Reptile & Amphibian Forums

okay, so i just read this on an iguana site:

"In the wild, young iguanas obtain needed intestinal bacteria and protozoa by eating the feces of adult iguanas. The microorganisms acquired this way are essential for digestion of plant material. Baby iguanas are not born with these microbes, so young iguanas reared in captivity never acquire them. All newly acquired, domestically raised (not wild-caught) iguanas should receive fresh feces from a healthy, parasite-free adult iguana (preferably wild-caught)."

any thoughts?

also, if anyone is able to take a picture of their healthy full grown female iguana's back leg, and could post it, i would be very greatful. mine's back legs look a bit large, and i'm wondering if i'm just being silly or if something is wrong with her. something else in the picture like a pen or a quarter would be nice to give it refrence.

and last, i've chosen to do a report about the digestive system of green iguanas and would appreciate any detailed info.

much thanks!

I heard of Salomon Prehensile Tailed Skinks to do this, but that's also because the young are born live and stay with the mother.

Baby iguanas tend to stay away from large adults.
I have yet to hear of anyone I know who had a baby iguana if they went out of their way to look for someone else's iguana's scat to feed to it.

"Can I have your iguana's s****? hahahaha
What website is this? Can you provide us a link?

Though it may be true that such thing is practice, if the rest of it is true, then it means that every person here and elsewhere with a baby iguana has no chance to raise it right because they won't feed it adult iguana scat.

I think it is 50/50, with the first half being probably right, but the second part is total nonesense.

Just feed the baby iguana right, as many of us have, and do, and it should be fine. No need to feed it "sheety" food... hahaha

-IJ

... enlarged limbs, aka "Pop-Eye" limbs, may indicate MBD (Metabolic Bone Desease). The jaws/jowels feel spongy, and the legs look pumped. This can be treated and reversed, with proper lighting, diet, and Calcium Vitamin D3 supplements.

I do not have any pictures, but if you google around I'm sure you'll find pictures of examples of MBD.

I'm not saying she has it, she MAY have it. Once someone will post a pic I'm sure you'll be able to tell, or from pictures you may find online or in books.

-IJ

well, she did have MBD. i adopted her about 4 years ago, and i have been working on reversing it for about 2 years.(yes, i was the dumb person that adopted a poorly cared for iguana without knowing a damn thing about them.) i guess it should be reversed by now? she has everything she could need. what troubles me though, is that she hasnt been eating normally for the past month (since it started getting colder). i've raised the heat in her room, but her appatite still isnt normal. she will eat a few bites here and there, but it just doesnt seem like enough, so i have been syrenge feeding her about 12-20cc everyother day just to make sure she gets something in her. she has, however, gained back the weight she lost when she was gravid back in january, which i see as a pretty good sign. i think i'm just being paranoid about her stressing out with her winter blues. by any chance, do you know when females start producing eggs and how long it takes before she lays them?

It really depends on the ig. Usely 60 days of gestation (approximately).
I know the eggs will hatch at the beginning of december (summer in South America).
Later

Are you forcing her to open her mouth or just hand feeding her?Force feeding (forcing her to open her mouth)is very stressful and stress can kill your iguana.Mainly when the iguana had health problems in the past. I know that you dont want to lose her and that you panic when she doesnt eat enough but sometimes too much love can kill too.

I had a beardie that had MBD.Although he became very healthy, no signs of MBD anymore he still had Popeye arms and a little bit larger lower jaw.I think your girls large legs will take a few years to disappear.

yes, i am force feeding her with a syringe about once everyother day. i've only been doing this when she is calm and needs no restraining. it's more liked nudge feeding. she lets me open her mouth and squirt the food in, and also lets me know when she has had enough.
i bought some organic baby food for her today, so hopefully, that may entice her to eat more on her own.
this evening, she was out roaming the house and spied leftover pizza on the coffee table and went lunging for it. so, i guess she is just being a brat about eating her normal food. i have never offered her pizza, she let me know she likes it on her own when i first adopted her. she has also gone after my turkey sandwiches and hamburgers. who knows what her previous owner used to feed her.

well, i finished my lab report on iguanas' digestive system, and i must say, i am dissapointed at the amount of information on the subject. there are colonies of nematodes in iguana colons. do we know why? no, at least, nothing i read hinted at knowing how they helped aid in iguana digestion. how do they not harm the iguana? what do they live on? there are theroies, but no research has been done to test them(if i'm wrong, or missed something, let me know). there was also nothing said about the bacteria living in the gut and what exactly they do.
grrr

That is true with tortoises too.But to be sincere i would not do it because i dont trust any others igs ...poop!lol! How can you be sure the other ig is really 100% healthy?Just give your ig a fresh,varied and balanced diet and dont worry about that.

i was just wondering about the poop feeding thing. i was working on a biology report and ran across it, and it sounded so out there that i had to bring it up.
i do have a juvinile ig, but i wasnt concidering feeding her my older igs poo. she is perfectly healthy and is growing fast enough as it is.

that quote, i believe is from phillipe de vosjoli's green iguana book, at least i think i remember seeing it in there.
-----
"it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt"
1.0.0 bearded dragon
1.1.0 green iguana
0.0.1 columbian tegu(for sale)
0.1.0 knight anole(looking for male)
0.1.0 green anole
0.1.0 asian longtail grass lizard
1.1.0 golden gecko
1.0.0 ball python
0.0.5 oriental firebellied toad
0.0.1 green treefrog
0.0.1 barking treefrog
0.0.1 cuban masked treefrog
0.0.1 gray treefrog
0.1.0 gulf hammock rat snake
0.1.0 eastern kingsnake
0.1.0 siberian husky

Yogurt is thought to help them keep a "clean" intestinal tract.
In small dosages of course.

It was a good debate years ago.
Thoughts?

-IJ

never heard of that. i wouldnt try it, just based on the fact that , well, its yogurt. they are iguanas. they dont eat dairy. thats enough debate for me.

True, the dairy factor was the major concern.

It was about salmonella, how it thrives in the "gut", and how yougurt's own bacteria (or enzymes, I forgot) can help keep the intestine cleaner.

Not many here will remember, because there are now so few of us "veterans" here on the board. But it was an interesting topic.
That, and black-lighting for night use.

-IJ