Post by crimsonpfahl on Jun 11, 2013 14:49:05 GMT -8
Hello everyone! My name is Chloe 
Here's my story:
I may be a first time iguana owner but i'm not necessarily a newbie. My mother and her boyfriend one day just decided to drive out to a lady here in Colorado, who they found on craigslist, and buy two baby iguanas. This is where the nightmare begins. Neither my mom or her current boyfriend had ever owned an iguana before, and merely got them because they thought it'd be "cool". Being merely 14-15 at the time, i clearly didn't have much say in the adults decision making. It also didn't help that i only saw my mom on the weekends. Long story short, after maybe a month or two my mom decided to move to Alaska. How do you transfer two baby iguanas to Alaska? No clue. So she left them here with me.
I am an animal lover at heart. And on top of that I love reptiles! So after convincing my dad to let me keep not only one, but two iguanas I immediately went to go pick them up. My mom told me how she was taking care of them, which one was which (because they were about the same age so they were easy to get mixed up) and what she was feeding them. Me being the smart little cookie i was and am currently, i had already done my research on owning iguanas so that i would be prepared for the new family members. You can imagine my dismay when she told me that they both lived in the same cage with no heating lamp or uvb lighting, was being fed tofu, sometimes lettuce, lots of fruit when they had it, and occasionally were offered bugs they caught around the neighborhood. They had one tiny waterbowl between the two of them that was almost always dirty and had never really seen sunlight.
About the second day i had them i went out and bought another cage, 4 lamps, heating bulbs, more waterbowls, and completely changed their diets. Unfortunately, the smaller of the two baby iguanas didn't look so well. His joints in all of his legs had little bumbs on them and needless to say he wasn't as flexible as the other one. After a couple days i took him into the vet whom confirmed what i had feared. MBD. Though the vet said it was very common and didnt seem all the concerned, she did suggest upping his calcium and gave me some medicine that he was not happy to take. The vet also advised getting a specific brand of lighting called power son sold by a reptile store that i can't remember the name of. So basically these iguanas have started to cost me and my dad an arm and a leg. But three years afterwards i can't say i ever regret taking them in.
About my iguanas:
Like i said i have two of them One is named Scath and the other is Scrios (weird names i know... But they're nicknames are Yoshi and Zilla *like Godzilla*). Both are about three years old now and about 3ft long. They don't mind each other but prefer to leave each other alone when they are both free roaming outside their cages. Because of his stiff arms, i dont handle Scath as much as i handle Scrios. But he has never been all that aggressive even with lack of handling and trusts me enough to hand feed him, bathe him, and clip his nails. Scrios on the other hand, has her ups and downs. I have also had to take her into the vet due to an infection in a few of her toes (which they had to do a partial amputation with) and oddly enough the vet who helped her said that she was the calmest and nicest iguana he has ever encountered. Made me feel good but i knew better 
Scrios can be the sweetest iguanas most days but i remember when would charge at me and continuously try to bite me. Not a fun time period to say the least. Glad now that she has gotten bigger she has started to calm down D:
Now i'm just rambling. I could write a book on the adventures with my iguanas but i doubt anyone is going to want to read this whole thread. Sorry guys! lol. I joined this site because i wanted to be able to ask questions about my personal iguanas and get some feedback from other iguana owners. I was hoping that this board could provide that Clearly i could just google my iguana's symptoms and find other people who are having the same issues but i feel it would be more beneficial to add my own information and experiences to get a more straightforward answer. Hope i'll be able to chat with some of you fellow iguana owners! I may only be 17 but trust me when i say i am more informed than most. Out of my entire family im the only one who can take care of the iguanas so i want to make sure i am doing it right. When i got to college in a year guess which two giant lizards will be coming with me!
P.S. I will try to post some pictures very soon!
Here's my story:
I may be a first time iguana owner but i'm not necessarily a newbie. My mother and her boyfriend one day just decided to drive out to a lady here in Colorado, who they found on craigslist, and buy two baby iguanas. This is where the nightmare begins. Neither my mom or her current boyfriend had ever owned an iguana before, and merely got them because they thought it'd be "cool". Being merely 14-15 at the time, i clearly didn't have much say in the adults decision making. It also didn't help that i only saw my mom on the weekends. Long story short, after maybe a month or two my mom decided to move to Alaska. How do you transfer two baby iguanas to Alaska? No clue. So she left them here with me.
I am an animal lover at heart. And on top of that I love reptiles! So after convincing my dad to let me keep not only one, but two iguanas I immediately went to go pick them up. My mom told me how she was taking care of them, which one was which (because they were about the same age so they were easy to get mixed up) and what she was feeding them. Me being the smart little cookie i was and am currently, i had already done my research on owning iguanas so that i would be prepared for the new family members. You can imagine my dismay when she told me that they both lived in the same cage with no heating lamp or uvb lighting, was being fed tofu, sometimes lettuce, lots of fruit when they had it, and occasionally were offered bugs they caught around the neighborhood. They had one tiny waterbowl between the two of them that was almost always dirty and had never really seen sunlight.
About the second day i had them i went out and bought another cage, 4 lamps, heating bulbs, more waterbowls, and completely changed their diets. Unfortunately, the smaller of the two baby iguanas didn't look so well. His joints in all of his legs had little bumbs on them and needless to say he wasn't as flexible as the other one. After a couple days i took him into the vet whom confirmed what i had feared. MBD. Though the vet said it was very common and didnt seem all the concerned, she did suggest upping his calcium and gave me some medicine that he was not happy to take. The vet also advised getting a specific brand of lighting called power son sold by a reptile store that i can't remember the name of. So basically these iguanas have started to cost me and my dad an arm and a leg. But three years afterwards i can't say i ever regret taking them in.
About my iguanas:
Like i said i have two of them
One is named Scath and the other is Scrios (weird names i know... But they're nicknames are Yoshi and Zilla *like Godzilla*). Both are about three years old now and about 3ft long. They don't mind each other but prefer to leave each other alone when they are both free roaming outside their cages. Because of his stiff arms, i dont handle Scath as much as i handle Scrios. But he has never been all that aggressive even with lack of handling and trusts me enough to hand feed him, bathe him, and clip his nails. Scrios on the other hand, has her ups and downs. I have also had to take her into the vet due to an infection in a few of her toes (which they had to do a partial amputation with) and oddly enough the vet who helped her said that she was the calmest and nicest iguana he has ever encountered. Made me feel good but i knew better 
Scrios can be the sweetest iguanas most days but i remember when would charge at me and continuously try to bite me. Not a fun time period to say the least. Glad now that she has gotten bigger she has started to calm down D: Now i'm just rambling. I could write a book on the adventures with my iguanas but i doubt anyone is going to want to read this whole thread. Sorry guys! lol. I joined this site because i wanted to be able to ask questions about my personal iguanas and get some feedback from other iguana owners. I was hoping that this board could provide that
Clearly i could just google my iguana's symptoms and find other people who are having the same issues but i feel it would be more beneficial to add my own information and experiences to get a more straightforward answer. Hope i'll be able to chat with some of you fellow iguana owners! I may only be 17 but trust me when i say i am more informed than most. Out of my entire family im the only one who can take care of the iguanas so i want to make sure i am doing it right. When i got to college in a year guess which two giant lizards will be coming with me! P.S. I will try to post some pictures very soon!
I wasn't happy with Reptisun at all.