Post by amyanthrax2010 on Feb 16, 2012 7:09:45 GMT -8
Hello 
I recently adopted a baby iguana from a local pet store and I temporarily kept him in a 10 Gal terrarium (only for two days) until I could purchase the 40 Gal from work. Now I've got him in the 40 Gal with no issues except for one: At night time, he goes and sleeps under his half-log hideout until the next morning. When I get him out the next morning, his skin is very dark green, almost olive shade. If I hold him for a few minutes, he'll turn bright green again. Is he getting too cold under his half-log at night? What can I do to keep him warm no matter where he's at in his cage?
Just a little info on the set-up of his cage:
*Repti-Hammock up in the left-hand corner
*Half-log hideout under the hammock with some foliage around it
*Large faux wood piece in the middle to bask on
*More foliage in the back to climb on
*All of his food and water is kept on the right side of the cage, which is also the cool spot of the cage
*Thermometer reads 85 Degrees ambient air temp, and the basking spot is about 110 Degrees
*At night I use a "Moon glow" bulb that illuminates the tank very little but keeps the ambient air temp where it should be
I recently adopted a baby iguana from a local pet store and I temporarily kept him in a 10 Gal terrarium (only for two days) until I could purchase the 40 Gal from work. Now I've got him in the 40 Gal with no issues except for one: At night time, he goes and sleeps under his half-log hideout until the next morning. When I get him out the next morning, his skin is very dark green, almost olive shade. If I hold him for a few minutes, he'll turn bright green again. Is he getting too cold under his half-log at night? What can I do to keep him warm no matter where he's at in his cage?
Just a little info on the set-up of his cage:
*Repti-Hammock up in the left-hand corner
*Half-log hideout under the hammock with some foliage around it
*Large faux wood piece in the middle to bask on
*More foliage in the back to climb on
*All of his food and water is kept on the right side of the cage, which is also the cool spot of the cage
*Thermometer reads 85 Degrees ambient air temp, and the basking spot is about 110 Degrees
*At night I use a "Moon glow" bulb that illuminates the tank very little but keeps the ambient air temp where it should be
so watch out for that. Some people have even tried to put real plants in enclosures with iguanas but it ends in a mess with a dead plant (and the iguana might try to eat the plant or dirt). I have realized that with night lights sometimes Gwen doesn't want to go to sleep and she will be awake all night under her basking spot so I have to turn it off so she will go to sleep. She had a streak last week of being up two nights in a row and she was unusually active at night so thus, even though its wintertime I had to turn her night light off so she would be able to sleep (Note that this is not often and I always keep my whole room warm from a heater, it never goes below 70 degrees, but she still gets a bit cold some of those nights 
) I do what I can. Sometimes I can trick her and turn off her light for awhile so she will go to her sleeping corner and then turn the light back on when she is asleep. Again, this isn't common but its something to think about. After this night heat lamp goes out I might invest in a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) so there will be no chance of light bothering her (or me) at night.