netting. We used those wire and plastic ties to attach all the greenery. G'Kar is not confined and has access to the entire house but, he spends most of his time in and around his private jungle.

Have fun decorating

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Sheryl

Touch passion when it comes your way, it's hard enough to find as it is. Don't turn away when it calls you by name......B5

Happily Enslaved to Green Iguana Master G'Kar ~~24/7~~

Fake plants provide some benefits over real ones.

You don't have to water them.
The animal won't kill them.
They are not a pain to maintain.

However:

A strong mid-sized iguana can be tempted to taste, or rip off and swallow a fake leaf.
Some are not strong enough to support an iguana, or withstand constant abuse from climbing etc.

Plastics are better because if they get soiled or just plain dirty, you can remove them, clean/sterilize them, and put them back. Silk ones are more fragile, they can rip, and will soak moisture and stink if soiled.

Like the others said, Wal*Mart or other stores (Home Goods, etc) offer great fake plants.

Make sure you clean them all thoroughly before putting them in the cage, and that they are secured to prevent injury to the animal, or even fire hazard. Avoid fake flowers! They will look interesting and tempt the iguana at giving a bite at them.

Have fun!

-IJ

I can't thank you guys enough! Your advice has been great...looks like I'll be shopping for iggy home interiors this weekend!
Again, you all are wonderful! Thanks for all your help and patience with me!
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Meredith
***********
"What will people think when they hear that I'm a Jesus freak; What will people do when they find out it's true?
I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak; Cause there ain't no disguising the truth!"
(DC Talk: Jesus Freak; 1995 Virgin Records)

Man, Gahzirra's going through some sort of psycho-morph! LOL! I noticed this morning that when any of our cats would walk by or sit near his cage, he started head bobbing, and getting agitated at them. I laughed, and thought "Wow, he's feeling better. Being quite the cock of the rock today!" I reached in and took him for his morning warm bath poop...no problem. Then it happened. I went to take him for his evening poop, and he got pissy! He opened his mouth at me and threatened to bite! ME! Well, it didn't do any good, though I did chicken out some and used his little hand towel (the one I use to wrap and dry him off with after his baths) and put it over his head (which usually works to calm him down...usually being the key word here!) and gently brought him out. He did nip the towel, which gave me time to pick him up. He never gave any indication that he was going to get cranky, either, except for bobbing at the cats this morning.
Could this be just territorial behavior, or maybe he's having his first breeding season start...though there hasn't been any physical changes, like color or anything.
It's wierd...yesterday after his nightly bath, he spent about an hour on my lap enjoying having his back and neck petted. He went to sleep on me even. What's up with that????????
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Meredith
***********
"What will people think when they hear that I'm a Jesus freak; What will people do when they find that it's true?
I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak; There ain't no disguising the truth!"
(DC Talk: Jesus Freak; 1995 Virgin Records)

How old is he again?

He may as well be experiencing his first breeding season.
Maybe one of the cats harassed him, hence the head-bobbing and his feistiness.

See if this happens over and over for a few days.
Don't chicken out on him, or he'll figure out his tactics work, and when he'll be 4 feet you'll really have a problem!

-IJ

Hi Joe! Here's a little background on Gahzirra as I know it. I hope you can give me some more help? I can't tell you how much I appreciate all your help so far!
I'm not sure how old he is exactly. He came to our clinic as a near dead, severely malnourished hunk of skin and bones about 5 weeks ago. Before he came to us, there's no history on him. He's been with me for almost 3 weeks now, and Doc seems to think he could be anywhere between 1-4 years of age (looking more like he's about a year old). He's right at 9 1/2 inches SVL, and is slowly gaining weight now (up to 549 grams as of last week, which was up from 444 grams two weeks prior to that).
I had noticed that he's been getting progressively more lively. Once I get him out, he's fine (after a few moments of intense squirming to be let loose...which he only gets once he's settled down and remains calm for several minutes), but he's always been hard to convince to come out of his enclosure. I try to make his outings as pleasant as possible, and he seems to enjoy them immensely.
As for the cats harassing him, actually they really don't pay any attention to him, save for walking past his cage to get to a favorite sleeping spot, which is completely out of his line of sight. They're so used to having new and wierd critters coming and going from here, that they could care less what he is.
I've also noticed that he's beginning to shed on his belly now (he's been going through a shed over the past week, but has remained amicable until now) so maybe he's just really uncomfortable and cranky from that??? I give him a warm bath first thing in the a.m. to get him to poop, then in the afternoon
(because he's shedding), he gets another good soak after his "outing" to help soften the dead skin, and then a final one in the p.m. for his last poop.
He did head bob at the cats again this morning, but he was fine when I took him for his first poop.
Any suggestions on what I can do to keep from making matters worse? I really don't like to use his bath towel, and use it as a last resort. He means business with his teeth, and acts like he's never met me before.
I haven't noticed any of those pokey projections from his femoral pores and no color changes...he really still looks like a juvie. I didn't know if since he was so puny if he may be going through a breeding season without any of those physical changes, or if he's just feeling better and has sworn off any contact with humans due to his past.
Well, that's about it...at least all I can think of at the moment. Probably more info than you really needed, but I figured if you had it, maybe it would be able to give you a better idea of what may be going on.

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Meredith
***********
"What will people think when they hear that I'm a Jesus freak; What will people do when they find that it's true?
I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak; There ain't no disguising the truth!"
(DC Talk: Jesus Freak; 1995 Virgin Records)

Hi Meredith,

What I have heard Melissa Kaplan say about malnourished iggys, when they start to get the proper nutrition is, they find the energy to finally start acting like an Iguana. Full of spirit and attempting to assert their dominance.

I am sure it will take a while but, your constant interaction with Gahzirra will eventually pay off. Melissa says it takes a long time to tame Iguanas, especially if they have been traumatized.
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Sheryl

Touch passion when it comes your way, it's hard enough to find as it is. Don't turn away when it calls you by name......B5

Happily Enslaved to Green Iguana Master G'Kar ~~24/7~~

Traumatized igs are quite unpredictable.

He's most likely maturing, hence the bobbing. But it's good to hear he was calm this time for his poop-bath. Get him used to u as much as possible, without stressing him too much.

Even tame iguanas will show aggressivness towards their owners from time to time. They're wild animals, it's what they do.
Keep giving im lots of TLC, and he'll do just fine.

Keep us posted!

-IJ

...Sheryl and Joe!
I can't express my thanks enough for your help and insight with this! It's all new experiences for me....I'm such a newbie!
I'll definitely keep you posted on our progress...and probably have a barrage of more questions to ask before it's over!
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Meredith
***********
"What will people think when they hear that I'm a Jesus freak; What will people do when they find that it's true?
I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak; There ain't no disguising the truth!"
(DC Talk: Jesus Freak; 1995 Virgin Records)

I dont use any decorations in my iggs' room. When my first igg, Oscar, was free roaming, she found a lay (i'm not sure on the spelling, but i'm talking about the cheap plastic necklaces that they give out in hawaii or whatever) and thought it was food. i came into the room to discover that she had swallowed most of it. Only 2 inches of it were sticking out of her mouth, and i had to pull it out of her, very slowly and carefully. She also managed to find a latex glove that my ex had left laying around and devoured that and passed it (thank god). Then again, this is the igg that will leap across the couch to try to steal my pizza from me, or tries to eat new branches that i put in her room. I have no idea what her previous owners fed her. Sometimes i think it was paint chips, b/c sometimes i think she's not all there upstairs. I've just never trusted her around small plastic objects since that.