Green Iguana Help

[mdo135]

I got a new green iguana a little over two weeks ago, and I cant get him to eat anything. Here is the specs hopefully somebody can give some advise.

- This is not my first lizard, but it is my first iguana.
- I got him at petco, (probably not a good idea, but the price was right and ive wanted one of these sense I was a little kid I couldnt resist)
- His temperatures are 95-100f in the basking spot, 70-75f in the cool spots, and the overall rest of the tank remains around 85f.
- He has propper uva/uvb lighting, both a basking lamp and a tube bulb lamp running the rest of the length of the tank
- He has a big tub of water to soak in/drink.
- He has a hide and plenty of climbing logs and branches.
- Peat moss subtrate.
- I mist the tank every day, I dont know the humidity I dont have a guage
- He is in a 55 gallon tank (I know this is not sufficent for life I have a custom cage for him in the future, hes only a foot long now)

I have had him for two weeks and 3 days and he hasnt eaten a thing, and he only deficated once, the day after I brought him home. I have tried collared greens, green beans, snap peas, alphalfa sprouts, romain lettice, mashed potatoes, carrots, celary, sliced mango and papia, dandilion greens, and many other things. I tried them whole and finely cut in a salad. I tried hand feeding and putting his salad in a food dish and leaving it. I even hung collard greens from the branches to try and replicate leaves but no matter what he wont eat and im quite worried about him. He doesnt seem to be getting weaker, but he does look skinnier than he was when I got him. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I think I covered everything but any questions please ask. I cannot take him to a vet because there are none around me that will look at him. Returning him is not an option the petco I bought him as is over 300 miles away.

 

[snakeguy101]

look up the number of that store and ask them what they were feeding it. It might have been fed some commercial diet and it might not recognize lettuce and fruits as food. Depending on what they say, the only option might be to take him to the vet or force feed him.

 

[mdo135]

I asked that while I was there, they fed it lettice sorry forgot to put that detail, should I try some commercial food though? thats one thing I havent tried. Id rather he ate fruits and vegetables but im willing to try anything

 

[snakeguy101]

your best bet is to go to a vet then...

 

[mdo135]

Ya I think your right, I just hope I can find somebody who will take a look at him I live in the sticks. I hope he is going to be ok a green iguana has been a dream of mine for awhile I finaly got him and now I cant get him to eat. If anyone has anymore suggestions please let me know. Thanks for your help Snakeguy!

 

[Mike D]

few things...


how does he look physically besides not being thin? how is the base of his tail? is it full looking? are his eyes bright and clear or are they kinda sunk in and sick looking? how does the inside of his mouth look? is it normal looking or is it off color and mucusy(sp)?

i would take out the peatmoss and switch him to good old newpaper. not the best to look at but it will let you see any kind of bowel movement he might have no matter how small it is.

try giving him a long soak in warm water. sometimes this will perk them up to eat. do this a few times a day if possible.

how often do you handle him? sonetimes if they get real stressed they will go off feeding. this doesnt even pertain to just handling either it could be loud noises, other pets, younger siblings and so on. try and isolate him as much as possible.

skip lettuces and mashed potatoes. not a good diet for him. i would also stay away from any comercial iguana diet stuuf that comes in pellets. all this will do at this point is rob any extra moisture he has. which isnt good at this point. you can also try syringe feeding him with some watered down pedialite, ive used this on dehydrated reps before with great results.

 

[Toby_H]

Lettuce is almost nothing but water, so if lettuce is all it was eating at the Petco then I hope they didn't have him for very long or he is likely malnourished from day one.
　
Until you can get him to break his fasting streak, I would try a variety of foods while minimizing any possible stresses… Crickets will not be an ideal diet, but it is very possible this was part (or most) of it’s diet at Petco (despite what the person on the phone told you).
　
Learning what it will eat will give you the opportunity to blend it with what you want it to eat as a means of making it recognize the desired food as food.
　
The tank sounds set up properly for the time being, though I do like the suggestion of changing over to newspaper to assist monitoring. Dehydration is a common ailment and over hydration is rarely a concern…
　
I know I didn’t add much, but that’s because there is good advice posted above

 

[coura]

few things...


how does he look physically besides not being thin? how is the base of his tail? is it full looking? are his eyes bright and clear or are they kinda sunk in and sick looking? how does the inside of his mouth look? is it normal looking or is it off color and mucusy(sp)?

i would take out the peatmoss and switch him to good old newpaper. not the best to look at but it will let you see any kind of bowel movement he might have no matter how small it is.

try giving him a long soak in warm water. sometimes this will perk them up to eat. do this a few times a day if possible.

how often do you handle him? sonetimes if they get real stressed they will go off feeding. this doesnt even pertain to just handling either it could be loud noises, other pets, younger siblings and so on. try and isolate him as much as possible.

skip lettuces and mashed potatoes. not a good diet for him. i would also stay away from any comercial iguana diet stuuf that comes in pellets. all this will do at this point is rob any extra moisture he has. which isnt good at this point. you can also try syringe feeding him with some watered down pedialite, ive used this on dehydrated reps before with great results.

Do this, also are your lamps protected by some kind of wire mesh or something? If not do it, just a wille ago a girl here lost her baby ig with a bad burn that got infected. Also do the soak thing and see how it goes. I think your ig may be really obstipated. You can also give it water by a small NEEDLE LESS seringe, a bit at the time. Lets start by doing this asap.

 

[mdo135]

He actualy looked quite healthy when i got him, thats why i picked him. I know lettice isnt good for him and I wanted to wean him off it, but thats supposedly what they fed him there so I tried it, I just need him to eat something, anything. Im sure they did lie to me about what he ate at the store i usualy dont trust petco and simular places, you may be right about the crickets in his diet i know its a big no no but im gonna try it he needs to eat something. I never hold him unless nesessary, it is too soon to hand train him i know, and i have to get him eating first anyway. I will try the warm water soak, newspaper, and forced feeding if absolutely necessary. Thank you all for you help it is greatly appreciated.

-I'll keep you posted, anymore suggestions are welcome

 

[coura]

He actualy looked quite healthy when i got him, thats why i picked him. I know lettice isnt good for him and I wanted to wean him off it, but thats supposedly what they fed him there so I tried it, I just need him to eat something, anything. Im sure they did lie to me about what he ate at the store i usualy dont trust petco and simular places, you may be right about the crickets in his diet i know its a big no no but im gonna try it he needs to eat something. I never hold him unless nesessary, it is too soon to hand train him i know, and i have to get him eating first anyway. I will try the warm water soak, newspaper, and forced feeding if absolutely necessary. Thank you all for you help it is greatly appreciated.

-I'll keep you posted, anymore suggestions are welcome

Your taking a wrong aproach to deal with this problem. First you NEED to hold him even if causes some stress otherwise you wont be able both to treat and to tame him, your iguana is with you for 2 weeks by now you should have been holding him on a regular basis. Iguanas even small ones take holding stress fairly well, just dont cauth it by the tail and take all steps in correct iguana handling. Second making him eat crickets and letuce will do nothing but create more problems, your iguana will take NO benefict from either of thouse foods and she isnt more likely to eat letuce then any other kind of vegetable, crickets are rich in protein and that will stress even more her fragile kidneys. First do the soaking then we will see. Much likely Im going to recomend you to hand feed her (NOT FORCE FEED HER, very likely it only needs some encoragment) but first the soaking to make shure she emptys her intestines and there is nothing there stoping the normal flow.