Need Serious Help Asap!!!!!!!!!

[oxsherxo88]

Today and friend and I purchased a young iguana who is EXTREMLY underweight. He was only 10 bucks and was in a ten gallon tank with another large iguana. I couldnt help myself. He is young....kinda teenagerish lol. I need to get him up to weight. The other issue is that it seems he doesnt move his front legs very much from the elbow on. i dont know if this is just from weakness or he has MBD(?). Please if you know ANYTHING about getting an iguana better post for me:-) Thank you in advance.

[JLC]

I know virtually nothing about iguanas, but if you answer some basic questions, then it might help those in the know answer you faster.


What kind of set-up do you have it in now? What are your temps and heat sources? Substrate? What are you feeding it? Are you providing UVB light? What is its source? Have you done any research on basic iguana care? Do you realize how big they grow and how aggressive they can potentially be?

Ok....I think that's enough questions to get you started. In the meantime, I would make sure I had some UVB light right away....and start researching!

[JimiSnakes]

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/member.php?u=955

This is the guy to ask.

I am not to up on Iggys but I'm sure he needs to be in a seperate setup asap.

I am a little confused about your term "in with a larger iguana". You also said that they are BOTH in a ten gallon? I sure hope you know how big they are going to get.

Good luck,
Jim

[oxsherxo88]

Maybe my other post was unclear. I JUST bought this Iguana from a pet store where he/she was in a ten gallon tank with another Iguana. I did not buy both. THe one I bought is super under weight. The pet store owner said that this was because the other iggy in with him was aggresive and keeping him from eating. THe situation itself ticks me off because....well ill post a picture later on tonight of what I have on my hands right now. He is temp. in a ten gallon with a 75 watt uv bulb a water dish, and food(carrots, all different greens, no ice burg though, grapes, a few tomato shreds, a small amount of egg...etc etc) I soaked him as soon as he got to my house and he pooped and also ate right away. I didnt get a chance to relaly research alot because I bought him for the pure purpose of getting him out of the pet store that was neglecting his condition.

[mr~python]

you're feeding him eggs??? iguanas are strictly herbivorous. collared greens are espescially good for them, you know like kale, etc. they also eat fruit but thats about all i know about carring for them. good luck.

[Jeanne]

It sounds as if that ig may have MBD starting. Although the fact it is eating at this point, gives much hope. It is very likely that the other ig did bully this one and it was just not eating right or even enough to keep its weight up. Igs do not eat meat stuff, they are veggie eaters, think "veggie saurus" as in a dino so well loved on jurassic park. So far it does sound like the greens you are offering are a great choice.... and it is good to you know not to give ice berg lettuce since it has no nutritional value and is all water. Feed kale, collard greens and mustard greens also, they are high in calcuim but low in oxilates (sp). Avoid spinach of any type, it is high in oxilates and keeps them from absorbing calcium correctly. You must get a UVB/UVA light immediatley for it, a light bulb will not be sufficient. If you purchased a reptile basking bulb, still get a UBV/UVA light such as the long tube type, because the basking bulbs really dont put out enough UVB/UVA, it does not matter that the packaging says it does or if the store clerk told you so... they are really a waste for a source of UVB/UVA by themselves. These types of rays are also needed for calcium absorbtion because it causes them to produce vitamin d3 which is essential to absorbing calcium correctly. You could also get a low wattage mega ray which would act as a basking spot and UVB/UVA supply all in one. Mega ray bulbs can be purchased online. A 10 gallon is a rather poor choice for even a small ig, minimum really should be equal to a 15 long at the least or even a 20 long. A 10 gallon will get too hot and be too hard to maintain the right temps. You can find rubber maids to work for this, which will require some modifications to work for this, such as cutting out a hole for whatever your light source and UVB/UVA, but also keeping the ig from being able to directly touch it, you will need some sort of screen or mesh. Hope this helps you!

[frankykeno]

I do not have an iguana however my friend rescues them. This is what I can remember from being over at her house a lot with her 3 iggy's (they are larger though not babies and not sickly so take that into account). She purchases a bag of greens called "Spring Mix" from WalMart or elsewhere. It contains no spinach, no iceberg, basically is mixed greens and is enjoyed by all her iggy's. A one lb bag at WalMart runs around $2.39 I think (lots for a small iggy). She only offers carrots grated not whole, broccoli only the soft tops never the hard stems and only as treats. They love a bit of banana, melon, strawberries...again as treats. Think mostly "softer" stuff as they seem to have a hard time on the hard veggies. Absolutely no meat protien. I will phone her and see if she has some suggestions for good links online for safe and not safe foods. I know they bought some books and printed out a huge amount online when they got their first iggy.


Also watch the iggy for picking up anything it can reach...pennies, rocks, whatever. They have no sense that way. I know her iggies have night and daytime special lights but I will ask her exactly what they are and how she has the iggy's scheduled that way.

[frankykeno]

Okay hopefully I took good notes...here's what my friend is recommending....first off go to this link...you can either download and read or download and print out (huge, hope you have a ton of ink in your printer LOL)....

http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/icfs/

As far as lights she said UVB with a basking perch not more than 12 inches from the source of the UVB. She said watch the UVB bulb because they will sell you the wrong type (like Jeanne said in her post). She uses ceramic heat emitters for a heat source (seperate from this UVB bulb). Also you can purchase a black light (moonlight) bulb if you want (she doesn't use them herself).

She dusts her iggy's food once weekly with T-Rex Iguana Dust (veggie growth formula) but suggested since this young one is not in good condition to dust every other feeding till it is in good shape. As far as food she said offer a good variety to get it interested in eating well....avoid high acid foods like a lot of citrus and tomatoes...no potatoes...no meat protiens...strictly veggies.

She puts her iggy's in a tepid tub once per week which they enjoy but said you may want to bathe more often to help rehydrate and get the iggy pooping but not overdue it and stress the baby out. She only makes the water no higher than their shoulder so they are not swimming...just puddling about in it. Other than their weekly soaking type bath she spritzes them daily with a plant mister. I have seen how much they love this! She also uses a vaporizer to keep their enclosures humid enough in the dry winter weather (they all have huge enclosures).

Double check temps and humidity requirements in that link above as I was scribbling so fast that I don't want to quote that just in case...best to check.

She said an enclosure should be minimum height of twice to three times the full length of the iggy and length should be minimum twice the length of the iggy from tip to tail (this is minimum...they seem to need and enjoy a big home and do a lot of exploring, climbing and basking). They like to climb a lot. Her basking perches are all up high with other perches they climb to when they want to cool down a bit or when they are going to eat, poop, etc.

Hope this was of help to you. If the iggy seems unwell, please find a decent vet and have it assessed so you know what you are in for and what to expect.

[jglass38]

Sounds like the start of MBD from the lack of d3 production. Here is an article on it. I suggest a vet trip immediately.

http://www.2ndchance.info/MBD-iguana.htm