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Post by sillantua on Jan 1, 2011 15:53:36 GMT -5
hey. im raising a 5 months old iguana for 3 months now. the problem is that hes terrified of me. i did everything i read on the sites: i gave him time to adjust in the terrarium in a quiet room, then moved him to my room, i sat and looked at him for days! i talked and even sang to him, open door, hands in hands out. pretty much everything. i dont want to just grab him because he is very sensitive. one time he escaped and since then he has an eating disorder. he got thinner and he barely eats. every time he is stressed he fasts. ever since he got much more stressed about any attempt to tighten our relationship. even if i just look at him he gets scared. im really scared to try to get close to him cause hes still not eating properly and i dont want to traumatize him and let him die of malnutrition! i once had an iguana who didnt eat a whole month and almost died on me and i had to give her to a veterinarian. if he continues to be terrified of every little thing i wont be able to let him out the terrarium! im beginning to question my abilities as an owner... i envy all those owners who have iguanas with good appetite and who are so friendly! how do they do it? please i need help...! Attachments:
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Post by ChamZilla on Jan 4, 2011 3:48:37 GMT -5
Hello and WeLcOme To The FoRuM!!! Sorry for the delay in my reply, I just have a few questions What is the temperature in the tererrium where it is the warmest (under the basking light) and the coolist (furthest point away from the light)? If an iguana is to hot or to cold they won't eat. If you could post a photo of the enclosure where he/she is living I could help you with that as well. Baby iguana's and some iguana's in general can be very picky. To get her/him to eat for the time being, you could offer some nice watermelon. Only the pink part. It will help hydrate him/her and is at least some nutrition. Its kind of like coaxing a kid to eat. In the photo the little one is a bit dehydrated so this will help also (you can tell by the large skin folds down his/her sides) Misting the enclosure daily will also help with this. And having a water bowl will also help. When he/she got out how long was he/she out for? And is the problem fixed so it won't happen again? You have been doing the right things, but baby iguana's look at us the way we would look at a scary giant monster sticking there hands down to pick us up. Its a scary thing for them. It takes time and patience. One day at a time. Hoping you get back to me with the questions I asked and hopefully I can help you better. That is for sure a cute little one you have there! Hope to hear back soon!
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Post by sillantua on Jan 5, 2011 7:33:31 GMT -5
thanx for the reply! i completely agree with your sentence there...i feel the same towards humans lol...are you vegan? the temp in the warmest area is 30-32 selcius during day and 26-28 at night...i cant raise the temps more because its freezing here... you think i should get another heat ceramic lamp? there is also a uvb lamp during day. a little water pool [with he doesnt seem to like lol] and branches and all that...there is also a little wooden box for hiding wich he doesnt use often... the terrarium is 80X40 and the height is something like 60cm...i dont have a pic off the whole enclosure. actually he doesnt like fruits that much..he loves baby leaves and i give him tonts of baby leaves everyday with a few other veggies or fruits but when the leaves touch some other veggie he wont eat it! but i cant let him eat only baby leaves cant i? oh and its winter here so there are no watermelons... oh my hes dehydrated?! i thought it was because he lost weight...[not that its better..] how do i mist the enclosure?? apparently the big water bowl doesnt help! when he escaped it was for a few hours, and off-course i fixed the prob..that poor thing thanx again
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Post by ChamZilla on Jan 20, 2011 20:27:51 GMT -5
Hello there, SORRY I have taken so long to reply. I haven't been online very much. Those temperatures sound alright, you could go a little lower at night. A day time temp is usually good around 85 - 90 as long as there is a COOL side of the enclosure to get to. Which would be anything under 80. If they get to hot they won't eat. Also the night time temperature could go down to 75 just nothing under 70 as he/she is a small one still. If they don't have these temperature gradients they can't regulate there body temperature and it can also have them to off there feed. (I'm not a vegan ) As long as he/she can go nose to tail across the tank straight then it should be ok. Iguana's prefer height to length. They like to be able to get as high as they can. Where are you from again? I am in Canada and its pretty cold here but we can still get watermelon at the grocery store.... its expensive but you can still get it. You can take a new empty water bottle that sprays. fill it with clean warm water and mist him with that. 3x a day would be good. If you are able to get him to the tub for a bath that is also benificial as they absorb water through there vent (hole where they poop under there tail) Just be sure the water is WARM not hot. ALSO make sure you clean the bathtub with cleaner after the iguana uses it. If he/she poops in the water drain it and refill it and let him/her continue to soak. The water can go up to his shoulders as iguana's can swim. Hope he eats soon!
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Post by animal15lover on Nov 18, 2014 19:45:28 GMT -5
This reply is to everyone that ha iguana that is afraid all the time or just is not use to you.
I have a two year old male iguana named Iggyman I have had him seens he was a month old, When I first got Iggyman he was afraid of me and he was not tame, What I did to calm him down and to get him were I could touch and pet him is I sis not push him to do stuff and I learned his moods like if I saw he did not wont to be missed with I backed off and not he is a friendly iguana and he loved to be petted he is not used to being handled all that much but he is getting there.
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