A few questions...

[mjt36]

Hey guys! First of all, I have about 50 questions, so I'm not sure where to post first! I'm very new to the hobby, as I was sort of "thrust" into it when I found a 8-10" (STV) green iguana basking by my swimming pool the day before yesterday. I've been reading forums and books trying to collect as much information as possible on the care, feeding, etc.. and I had also researched getting an iguana several years back, but I understand that things change over time, so I come seeking up-to-date knowledge and advice!

For the time being, I have it in a 30 gallon long aquarium that I had laying around the house. I've set it up with a branch to its basking spot. I am currently just using a lamp with an incandescent bulb over his basking spot. I understand that this area needs to be upwards of 100 degrees, but the thermometer near the basking spot only reads low 80's. How can i raise the temp?

It seems to be eating well. I have fed it romaine lettuce, apple, zuchini, and banana, and I have kept the enclosure misted and the humidity around 90-100%.

I'm looking into building a larger and taller enclosure in the very near future, and I'll be making a vet visit this coming week.

Advice? Here's a pic!

[Merlin]

Welcome to Ig servitude! Good looking little girlie there!(my guess)

You have a lot of things to correct! Please check out the iguana care articles here. I also recommend James Hatfield's "Green Iguana The Ultimate Owner's Manual."

First the temps you want it to be 95-100 tops! Much higher than that and they get distressed. To raise the temperature go to a higher wattage bulb, just be sure you are measuring the correct temp. You need a digital thermometer with a remote probe. Available at Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, etc for about 15 bucks. A stick on tape on the glass will not do it. You can also increase the temps by raising the basking spot closer to the bulb.

Back off on the humidity. 90-100% is too high. 50-60% will do fine.

For diet,..total overhaul. We have a diet page. The diet needs to be 80% dark leafy greens. Collards, Mustards and turnips are the staples. Other things can be added to add variety. Avoid anything with the term Lettuce in the name. Basically worthless.

Most important! do not feed any type of animal protien. no bugs rodents or dog food! You aslso need to invest in a UVB generating light and these aren't cheap. but they are a must have. Without UVB the ig cannot metabolize the calcium in the diet and it will literally pull it from their own skeleton and will result in deformity and death.

Hope this helps. there is a lot to properly caring for these complex creatures.
And you have a lot af very knowledgable folks here to help:)

[mjt36]

Thanks for the response, Merlin! I'll make those adjustments! I already knew to avoid animal protein, as I had read that it was no-no from many other resources. I'll check into that book today!

[IguanaKing]

James Hatfield's book is a must-have for any ig slave, and, as big and intimidating as it is at first glance, it is actually a very entertaining read. I am a person who HATES reading, it just doesn't turn my crank, but this book kept me riveted. I read it in a weekend, and that's pretty incredible for someone like myself.

It looks like you have a great Salvadoran iggy to start with. He/she looks absolutely strong and beautiful. A great place to look for recipe ideas for your baby is the "what do you feed your iguana" poll in our diet section. Lot's of great ideas there. I'm glad you could join us, and feel free to ask ANY question you may have about your new, green kid. ;D

Until you get a good UVB lamp, and check out the rest of our "Light and Heating" section for this...lots of great info about the pros and cons of every available solution...along with a few warnings about the junk , you can take your iggy outside for 30 minutes to an hour each day while its still warm. In the US, at the moment, outside time should actually be limited to under 20 minutes. Colorado has a warm season of something like 4 months out of the entire year, but going outside this weekend for very long will kill you, and your ig is especially sensitive to this. I digress...but...YIKES its hot!

[mjt36]

Thanks for the reply IguanaKing! I actually found this site by the link in your sig on Reptileforums.com.

I live in Mississippi, so getting the iggy outside everyday won't be a problem! It does get rather sweltering out here though, so I'll make sure to limit its outdoor exposure. Do you guys harness and leash your lizards when you take them outside?

As I mentioned in the first post, I was "thrust" into the hobby when I found him/her basking by my pool. Well, come to find out, a neighbor of mine had "tried and tried" to re-home him/her, but had no luck, so he turned it out. Some people... But he did give me some bulbs, a couple of 75W zoo-med "sun-glo" bulbs, and the iggy seems to be enjoying them.

I'm soon going to begin construction on a new enclosure for the little guy, so what should I be looking to get (lighting wise) for him/her? What combination (if any) of fluorescent/halogen/ incandescent should I use? I have a few ideas in my head from what I have read and seen on the 'net.

As you can see, I'm full of questions! Thanks for your patience and replies!!

[sarahwheeler]

what a cute looking iggy,how long have you had her.i recomend you look at the diet sheet on IZ its good.I follow these feeing guidelines alot as im a first time iguana owner and i want to make sure gizmo(he was already named)but he seems to respond to it so i couldnt change it. this is gizmo hes 6 months old here we think hes a male but several people think he could be a she.he/she is abit aggresive at the moment not all the time just every so often but its probably got something to do with breeding season .

[IguanaKing]

OMG...you actually brought up a VERY important point that I should have addressed. DOH!!! This forum honestly needs some more smileys, one with a smiley hitting himself on the head with a big hammer would be appropriate for me. (I'll work on it) Yes, a leash is absolutely essential for your iggy if you go outside. The hip leash is the best way to go. Granted, Audrey doesn't need a leash, but she is an extraordinary iguana who actually wants nothing more than to be closer to me when she's frightened.

