Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've got a juvenile that's survived over a month and a half now. It's a cool little one. But it's only eating green, leafy veggies(was eating hyacinths and bananas,)but I attribute this appetite to shedding. Anyways, my question is, what else besides bananas do iguanas really love?

I've also had to put it in a rubbermaid. I live in Florida, see, and before I'd had it in an aquarium that I put outside(partly shaded, of course.) Now, although Florida doesn't get to freezing, the temps are below 60 so I brought 'em indoors. I've got a sunlight for it for warmth, and put it in the aforementioned cage.

My question here is, how can I increase the humidity level when I've got a screen over it and the heatlamp above this? I do spray it's tank about 3 times a day, but I'm afraid now that it's indoors it won't get the right amount of humidity. Plus, I'd like to make his cage more junlish, lush and wet. Would just plastic help in this regard? How do you apply this under a heatlamp?

Another thing is, how important is humidity? What happens elsewise?

Enough said.

What kinds of leafy greens are you feeding?

There is a great foods list here: http://www.greenigsociety.org/foodchart.htm

My iggy likes green beans, peas, and winter squashes as staple veggies. He also gets grated carrot and parsnip occassionally. For fruits, I've offered figs, papaya, apple, watermelon, strawberry, and he loves his banana, but bananas are high in phosphorous so he doesn't get them very often.

You should also consider offering a calcium supplement and a vitamins supplement.

It's hard to raise the humidity in an tank with a screen top. You can try covering part of it with something like a towel to keep moisture in and misting several times a day.

Humidity is important for their respiratory systems and also for their shedding. Iguanas kept with low humidity have trouble shedding spikes, tails, and toes and any retained shed in these areas can cause them to permanently lose any of these apendages.

You'll need to build him a large enclosure in the next couple of months; he will quickly outgrow even the largest aquariums. Anything smaller than 55 gallons is not recommended for hatchlings, and that will only last the first year.

Do you know what his basking temps and ambient temps are? These can be hard to regulate in an aquarium-type habitat. He also needs UVB lighting. UVB comes from the sun, but it is easily filtered out through glass, plastic, and mesh wiring. It is necessary for iggies to be able to metabolize calcium... without it, they develop severe calcium deficiencies and can become very disfigured and ill.

Here is some reading on putting together an iguana habitat, including lighting, heating, and humidity:

http://www.greenigsociety.org/habitat.htm

Additional reading can be found at www.iguanden.com and www.anapsid.org.

I highly recommend investing in the book "Green Iguana: The Ultimate Owner's Manual" by James Hatfield
-----
~Alika~
1.0.0 green iguanas
0.1.0 cockatiels
1.0.0 senegal parrots
0.1.0 blue-fronted amazons
0.0.1 red belly piranha

Thanks for that indepth knowledge.