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Post by Jen on Aug 21, 2010 20:26:59 GMT -8
My baby Denwen (about 14wks) is spending an awful lot of time hiding under his branches & not out basking. The temp on his basking area gets up to about 100 during the hottest part of the day when the house is warmer (Florida ACs have trouble keeping a nice cool, consistent temp in this heat). He's also not eating but every other or every couple days. He had no growth whatsoever from the 1st to 2nd vet appts (a month apart) but the vet was otherwise happy with his musculature & activity level; the lack of basking is relatively new the past couple weeks. How big is Dewen's enclosure? I'm guessing his basking area is too hot for him and he is seeking relief from the heat. Please tell us about your set up so we can help you remedy the situation before you accidentally cook him.
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Post by Jen on Aug 21, 2010 20:22:20 GMT -8
Don't get worried too quick, it may take him a few weeks to get adjusted to being in a new home. My female is the master of color change her first breeding season she was two tone brown with orange mixed in. Just work on getting his routine back to normal and allow him time to adjust, he just sounds like he is feeling a bit insecure being in new surroundings. Just keep an eye on him and let us know if any other unusual behaviors begin. Keep taking him outside if he is enjoying it as the natural sunlight will do him a lot of good.
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Post by Jen on Aug 6, 2010 15:13:28 GMT -8
What are the temps in your enclosure?
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Post by Jen on Aug 3, 2010 18:03:38 GMT -8
Hi, I'm Cammy, in Florida. I have a housefull of furbabies (not really; 2 dogs & cat) & I recently adopted a baby green. I had actually adopted 1 the week before but he died the next day so 'replaced' him after : ( I previously had a 2 year old female who had been given to me. She was very social. I had to give her to my vet when I moved & I've been wanting another ever since. My new baby is Denwen (after an ancient Egyptian God which meant Fiery Serpent), male, now 10wks. He is about 4 inches, around 8 or 10in with tail. I'm actually having a little problem maybe you guys can help me out with. He hasn't been eating on his own so my vet has me hand feeding him. It's been 2 weeks now & I don't think he's started eating on his own. The cage is a bit big; about 5 ft long, so I've been putting several bowl of food in, always in the same place. He takes food well from hand & he's very active & goes to the bathroom. My vet said it could take some time for him to get acclimated to his new home, just wondering how long before I should start wondering if there are other issues or if there's nothing to worry about. My concern is that when I go back to work I will not be able to feed him twice a day. I've started feeding him by hand once a day rather than twice to see if he gets hungry enough. I've also skipped a day or 2 to see. He MIGHT be eating on his own, but just so little that it's difficult to tell?? His lighting / heating is set up to optimal temps (95 basking; 85 opposite side). Misting the cage several times a day. Plenty of branches for climbing / leaves for hiding. Anyone have any ideas? His "salad" consists of (at least this round) collard greens, mango & kiwi or strawberries, acorn or butternut squash. It's small enough for him to eat but big enough for him to recognize as food. I've also not been putting the supplements on so as not to mask the smell of the food until I know he's eating (as suggested by the vet); but do add it when hand feeding. To be able to tell if he is eating on his own, only give him a few pieces of food at a time and see if he does indeed eat it. How small are you cutting up the food? Little one's like yours seem to only eat when no one is looking.
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Post by Jen on Aug 3, 2010 17:58:54 GMT -8
The darker body often indicates stress. Which like mentioned about could have to do with not having enough room to move about / thermoregulate. He really needs a much larger enclosure. My advice, take him to a (herp) vet to have him checked out. Best thing you can do for him. Darkening of the body is not always stress related, sometimes they will darken to thermoregulate. The darker their skin the easier they can absorb sunlight/light. Kind of like when we wear a black shirt it attracts heat. Drummer, along with the info that IK asked for please include your tak temps, cool side and under the basking light. And welcome to IZ!
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Post by Jen on Aug 3, 2010 17:52:28 GMT -8
From your pics I would say definitely female as the femoral pores on the legs are very small and I don't see a hemipenal bulge at the base of the tail. I have a female that acts more male than my male does. She shudder bobs and will attack her reflection in the mirror. My male on the other hand is laid back and quite relaxed, if he gets scared he just closes his eyes and pretends the threat doesn't exist.
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Post by Jen on Jun 3, 2010 12:01:18 GMT -8
Wow that's quite a bite, there have been worse. What you have described is typical male behavior for a male in breeding season. You may have to allow your girlfriend to deal with him during this time since it seems as he feels he must dominate you. You could also speak with a vet about having him neutered SOMETIMES this will help but is usually done as a last resort when regarding aggression issues.
