Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In the last two days, my 18mo iguana has not been eating as much as usual, and he's looking a bit thin, particularly around his tail. He's also having a serious shed problem on his chest, with a couple layers of dead scales. I've been soaking him, and making progress on the slow shed, but he still isn't eating as much as he usually does, he's seems a bit less active than usual, and his tail looks thin.

On the positve side, he can tail-whip like a pro, his tail is supple all the way to the tip, his color is bright green, his eyes are bright, and his toes look fine and have a solid grip..

I'm going to try and tempt him with some "treat" foods tonight, and see if he is mor einterested in eating. Suggestions welcome!

Picture take as I write this message.

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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.1.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde, Cassie)
1.0.1 Uro mali (Wizard, Dizzy)
0.1.0 Corn Snake (Amber)
0.1.0 Red-Eared Sliders (Emerald)
0.0.1 Musk Turtle (Sausage)
1.1.0 Parakeet (Thor, Zeus)
1.4.0 Homo sapiens (Scott, Maria, Elora, Becky, Tessa)
blog: http://chaoticcoyote.blogspot.com/

It's getting cold! You may want to turn up the heat for your IG! I would get his basking spot as close to the heat lamp as possible...not closed enough to burn him, though! I also use people's heating mat, with protective cloth ofcourse (to prevent burns), and put it in his cage to try to raise the temp. Mine would like to sit on sometimes if it gets too cold. BEWARE!!! Make sure you don't get it wet so not to electricute you IG and yourself!!!

If you don't know the temp inside the cage, get a thermometer! It's well worth the money!

The ideal basking should be 90-100 degree F. The rest of the cage can be at room temperature. Make sure you have enough light so he could he warm the rest of his body easily.

That IG looks very small for it's age! Do you mean he's 18 weeks old?

Your ig looks like it hasn't eaten much for several weeks, not days. His hind legs and base of tail concern me. What are you feeding him? Does he have a good UVB light as well as enough heat? He's a beautiful color. JN

>>Your ig looks like it hasn't eaten much for several weeks

He's eating much better now. Less than a week ago, he had a nice thick tail and was plump around the hips. Today he's looking MUCH better today; I moved his cage away from a window, and added another heat lamp.

..Scott
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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.1.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde, Cassie)
1.0.1 Uro mali (Wizard, Dizzy)
0.1.0 Corn Snake (Amber)
0.1.0 Red-Eared Sliders (Emerald)
0.0.1 Musk Turtle (Sausage)
1.1.0 Parakeet (Thor, Zeus)
1.4.0 Homo sapiens (Scott, Maria, Elora, Becky, Tessa)
blog: http://chaoticcoyote.blogspot.com/

I've been feeding Rex according to Kaplan's popular diet, so I don;t think it's his food. Yes, he has a working UVB, and basking temps are around 90-95deg.

The problem may have been a leaky window near Rex's cage; moving the cage and adjusting his heat lamp seem to have made a difference, since he's eating again. We've added a bit more fruit to his diet (just a bit!) to see if that helps fatten him up again.

A minor correction: I picked up Rex 12 months ago as a hatchling. Why I said "18mo" in the original e-mail is a mystery. He is a bit small, but still within the proper range of size for a 12-13 month-old iggy.
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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.1.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde, Cassie)
1.0.1 Uro mali (Wizard, Dizzy)
0.1.0 Corn Snake (Amber)
0.1.0 Red-Eared Sliders (Emerald)
0.0.1 Musk Turtle (Sausage)
1.1.0 Parakeet (Thor, Zeus)
1.4.0 Homo sapiens (Scott, Maria, Elora, Becky, Tessa)
blog: http://chaoticcoyote.blogspot.com/

Great! I'm glad to hear he's eating again. J

appear to be very thin through the legs and the base of
the tail. Have you had her checked for parasites? Eating
for a very short time shouldn't cause such a rapid weight loss.

Do you have any pictures of her prior to the this one?
It could be she is just made that way but it is worth
bringing to your attention.
Thanks
Linda

>>appear to be very thin through the legs and the base of
>>the tail. Have you had her checked for parasites? Eating
>>for a very short time shouldn't cause such a rapid weight loss.

>>Do you have any pictures of her prior to the this one?
>>It could be she is just made that way but it is worth
>>bringing to your attention.

It's *possible* Rex (lord knows, could be a girl) caught something from a Cuban anole that was living in the same cage. No, not by design; the anole moved in all on its own; I have *dozens* of wild anoles living in my office (along with a few geckos and fence lizards).

I've scheduled a vet visit for Rex on Friday. We're chopping his food a bit finer, have raised his temps slightly. He's eaten five times since yesterday; I suspect it will take a while for him to put on weight.

.
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Scott Robert Ladd
1.0.0 Iguana (Rex)
1.1.0 African Giant Plated Lizard (Clyde, Cassie)
1.0.1 Uro mali (Wizard, Dizzy)
0.1.0 Corn Snake (Amber)
0.1.0 Red-Eared Sliders (Emerald)
0.0.1 Musk Turtle (Sausage)
1.1.0 Parakeet (Thor, Zeus)
1.4.0 Homo sapiens (Scott, Maria, Elora, Becky, Tessa)
blog: http://chaoticcoyote.blogspot.com/

It's a good idea to chop the food real small. They can
usually eat more that way too.

I do believe that on these babies, the ambient temp should
be warm. I kept my Digit at a range of temps but no
lower than 75 at any area in the cage. At night I run
a digital room heater to keep the temp at 75 degrees. This
way they can sleep in total darkness but still be warm.

I do have a special needs female that I adopted 3 years
ago and she prefers even warmer temps. On her top shelf
the ambient is 90 degrees and the basking spot is about
100 degrees. The second shelf is 80 and the bottom is about
70. She only goes to the bottom to use the bathroom.

The picture below is her the day of adoption. Look how thin
she is through the tail and hips. This is why I was a little
concerned about the picture.

Good luck.....Linda

color and her demeanor much improved.