Wow! Thanks for all the input everyone! Lets see, where to start LOL.
MARK - Thank you a million times over for pointing out the hydration vs humidity article! That answers a LOT of questions and gives me a little peace of mind
Also, I must be in a different time zone, because when I was surfing, it was about 1:00am here lol - I do tend to stay up late though, as it's the only time I can get any "me" time in - with 4 teenagers, a husband, 2 iguanas, 3 cats, 1 rat, a disabled mother that needs my help a lot, being disabled myself, AND and running a business - my days are definatly cram packed full! ROTFL!
I had forgotton to mention the mustard greens, in fact that's what's mixed in with their collards this week (just did my Iguana Food shopping today for this coming week lol). The only thing I don't like about the Mustards, is they seem to go bad faster than everything else! Is there a better way to preserve them? I am getting hesitant to mix them with the collards, because once one thing in the salad bowl goes bad, I have to throw the whole thing away - and I've wasted a LOT of food that way!
As to the vet, I think I am going to find another one. I am just not really comfortable with the vet I've been using. She has mentioned on several ocassions about the iguanas eating insects, AND lettuce!!! ~shudder~; failed to tell me about how much and how often to use the calcium; not to mention I feel she should have done an x-ray when I brought Angel to her originally to try to determine if it really was MBD or not - as I'm seriously beginning to suspect scoliosis as IguanaKing has said because she has NONE of the other MBD symptoms (which I thought was odd all along, but the vet didn't) - the word "scoliosis" never even came out of her mouth! Not to mention, I didn't feel that she showed enough compassion towards Angel when she saw her. I want a vet who truly CARES about her patients, one who "feels their pain" (like I do, like all of you guys do!). I found a site that recommends good rep vets, and there's one about 1 1/2 hours away who sounds excellent! I think I'll go up there next week and look around and ask some questions.
IGUANAKING - (BTW your iguana is adorable! What beautiful eyes!)
I keep her warm during the day with her MV flood light, it also emits a lot of heat, but I also use a 75 watt bulb to provide a smoother gradient, and also to help heat her cubby area so that everything outside the basking/gradient areas remain around 80 degrees or so.
Her basking temps have been running between 91 and 98 degrees, i can't seem to get it to narrow down further (due to our local weather I think), I would rather see it holding a little steadier around 95, but I'm not going to pull my hair out over it - unless ya'll think 98 could be too hot or dangerous? I've only had 2 readings of 98, and that was also when it was VERY hot outside here - hitting over 100.
She also likes to spend a lot of time on the window sill, which lately, because of our weather, has been nice and toasty warm too
Her gradient is VERY nice though! I've got her set with her basking spot, then further away I've got the 75 watter, then nothing - so the gradient is a slow gradual decrease. The cooler areas of her "cubby" (she actually roams the entire room, but her stuff is set up in a large cubby area, and seems to be where she spends 90% of her time when she's in the room) have been reading in the high 70's to low 80's. At night she has been holding steady at 75-76 degrees because she's on a human moist heating pad, and tucked in under her "blankie" (a nice soft cotton towel lol)
I had known about the thyroid damaging foods, but the one thing I was feeding her more of than I probably should have been, was the Kale - because she loves it soooo much - and I need her to gain some weight. I have been keeping it to about 3 to 5 small to medium sized leaves daily - but I have cut that sort of thing out altogether this week.
This weeks diet (that they'll start tomorrow) is:Collard Greens
Mustard Greens
Parsnip
Squash (Yellow)
Squash (Name escapes me! Starts with a "C" and is light green)
Leeks
Banana (1/4 every other day)
Honey Dew/Cantaloupe
Last Weeks Diet (that they finished up today) Was:Collard Greens
Arugula Leaves
Yam
Squash
Broccoli (2 small flowers every other day)
Kale (3 to 5 sm to med leaves daily)
Watercress
Apple Slices
Red Grapes (cut in 1/2)
Now for the MBD/Scolosis stuff. In all honesty - I had never even HEARD of an Iguana getting Scoliosis outside of the effects of MBD! Ya learn something new every day! I went and did some research on it, and I think you have hit the nail on the head! She has NONE of the other MBD symptoms! Her grip and toes are fine, she doesn't have the "popeye" legs, her jaw is nice and strong, and NO recession/over-bite at ALL - I personally thought the lack of the typical symptoms was odd myself, but the vet didn't, so I just went with the vet (I'm going to start interviewing new vets next week though)
I think I am going to check into the ProBiotics stuff, see if that'll give her a lil boost
I have a couple of questions about BOTH my babies though, maybe some of you can help?
What should I do about my males useless toe? It's the long toe on his back left leg. It just flops around. I hadn't really addressed the issue, because he's already missing toes from the MBD he had earlier on (he was a rescue too), but I really don't want it to get caught and have it ripped off, broken etc... should I have it removed?
My male knocked quite a few of his spikes off when he got on top the books on my bookcase, and then backed out - is there anything I can do to help promote them growing back?
I am going to eventually spay Angel, because the vet (and I will ask the new vet also) suggested it due to the deformaties of her body. Is it possible and/or wise to have this done BEFORE she becomes gravid? I haven't ever read about a spay being done on an iguana until they were actually gravid.
When I was looking up info on scoliosis, I also ran across herpes in iguanas. I have a cold sore right now, and regularly kiss my babies - will they get it from my cold sore? If so is there anything I can to do stop it before it becomes a problem?
Ok, I think that's it for my questions for now
Thanks sooo much to everyone for all the kind words, words of encouragement, and advice. I have fallen in love with Angel, and although some might look at her as a lot of work - I don't see it that way at all - there isn't one single part of her care that I don't enjoy - and that goes for my daughter too. Every bit of interaction we have with her - regardless of WHY - is bonding time - and having her huge brown eyes peering directly into mine is something that I find I myself craving constantly now
right along with her "neck nuzzles"
My male likes to nuzzle and cuddle too. In fact, he will NOT go to bed until I have rocked him for at LEAST 30 minutes - sometimes up to 2 hours! AND have sung him his special lullabye which goes as follows:
Momma and Ellllvis, sittin' in a tree
S--N--U--G--G--L--I--N--G
First comes Momma, Then comes Elvis
Then comes the rice bag right from the oven!LOL He totally LOVES "his" song! (when we 1st got him, he refused to sleep on his heating pad, and preferred the heated rice bags - so I would set my alarm every 2 hours and re-heat it so he'd stay warm all night)
Angel has a lullabye too - and it goes:
Rock-a-bye Aaaaangel, in da tree top
when the wind blooooows, the tree top will rock.
There will be Naaaaana, waiting for you
So you won't fall doooown, and go boom boom!Ok - on that note, I'm going to head off to bed LOL
Nighty night everyone!
~Nan
P.S. If anyone is interested, the website of the place that originally rescued Angel, and who rescues a LOT of animals (100% of their iguanas are rescues - they REFUSE to buy any, stating that there are far too many that already need homes) is:
www.crittercabana.com