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Post by Jen on May 5, 2010 12:16:37 GMT -8
I hope she is ok!! My female got sick, and it ended up that she was egg-bound!! It is VITAL that if you are sure she is a female, along with her cage, you should build her an egg box and get her comfortable with it now, and when it's that time of year, she will go in and you will likley not have any issues. If you do, the surgery is not only pricey, but risky, and painful for your Ig. Last year my female started laying in the bath tub, I moved her to her nesting box she laid 34 eggs. This year she decided to lay her eggs on the bathroom counter 47 so far, still waiting to see if there are any more.
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Post by Jen on May 3, 2010 8:30:54 GMT -8
Get a fecal exam done make sure he has no parasites. Make sure he gets plenty of fluids you can do this by misting his food. You may also feed him plain cooked pasta, and wheat bread along with his greens and veggies, this should help put on some weight. I have an Iguana who is pushing 4 years old now that was once just as emaciated as yours.
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Post by Jen on Apr 1, 2010 7:48:06 GMT -8
A simple update on Eki. He's doing very well, he's a beasty. Tonight we gave him a new love sock, some black athletic socks wadded up into a tube fashion and Eki showed us what it's like to see an Iguana excited.. Wow... The white socks never brought on this excitement. He had his hemmes showing, big red swollen glands sticking out. He was squirming, head bobbing and all. He's very much alive, healthy and enjoying his new "girlfriend, or the new black lovesock!" ;D Doesn't take much to make them happy some times.
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Post by Jen on Mar 26, 2010 21:46:24 GMT -8
so i went down to my local pet store today to get crickets for spike my iguana, and went to look in their reptile section. the poor iguanas are NOT being cared for properly, their food and water dishes were so filthy that the EMPTY food dish was growing mold, and the water dish had brown water in it and was growing alge... there has GOT to be something that i can do, i dont curretly have the time, money or space to adopt any more igs, but maybe someone knows what else can be done. please reply promptly with any advise on what can be done. thank you Spike and Sarah* What kind of Iguana? I hope you are not feeding a Green Iguana crickets. Green Igs are never to be fed any type of insect.
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WHOAH!!
Mar 18, 2010 19:29:06 GMT -8
Post by Jen on Mar 18, 2010 19:29:06 GMT -8
its funny because bout 3 months ago i was posting about my green iguana manny beeing very picky about his food and not eating much took everyones advice and now this iguana eats like there is no tommorow. i feed him everyday a nice sized bowl full of collard green, turnip or mustard greens,& dandelion greens, acorn, butternut, zuchinni,& summer squash, sweet potatos, red bell pepper, red chilli pepper, celery, prickly pear(skinned) and his treats a mango, apples, star-fruit or strawberries 1-2x a week i also add some moist bread(whole wheat) or zoo-med natural juvi pellets(really for my my rhino) every couple of days. i dust with reptocal 3x a week and reptovites 4x a weeks( only because he was in such terrible conditions when he first arrived) he eats everything that is put on his plate (except the pellts, those he just picks at) and he love his food so much he will rush the bowl and start eating before i even get a chance to put it ALL THE WAY DOWN! and he will clear about a lb. of food a day (guesstimate but it is a large amount) and 2/3 of it is gone within the first 5-10 mins.i could barely get him to eat more than a few bites of greens a few months ago lol. i have been waiting on this since i first got him. i guess those mvb really work well lol. That's great to hear. My male eats like a pig except when it is breeding season, he sometimes scares me during that time because he gets pretty thin. My female is just a pig lol I can't believe how much she eats unless of course she is gravid. Keep up with the variety of foods. Keep us up to date and post some pics.
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Post by Jen on Mar 18, 2010 19:24:33 GMT -8
Well guys, you were both wrong! We went to the vet and his condition is beyond repair. It was an abscess that began eating away at his jaw bones. I have to put Wizard down soon. I take responsibility but next time - Merlin & Jen - be sure to encourage the owner to seek professional help. The vet took one look at it and went for an x-ray without hesitation. I was a newbie and it cost Wizard his life and I lost a friend. I will not be visiting this web site again - for obvious reasons. I am extremely sorry that it did in fact turn out to be a medical condition however, we are not veterinarians and never claimed to be. We can only tell so much from a picture. Had you come back and said, well the jowls are getting larger quickly we most certainly would have recommended a vet visit or you could have taken it upon yourself and just went and made the appointment. We all do our best to help anyone we can with their Iguanas. Again I am sorry for your loss.
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HELP!
Mar 10, 2010 11:10:05 GMT -8
Post by Jen on Mar 10, 2010 11:10:05 GMT -8
That does look like a spiny tail, but that is all I know. Sorry I can't be of more help.
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Post by Jen on Mar 4, 2010 19:59:32 GMT -8
Natural sunlight is the best for Iggys. Good luck and keep us updated.
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