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Post by matt2615 on Jun 23, 2007 1:36:43 GMT -5
I am trying to feed my iguana, acorn squash, apples, bell peppers, celery, escarole, endives, greens. And he hasn't even noticed the food in his cage. Is there something wrong with him, or is he just getting used to his new cage? He is about a foot long I have him in a 260 gallon reptarium the heat at the bottom is about 82 in the middle it is about 85 and at the top it is 95, his basking spot is about one hundred I have a heat light and I have a uvb light. I have a little bowl of water big enough for him to get into and drink water out of. He has let me hold him a couple of times without even trying to get away. Is there anything wrong with him?
THanks matt
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Post by zachbaker on Jun 23, 2007 12:33:07 GMT -5
Matt, Sometimes when you purchase/rescue a iguana they are stressed because of the change of scenery or from being held often. Your new Iguana may be stressed out because of change in his/her environment. Give this wonderful animal sometime to get accustomed to you and his/her new cage. Your iguana will spend sometime moving around in the cage discovering new areas within the cage. Try not to hold him/her alot since you just got him home. Keep providing food but in smaller amounts because you dont want to waste to much food for him/her. Im not one who likes providing fresh water in the cage for my Iguana's. I prefer to give baths instead. You say you have a water bowl for him/her to get into. Well does this water bowl have a filter or even some kind of pump to make the water flow 24/7? If not this needs to be one thing you need to purchase for him/her. If you leave standing water in the cage without any waterflow then you run a high risk of bacterial growth. Bacteria can thrive in standing water. If you dont have any sort of waterflow then your Iguana may become sick from the standing water. I would try the bath idea first then if you dont like doing this try to provide some water with a pump and see how that works. Also try not to give alot of bell peppers their nutritional content isnt that good. Here is a link to all the nutritional content of all the foods that you can feed your iguana. www.greenigsociety.org/foodchart.htmAlso check out some of the other info on this site. This is a great site built for and by the Iguana owners of the world. Your basking temps are fine. Keep trying and dont ever give up on him/her. This reptile needs the best care and most time you can give it. Its not cheap either. You have a growing iguana that will eat alot of food once he/her gets accustomed to the environment it has. If you have any other questions let us know on this site and we will be glad to help out as much as we can. Also you should post some pics of you enclosure and your iguana so we can get a better Idea about what your setup looks like and what condition your Iggy is in. As far as lighting is concerned let us know what form of UVB exposure he/her has. The number one rule when getting involved with these reptiles is research. You can never know enough about Iguana's. Keep researching and reading everyones experiences. The best thing when it comes to owning Iguana's is sharing your knowledge with others so they can learn different ideas. A Iguana owner, Zach Baker
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Post by matt2615 on Jun 23, 2007 13:42:24 GMT -5
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Post by matt2615 on Jun 23, 2007 16:42:15 GMT -5
I now know why my iguana wont eat. I went to the pet store where I got him from to find out what they fed him out there. And they said they fed them crickets, mealworms and waxworms, and they didnt say a thing about any fruits or vegetables. I thought the people at that pet store knew what to feed the iguanas. So does anybody know how to get an iguana to eat vegetables or fruits that has never had anything but crickets and worms? That will be the last time I buy reptiles from that store!
THanks matt
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Post by zachbaker on Jun 23, 2007 19:35:11 GMT -5
Wow only crickets and worms. I would never buy a Iguana from that petstore. Try to take a leaf from your salad mix and hand feed it to him/her. I would never allow a Iguana to eat crickets or any superworms or waxworms. That isnt enough food for them to survive anyways. It is very unhealthy. That cage is very large. You need to downgrade to a smaller enclosure until he is big enough to be moved into a enclosure that fits his size. Right now he most likely cant find his food dish because he cant see it. I like the reptariums but I wouldnt use one that big for something that small. What company made the UVB bulb you use? For example Megaray reptisun powersun
Zoomed, exoterra, etc etc. They design a special reptile bulb that emits a certain percent of UVB that your Iguana needs for bone development. Megaray is what I use but right now I dont recommend using it until your fully aware of what the dangers of having those bulbs are. Try giving him a bath. Baths are common among Iguana owners. Their are good reasons why you should try the bath idea. Baths rehydrate your iguana and they tend to release feces easier when bathed. When they release the feces in the water they take in water that way also helping them become rehydrated. Since you already have a large cage you should keep it for later when your iguana becomes larger. You still need to downgrade your cage to a smaller one until he grows. At the time he becomes the length of 2 feet you should then move him to the 260 gallon reptarium or a custom built enclosure. I feed my iguana's a very wide mix of greens. The main staples for me are the following: Collard greens- High in calcium romaine- mostly water but thats ok since they need alot of that. mustard greens- also a great staple acorn squash- a good source of vitamins and a great treat. I also feed bananas but not in large amounts. You should feed mostly greens but try not to over due the fruits. Apples are something I only give as treats also. Just go by what your food list says and you should be fine. Dont feed anymore crickets or worms though.
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Post by prismwolf on Jun 24, 2007 20:12:24 GMT -5
Welcome to iguana keeping...:-)
Zach has given you some really good advice. The only thing I might add is that your new ig will not starve itself. Just keep offering the right foods and he'll eventually eat it. Igs can go for a couple of weeks without eating...though I would personally be very nervous after 4-5 days, but it does happen for longer periods.
