Is it possible city water is bad for my iguana?

Question

Our iguana is a healthy green color and normaly eats pretty well. We have been giving him alot of calcium, he gets it on his food, we bought calcium gravel for his cage and he gets a calcium spray once daily. We also have a heating pad under the aquarium to keep him warm, change his water every other day and bought a special UV light. The brown discoloration of his back legs and tail has changed to a healthy green and he uses his back legs much better but somethin is just not right with him. He seems I don't know like off balance or lethargic or something. Is that normal as he grows or could there be something in our city water that is bad for him? Maybe I should start buying bottled water and see if that helps. Any advice????

I read the label on the Iguana Dust VMF we put on his food. It had vitamin A and D in it.
Is there another supplement or should that be good. And what about bottled water for now.

Answer 1

HI
First thing..get him to a qualified herp vet to see what problems he may have if he is lethargic or off balance. Second thing,,You might be over dosing him on calcium. Iguanas need very specialized care, including..diet, heating, cage, lights and UVB. Please visit the following websites for more detailed information.
http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/index.html
http://www.iguanaden.org/main.htm
http://www.greenigsociety.org/home.html
Also, there is a yahoo group that is for new ig owners or baby iguans..anyone can join...
Subscribe: [e-mail]
Please read all of the information. If I can assist you further, feel free to email me or YIM me.
Take a look at our pics of our igs
http://community.webshots.com/user/ourigs
Also, take the gravel out..Iguanas will tongue flick it and could get impacted

Answer 2

Take this iguana to a vet. It may need calcium injections under the skin at the base of the spine everyday for a while. The vet will show you how to do this. Further, you said you have a U.V. light, is it A) big enough for the tank and B) Is the brand name "Vita Lite"? C) What are you feeding it? D) Is it male or female?

Vita Lite is the only known, tested and trused U.V. light that carries the proper specturms of u.v. rays for an Iguana. I don't care what a pet store tells you, buy the VITA LITE.

Further, Iguanas need a fine mix of foods. Fruits, like a little peaches, some strawberries and melons (cantalope and honey dew), a lot of VEGGIES, squash, green beens, spinach, mustard greens and collard greens (ALL FRESH) you can skip the Romain and Iceberg Lettuce. They need protein every other month, which crickets will do just fine, about 6 released in the tank. (Forget about store brought Iguana food, really it stinks for iguanas)

If it is a female, she might be egg-bound. They need a covered box to lay their eggs with soft sand inside. If a female becomes egg-bound because she has no place to lay her eggs, it will kill her. You can have a female iguana fixed. I recommend it with captive iguanas.

To sum it up, just take it to the vet. You are doing great things and it sounds like the health of the iguana is coming back, but could require a bit more from a vet.

Good Luck and Take Care

P.S. Don't worry about the city water.

Answer 3

There is so much care that goes into keeping an iguana healthy, so its hard to say what is going on with him without more info.The city water should be fine for your iguana. There are some additives, like fluoride, but not in extreme amounts that would make him sick. They can be overdosed on calcium, so maybe cut back on that a little. Also, reptiles need a lot more than just calcium, they need other vitamins and minerals. Vitamin D3 is very important, so make sure that whatever supplement you are giving him contains that (not the same as vitamin D). Nekton Rep is a great vitamin supplement and they just need a little sprinkle with each feeding. What type of heat lamp do you have on him. UVB lighting is essential to the health of an iguana!!!!!!! If it doesn't say specifically UVB lighting on the package, it's not UVB lighting! Make sure that it is at least 85-90degrees in his basking spot. Also, I would put him on astroturf. Calcium gravel, even though it says digestible, can cause impaction. What are you feeding him? Diet is also very important. 80% dark leafy greens (not too much spicach as it binds to dietary calcium and can cause arterial gout), 10-15% fresh or frozen vegetables (not broccoli...same as above....or cabbage, cauliflower, etc...too hard to digest) and 5% fruits. Hope this helps with general info, but please take him to a qualified veterinarian with reptile experience. Take along a stool sample to check for parasites. I would take him sooner than later as with reptiles, once they show the symptoms of illness, they have usually been sick for a while and he may need medication to help him back to health. Good luck!!!

Answer 4

Absolutely not! The biggest misconception about our city water is that it is unsafe to drink which sparked this huge, wasteful water bottle buying craze. It is perfectly safe for people to drink (considering that the chlorine content is VERY minimal in order to purify the water) and it is regulated by the government whereas water bottles are not. It must be something else causing this because if the water is good enough for us, its good enough for iguanas. Do iguanas drink pure water in the wild?

Answer 5

Yes tap water is bad for everyone including humans. Animals don't drink tap water in the wild and therefor shouldn't be given it in captivity either. If you have to give it tap water pet stores sell water conditioner that makes it safe. The one I use is made by the company ZooMed and it is called Reptisafe. In addition to the calcium you are giving your iguana you also need to give him a vitamin d supplement as well. They can't process the calcium very well without the vitamin d. You can buy vitamin powder at pet stores that have both the calcium and vitamin d in it. The one I use is called Reptivite.

Answer 6

I doubt it is the water.

1. What kind of UV light are you using? How far above the Iguana is it?

2. How progressed was his MBD (Metabolic Bone Disease) before you started treating him? Have you seen a vet about it? MBD cannot always be reversed.

3. How big is his cage? Does he have temperature gradiants? What are the min and max temperatures in his cage?

4. What are you feeding him? Iguanas require a diet of Collard Greens, Turnip Greens, Musturd greens, winter squash, parsnip, alfalfa, strawberries and dates. A full diet discussion can be found in the link below. Green Iguanas must never be feed animal protien. Having the proper diet can help with his recovery from MBD.

Answer 7

City water has flouride as well as other chemicals that they use to clean the water. Yuor iguana could have an allergy to one or some of those chemicals.

Answer 8

tap water is fine as long as you treat it with a good water conditioner for reptiles like reptisafe. if you feel more comfortable with buying bottled water its perfectley ok. i read the comment that it is fine for iguanas to drink tap water because they dont drink pure water in the wild. this aint true they may not drink pure water in the wild but its not saturated with the many chemicals people put in it to make it taste better to us. i leave a gallon of tap water out all day then treat with reptisafe and it hasnt failed me yet

Answer 9

Ive had iguanas for years. They love to swim in the pool. There has never been anything wrong with mine.

Answer 10

city water is bad for anything humans and animals due to the fact that it isn't 100% filtered and some germs and bacteria get through the filter!