Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The uvb lightbulbs are so incredibly expensive, I bring my Ig outside with me often and I know thats not enough but is there any thing else I could use to keep her/him healthy? I heard about these liquid drops/ powders that have the vitamins it'd be getting from those bulbs, and I read that blacklights emit uvb as well? I'll be saving up for one either way but I was just wondering what I could use in the meantime.
And.... I got Io [god of dragons] two days ago at herpeton it's very young abouttttt...... 3 inches maybe stv healthy, trusting, but she does the salt sneezing very often I was wondering if I should be concerned?

And... I was wondering if anyone's gotten salmanella [sp] from their pet iggys before? whats it like etc etc....

I just know that I've been getting progressively more nauseus since I've gotten Io despite frequent hand washing : /

Party lights/black lights are not sufficient. Here's a throed form another kingsnake forum that discussed this issue.
http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1670433,1673617

I heard someone say once that a pet owner can expect to spend about three times for housing what they spent for the reptile. UV lights are expensive, but I can find a good linear 8.0 or 10.0 bulb for under $15 and then I put it in a kitchen fixture that I bought at a home supply supply store. I use household bulbs for heat and buy the domes at a home supply store also. I try to save a few bucks when I can but still provide what the animal needs.

Iguanas will not process vit D from dietary supplements and need a UV source. They need a varied diet with rich greens that are high in calcium and then a proper UV source (bulb or sunlight for an hour a day) to metabolize the Vit D and process the calcium. There's really no way to get around that and have a healthy lizard.

Congrats on your new little pet!

Okay thank you for that link it was really helpful : ]
I'm glad I didn't use a blacklight then I don't want to hurt my little Io. I found that my search results were mostly bringing up a lamp and the bulb together which was usually 80$ so I looked at just the bulbs and they were only about 20$ ^^

I'm still worried about her salt sneezing, about how often is normal? Is there anything I can do with her diet to reduce it?

And again thank you very much for your advice

Mine snalt sneezes everyday. Now that he's 2-2 1/2, it's quite a mess! The only thing I could suggest is to post the diet and see if anything there has excessive salt. Do you feed a commercial pellet diet? Do you mist daily or soak or water the food?

Sometimes I feed Rep-Cal pellet food and soak it to make it wet. Rep-Cal is the only food I'll feed because the others add animal protein, etc. Mostly I feed collards, mustard and turnip greens, kale, hibiscus leaves and flowers, and then veggies and fruit on top of the greens.

Good deal about the lighting! The lighting and diet is going to be the key to having a friend that stays with you for years years and grows up healthy!

As for the Salmonella, I have been keeping reptiles in some form for the past 20 years. I have been keeping them heavily for the past 10 years. As far as I know, I have never contracted Salmonella. I may have in a mild form and have never known it...thought I had a stomach bug. I wash my hands well throughout the day and keep everyone's enclosure clean. I use hand sanitizer through the day, too. It has been reported that when you look at all the cases of Salmonella, only 6% of them are from reptiles. Most of the Salmonella contamination is from food. Your nausea could be psychosomatic if you think the ig is making you sick (no offense), or something else is bothering you. Here are the symptoms of Salmonella from a medical website:

"What are the symptoms of salmonella poisoning?

* Diarrhea or constipation.
* Headaches.
* Stomach cramps.
* Nausea and vomiting.
* Fever.
* Possibly, blood in the feces.

In the case of less serious infections there are fewer symptoms - usually only diarrhea two or three times a day for a couple of days. Most mild types of salmonella infection clear up in four to seven days without requiring any treatment other than rest and plenty of liquid.

A more severe infection may cause excessive diarrhea, stomach cramps and general health problems. In such cases, treatment with antibiotics may be necessary and a doctor should be consulted."

Yeah I have a new aquarium for her and a bulb, have plans for an outside cage as well. Hahaha my mom laughed at me for days, the mold counts are like in the billions and apparently I just reacted to that. I just wanted to be careful though you know : ] Thank you for your advice and help