It sounds like the pet store could use some education. Print out some information sheets and offer it to them. Whether they choose to follow the advice right is up to them. It will be a shame if they don't.
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Post by matt2615 on Jun 25, 2007 6:54:26 GMT -5
Well I have good news, yesterday I tried some watermelon and he put his nose on it and kept licking it then he started to pull it in his mouth, then he kept chewing or something then it was all gone. So now I have been trying to mix the watermelon with his other food, he still hasnt eaten anything else but at least he has some food in him. And I have been soaking him in water.
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Post by zachbaker on Jun 25, 2007 16:54:56 GMT -5
Thats great. Keep trying to feed more greens. Watermelon is loaded with water. This is good but watermelon is not as nutritious as greens. Do you have a yard? If so you could pick dandelion greens from your yard provided you havent sprayed pesticides or any other chemicals on the weeds and grass.
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Post by matt2615 on Jun 26, 2007 7:51:59 GMT -5
This morning I took the iguana out of his cage to soak him in water and his stomach looked puffed out like he has eaten food and was full maybe, I have a picture
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0ooAshleyoo0
Member
It's not about getting what you want, it's about wanting what you've got.
Posts: 122
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Post by 0ooAshleyoo0 on Jun 26, 2007 12:29:57 GMT -5
Maybe your lil ig just has been eating when you're not watching. its extremely common for a small ig to be scared and not even move until he's seen no movement for hours. What you should do is take a picture of the food when you put it in there and then later compare it to what it looks like to see if he's eaten any. If his stomach does have a full look to it..it is a big possibility that he ate
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Post by zachbaker on Jun 26, 2007 19:24:54 GMT -5
Welcome to iguana keeping...:-) Zach has given you some really good advice. The only thing I might add is that your new ig will not starve itself. Just keep offering the right foods and he'll eventually eat it. Igs can go for a couple of weeks without eating...though I would personally be very nervous after 4-5 days, but it does happen for longer periods. It sounds like the pet store could use some education. Print out some information sheets and offer it to them. Whether they choose to follow the advice right is up to them. It will be a shame if they don't. A couple of weeks is pushing it some but since were on the subject of Iguanas not eating Ill speak my experience here. Ive had Nana somewhere around three years. When I received her she was very scared and jumpy. I tried to get her to eat normal from the start but she just wouldnt eat much if little at all. She was driven from Arizona to Kansas through the cold rocky mountains. When she finally arrived I was in love with this big green monster that seemed so scared. Her first reaction to the new enviroment was to lash out at anyone or anything in her path. We put her on the couch and my friends dog got a little to curious about her. She reared back and let that dog have a taste of her tail. The dog yelped a little but was ok in the end. Nana didnt eat alot for about three weeks but she soon started eating much more than when she first arrived. Handfeeding was a key to rehabilitating her from a long ride and a scary new home that seemed to crawl with more critters than she had ever seen before. I broke her of the handfeeding habit and she has regained normal eating habits ever since. The important thing to remember Matt is that you should never give up even if you feel like your care hasnt made any progress. Trying to feed iguanas that wont eat is better than not feeding them at all. Give this animal love and care and you wont be dissapointed in the reactions you will get when the animal grows to the length of five foot. Trust me I have caught alot of people of guard with her. My neighbors have a direct view of Nana everyday through my sunroom windows. She can see outside and I take her outside for sun everytime I get a chance. My neighbors love seeing her outside and think she is the coolest thing they ever seen. They're are alot of people that have never seen a fully developed Giant Green Iguana. They will be mesmerized by it when it grows. Or they might be frightened by it. Zach Baker
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Post by matt2615 on Jun 27, 2007 14:07:16 GMT -5
What I planning on doing now is I'm going to aim my camera towards his plate of food and have it take a picture like every ten seconds and I'm gonna go downstairs for a few hours and maybe check the camera on another computer every once in a while. And I also have moved his plate of food on a little platform half way up his tank, because I heard that they dont like to eat on the ground cause they think something will get them. He still seems healthy cause the color of his skin is still a good looking green color, and he basks under his uvb and heat light everyday, and his cage temps still have been around optimum temperature. And I soak him in water everyday and provide him with a little plate of water just in case he wants a drink.
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Post by matt2615 on Jun 27, 2007 14:15:11 GMT -5
I have even better news when I just got down writing the last reply I went over to his cage to see what he was doing, and he was on top of his food bowl and he had some greens sticking out of his mouth and was chewing or swallowing or something.
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Post by zachbaker on Jun 27, 2007 16:00:04 GMT -5
Sounds like success to me. Good Job. I told you to be patient and see what happened. Well he/she ate some greens when you werent looking and you found them still in its mouth. I told you that their wasnt much to be worried about. Just keep up the good work and it will be growing to a good size over the next 2 years.
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Post by matt2615 on Jun 27, 2007 16:40:37 GMT -5
Yeah I bet he is pretty hungry, he's been sitting by the food bowl for the past hour so I assume he has been eating more food. Right now he is hanging on the cage just above his food plate staring down at his food so he's probably gonna get some more, and his stomach is really bulged out. I know I can't wait till he gets fully grown, when he gets big enough to get out of that cage I will either build him a huge vivarium or most likely I will just let him share my room with me.
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