Ornate Club Tail Iguana

[spygirl]

Not sure where to put this, but I have some questions about the ornate club tail iguana. At least that's what PetCo is calling them. Does anyone have some experience with these guys or can someone point me in the direction of a good care sheet? We recently recieved 2 hatchlings and I do not trust the PetCo care sheets. I know they don't get as big as the green iguanas and need a higer humidity. Is that correct? I just want to make sure I give my customers the right info! Thanks!

[prism_wolf]

First off...there is no such thing as an "ornate" club tail iguana, but there is a club tail iguana. There's not much info on care ( www.anapsid.org/clubtail.html ) unfortunately, but you can use the care similar to the Ctenosaura according to Melissa Kaplan - www.anapsid.org/cteno.html

[Merlin]

Since they are referring to it as an ornate its also possible that it is a Uromastix.
Can you post a picture?

[amercnwmn]

I think I know what this is...
Does it look like this?



If this is the Iguana you are talking about, I wound up with one of these guys. It was also ID'd improperly by PetCo as an "Ornate Club tail" they were offered at 98 dollars if I can recall correctly.
These are desert iguanas, Spiny Tail or Black iguanas are their common names. ( Ctenosaur similis)
Here are different kinds with pictures:
edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in528

I have found they are MUCH more difficult to handle, and a small tail whip can hurt much worse than a green ig. Their teeth are much different than the green ig. Quite a bit longer, and sharper.

I use higher heat in the day and cooler at night than with a green ig. You have to soak them and mist them, they usually won't drink from a bowl.
These guys come INFESTED with internal parasites, and are very stressy. Make sure he gets wormed.
The best thing if you end up with one, is to provide plenty of hiding spots throughout the cage, and expect to be trying out different foods.
They are omnivores as juveniles, some stay omnivores as adults. Mine has (thankfully) graduated mostly off of crickets, and eats mostly greens and fruits. I was so glad just to get mine to eat, I didn't care WHAT he was eating at first!
I found a website with someone who had an adult male that fed his all sorts of different diet, NONE of which MINE would go for...LOL
www.eoni.com/~neener/iguana.html

If you need any help, you can add me on YIM and I can give you the info I have on mine.
[e-mail]

[EndVision]

i got a club tail from petco and it died within like 2 weeks i would be careful with that especially since its petco...i tried everything for my clubtail even taking it to the vet

[spygirl]

Thanks so much for your help! I was really confused when he told me to label it an ornate club tail. I was pretty sure that wasn't correct, but no one listens to me because apparently I only know about birds! I've been trying everything to get the little buggers to eat. I'm pretty sure they are deydrated because I remember reading about the not drinking from a bowl. Gah, I tried to tell them this species isn't like the green, but again no one listens. So on my to do list tomorrow is to try out the new diet, make sure everyone mists them properly, and ask about the worming. Thanks again!

[amercnwmn]

Most vets are doing really well to even sucessfully treat Green Iguanas..
Spinies are not common as pets because, quite honestly, they are harder to find information on, and not as social or hardy as the greens.
I had heard at one point that PetCo was going to phase out the sale of Green Iguanas and go strictly to the Spinies "because they are smaller and therefore easier." EEK!

I suspect mine is a Ctenosaura similis, (Black iguana) but I've seen PetCo also have the C. hemilopha (Cape Spiny Tail).
I sort of treated mine like a bearded dragon as far as diet and husbandry.
Diet:
I found out most start out on insects and pinks. I would try crickets, mealworms & waxworms. Roaches, if you can get them are very nutritious.
Fruits seemed to be the thing to tempt my Spiny into eating. Apples and mangos have been a favorite. Collards have been consumed, as well as Spring Mix.

Untill they are steadily eating, I would definitely recommend dusting their meals.
Make sure you have a nice temperature range of 100-105basking and as low as 78degrees cool. I found that way the lizard spends equal time in both ends of the cage comfortably.

Hydration is VERY important! Misters, drippers or waterfalls will help with water movement and should entice the ig to drink on its own. If it looks really dehydrated, you may have to take matters into your own hands. I used pedialyte at first, even squeezing drops from a syringe to get the ig to drink. My ig got worse and I had to do the SQ hydration. You don't want to OVER hydrate a dehydrated ig either, so just a little once a day usually will do the trick.
Soaks in the bathtub are excellent ways to hydrate as well.