Reptisun UVB lamps are quite popular, and effective. The old standby, the Zoo-Med UVB lights, like the IguanaLight 5.0 are also quite good. The drawback with any of those is that you have to get them within only a few inches of your ig for them to do any good. ReptileUV is the pioneer in long-distance UVB solutions, and their lighting has years of scientific research, especially with iguanas, to back it up. It is a solid product, but I have had reliability issues with the MegaRay they sell. Others here swear by it, and I don't, for a second, doubt their testimony. I am currently testing my first set of UVB Mystic lamps from Big Apple Herpetological, and I must say I am very pleased with their reliability, longevity, and the result they have on my igs. One thing to remember if you use Mystics is that you MUST provide another source of visible light, it is VERY important for your iggy's eyes. DO NOT get them any closer than 10 inches from your animal. Above all...no matter what UVB solution you choose...get a Solarmeter 6.2. If you need a link to buy one, I can provide that...it just escapes my memory at the moment. ;D

[IguanaKing]

OMG...GREAT photo of Gizmo, Sarah! ;D That is an absolutely gorgeous Mexican iggy you have there. You, and others, will be SOOO astonished by his/her beauty in the coming years.

Gizmo is absolutely NOT underweight, his body looks just fine, as do his limbs. I'm not sure where you were when you were bombarded by such nonsense, but its pretty obvious those people knew VERY LITTLE about iguanas. You are doing a GREAT JOB with Gizmo...just stick with us and we won't steer you wrong. We'll let you know when you are making a mistake, but we also won't try to pick on a problem, when that problem doesn't exist in the first place. Your other critics...well...let them go back to raising chickens, as iguanas are obviously not their forte'.

[sarahwheeler]

i got told he was definitly not a mexican iggy,and i've been told he has got very poor conformation and colouration i will try to put some new photos of him on here tomorrow.as he/she is huge in length i have also been told hes majorly underweight when i showed other people this photo.what do you think i thought he was fine.but i don't know much as i havent had him long.

[IguanaKing]

He is most definitely a Mexican iguana, and his coloration, along with his overall condition are, visually, absolutely fine. Just a silly theory on the color of his/her eyes...you will most-likely end up with a great, well-behaved animal. Although, as of yet, there is no actual scientific connection, brown-eyed or gold-eyed igs seem to have more favorable dispositions.

BTW...although I shouldn't ask, I'd like to know where it was that you were told those things about Gizmo. Please PM me with the name of the web-site and I'll go after them. He/she is absolutely NOT underweight, and the person who told you that is better suited to raising chickens than having the nerve to comment on iguanas.

[Marie]

Make sure whatever bulb you get, it specifically says UVB. Many see UV and assume it is UVB. Took me a bit (more than a bit actually) the other day to convince someone that thier bulb didn't provide UVB. It only provided UVA which ordinary light bulbs will provide at a cheaper price.

I am one of the ones that use MegaRays. About 20 months ago I got into them. A few months after that I had an xray done and my vet was concerned about Dragons brittle ribs. Dragon is my 13 year old MBD deformed iguana. She was deformed when I got her 11 years ago. Well she fell on her ribs the other day but seemed fine. I was taking her in for bloodwork the next day so decided to get an xray too anyway. The vet said there was no damage and she said her ribs looked pretty good. She has been doing great lately except for her anorexia has flared up again. The anorexia is probably connected to her elevated WBC which has been a constant problem with her though. I was very pleased to know her ribs had improved so much. I credit the MegaRay as a major reason. So I highly recommend it even more than before. She basks under it more than she ever did with any other UVB bulb.

[LotharsPeople]

iguanaking said:

This forum honestly needs some more smileys, one with a smiley hitting himself on the head with a big hammer would be appropriate for me. (I'll work on it);D

IK, Looking for one like this?

Loved this when I saw it. I could use it almost daily for myself.

[Merlin]

Sarah, gizmo looks great!
Just consider the nonsense that was spouted at you by those other folks as worth about as much as smoke in the wind!
Just let it blow away!

[crazybaby]

Well mjt...Welcome aboard the iggy train! It's a wild ride! You found one nice lookin iguana that appears in good health. There's not much more for me to say in the way of advice because the others have done so already lol The only thing I can say is to have him/her (going with Merlin on the her cause it does look female-ish) checked out by a qualified vet. Or just take in a fecal sample to have it checked for parasites. Since you don't know how long she was outside roaming theres no telling what she may have picked up along the way to life with you (Really sucks that there are people that could do something like that to a living creature) Anyways, iguanas will try anything once (or twice...So there's no way you can be sure she didn't eat something bad for her in her time "out". You'll also come to see that she will eat the craziest of things, more often than not, things that are imaginary too ;D

Definitely check out the book mentioned...Its a riot! The anecdotes are wonderful reads too. I also like Iguana's for Dummies by Melissa Kaplan...Great book, easy read, not as indepth though...but still has the proper info. Keep us posted on your progress with your new friend!

One question...Does this green beasty have a name yet?? lol It wasn't mentioned.

[mjt36]

No name as of yet! I guess since we'll be together for quite a while, I'm going to put a good bit of thought into the name!

When I talked to the original owner, he said he released it on July 4, and I found it on July 15! That's 11 days of adventure I'm sure given the fact that everyone in the neighborhood has dogs in their yards!

I spent some time handling it today... He/she calmed right down after a good tail flailing, and relaxed in my hand while I gave it a good back/belly rub ;D ... I'm planning on spending a good bit of time each day trying to get it accustomed to handling.

Again, thanks for all of the advice guys!!