my baby izzy

[Lisa Bischke]

I have just bought an iguana his name is izzy he looks pretty healthy to me but I was wondering what u do for your iguana to make him so bright and so big. I have a meshed cage for him I have a heating light and a branch and tree that leads up to it, I have to uvb,uva lights and a heating pad. At night time I turn the heating pad on and he sleeps all night on it, I turn the uvb,uva lights off at night time but leave the heat lamp on. I have one dish of water but I mist him 2 times a day and his logs and tree. I have 2 thermometers but I cannot seem to keep it at any higher then 23 some days it will be 25, and his basking temp, is at 30c. He is 2 feet long already and I just trimmed his nails so my bf doesn’t get all scratched up. I vary rarely ever touch him he is too skittish for me right now. We let him roam around to check things out in our living room and I vacuum 3 times a week and clean his cage 3 times a week, its just newspaper so its very easy and I change his water every day. I feed him salads with parsley, endive, kale, romaine lettuce, apples, and oranges. And I spray calcium on his food. That’s about it and for when he gets bigger I have about a 7ft by 10ft cage but the wire we installed on it is 2x2 and I am worried he might hurt himself on it. All right now I have told you what I done for my izzy is everything I am doing right and what else could I possibly do for him? PS. I live in Alberta and in the summer time I get pretty nice here so I take him outside put half his cage in shade and half in the sun.

-Lisa

[Donna]

Here is a website that will teach you all about Iguana care... http://www.iguanaden.com/main.htm

I suggest changing your diet over to what they recommend., it will make a huge difference.

Another key thing is to make sure you are using the right UVB bulbs, make sure they are close enough (with in 6 inches of where your Iguana spends most of it's time) and that you have enough of them. One bulb is often not enough for an Iguana. I use 2-four foot tubes and the brand I use is the Zoomed's reptisun 5.0's

Donna

[Cmpyrrhus]

I would first off change his diet a bit. Citris fruits, for one, should not be offered. I would recommend a variety of dark greens with a bit of supplement added periodically. I use ,but not limited to, Collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, Dandelion greens, some select flowers, ane even parsley and cilatro when I have extra left over from making meals. I do not offer any fuits or veggies, and of course no animal proteins.

I use real sunlight at this time of year, allowing my Iguana to bask for about an hour with shade available that you say you do. I feed at this time as well. Best time to offer food is when they are at their warmest. During the colder months I offer a strong reliable UVB light source much like Donna has stated and a basking bub to supply the needed warmth.

[JJFeldner]

Both Beau and Donna are correct in recommending a different diet for your Ig. However, when I was in Panama and Costa Rica, I had an opportunity to observe the local Igs and what they ate in the jungle. I would not take away all of his fruit but I would give him the right fruit.
In the wild, the fruit of different trees ripens at different times. When the fruits ripen, that is all the Igs eat for 2-3 weeks until it runs out. Then, they go back to leaves or flowers or the next fruit to ripen. When I say the right fruit, I am talking about tropical fruits which grow in the jungle, many of which we can get here but I don't know if you can get them in Alberta. Under no circumstances should you feed citrus fruit to an Ig. Also, no animal protein such as mice, which some people get Igs to eat. If you can't get tamarindo or similar jungle tropical fruits, stick to the greens and flowers. BTW, I know roses grow up there and Igs eat them with relish (not Heinz relish LOL).