Do not let the vet worm your ig untill its hydrated (which if it has parasites, and most do, can be difficult to ensure hydration) Worming the Ig should be done by an experienced vet or someone who knows what they are doing. I used fenbendazole (Panacur) for mine.
Untill I wormed mine, he didn't gain any weight.

Anyways the best info I can give you is to treat it like you would a bearded dragon as a juvenile...Offer small amounts of greens and bugs..See what they eat more of and go with it. Lots of trial and error. Mostly they will stick with the insects, but I always offered fresh greens and monitored to see if they were disturbed. Sometimes if you stick the food IN the ir favorite hide, they will take to it.

I used the cypress mulch substrate and plenty of rocky hides. They are often found darting into rocky crevices. I have found mine spent a lot of time on a branch basking (they like tthe camoflauge it provides)

Behavior: Tail whipping, gaping, hissing, and biting are normal..LOL Might as well get used to it. They are the fastest lizards and can hit speeds of 25-27mph. I've seen mine do that easily..LOL So if he gets loose, be prepared to block him in somewhere for recapture.

Good luck, and if you need help, just shout!

[spygirl]

Awesome! I brought some roaches from home and they loved them! They look MUCH better today. Not as dehydrated and they were out basking. I've also informed everyone as to proper care. I think I've gotten everyone on the same page now. Thanks again everyone!

[amercnwmn]

Make sure you dust the insects with a good calcium supplement powder at least 2X a day.
Provide a great UVA/UVB source (Zoo Med, TRex or MegaRay) as well.

[EndVision]

petco should stop selling igs all together i was in again the other day and i saw the red ig i complained about was gone but in its place was a green one well his colors were almost brown and what do you know still NO basking light i took pics of it with my camera phone and im going to email their corporate office one more tim e if they do nothing im reporting it and ill threaten that i mean if they cant properly care for the animals why do they have them

[spygirl]

I totally agree Endvision! I've been trying very hard to get the "higher ups" to agree with me, but it's just not happening. Its the same thing with chameleons. We don't even carry the proper vivs for them! In my store, the reptile specialist agrees with me that we shouldn't sell green iguanas. But I was very disappointed when he brought these guys in. PetCo is very stingy with our budget and sometimes its hard to get even food! I've already "scared" off a couple of customers, after I talked to them about Frankie and they saw my "battle scars." The aquatics specialist and I have "tests" for customers and we do not feel bad about telling customers that they cannot buy the animal. So, there's at least a couple of us in Texas trying to make things better. There are 2 reasons why I stay with this company. 1.) I need the insurance and 2.) I worry too much about what would happen to my animals if I left!

[amercnwmn]

I could go on and on about PetCo..LOL
Honestly though, we have 2 locations near me, and the one in Fayetteville apparently received enough complaints, or got someone good in there. Their animals look 100times better.
I noticed they now sell the Red Igs for 98bucks, and they have ID cards stating they need a good UV bulb, and their habitat requirements. I have an iguana that was purchased there a year ago (well, really I have 2) and both owners were told no UV was necessary.
Their Water Dragons are no longer the pathetic little sickly hatchlings you see, but a nice sized, healthy appearing older juvenile. They also are no longer 20bucks, now I think they have them for 50. I hate having animal prices go up, but if it keeps one animal from an impulse buy, its worth me having to pay more money.

Anyways, sorry I sort of hijacked the thread LOL How are the little spiky guys doing today?

[spygirl]

Much better! They seemed to have munched on their veggies a bit. After I got some insects in them, they perked right up! They were also out a little more today as well. I'm giving them about a week to settle in and to eat properly before I allow any handling.

[EndVision]

i sent my letter in today ill keep you updated on what happens if anything

[khalydarie]

Very nice information! I've been looking everywhere for decent info. I work at a Petco, and it can be really crazy trying to find proper information for reptiles. We just got one of these little guys in and I'm hoping to make sure he goes to a good home, quickly. Even as a "reptile specialty" store, we still don't have the right equipment to care for any of the reptiles there. The company refuses to allow our store to order new habitats enclosures.We still have all the old ones, that barely do anything.I'm trying to get these reptiles out to homes as fast as they come in so they don't have to sit and suffer. I'll make sure to get the one we got in to the vet for de-worming.