Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My desert iguana has abruptly quit eating. (Yes, I know, a couple of weeks ago I was trying to spruce up his diet, and now I just want him to eat anything!) He is refusing all greens--both old favorites (dandilions, bok choy, lettuce) and new offerings (endive, alfalfa sprouts, squash, etc). At first I was able to get him to accept yellow things, like thinly sliced yellow pepper, but as of today he is refusing this too. The only thing he will eat--and does so enthusiastically--is any kind of bug (mealworm, cricket, waxworm). But I know I can't just load him up on bugs.

This started maybe 5 days ago and I thought he was just being fussy but it is persisting. He is sleepy a lot and spends a lot of time in his cave. But when active, he races about like normal, and does not appear weak. He is defecating so I don't think he's impacted.

He has a UVB repti-glo 10, he gets calcium, and the heat seems to be okay--his basking rock ranges around in the 40's, up to 50 C in one spot (sorry, I'm used to Celsius!). The rest of the warm side ranges around the 30's, cooler side is mid to high 20's. Nothing has changed in the tank recently except fresh bulbs.

Is it at all possible that this is brumating? Isn't it completely out of season for a desert iguana though? Or is this possibly an illness/parasite problem and I should seek out a herp vet asap? (I'd have done so already but I need to schedule time off work in advance). I am very worried. Obviously all plans to get a new iguana are on hold until I know this one is okay. Any experience you guys have about problems with eating would be extremely helpful.

Yeah this is a pretty common occurrance with desert igs. There was a guy on this forum-John Styner whos desert igs become more less inactive for 18 months-ate very little and slept alot. I have heard of this many times. Have you had her checked for parasites etc. If she looks healthy I would not worry too much. I have also heard of these guys getting addicted to bugs and not taking vege matter. What you might want to try is to when the little guy is sleeping just turn off all the lights and keep the enclosure at room temp for a coupe weeks. Also try to keep it dark. Sometimes that short brumation will spur them to become active again. There are so many different scenarios that this could be. I have a guy mailing me now with the exact same problem. Still so much we don't know about these guys.

My DI's did the same thing this spring. Woke up and started eating everything in site then started to slow down. They will eat bugs and some salad. One thing I noticed is they like to be real hot. The male is courting the female is getting real fat. I've raised them from babys and are now 2 years old. They seem to feed in spurts and slow down. Don't know if that helps you at all. Love my DI's. Scott