I have a young iguana that won't eat. What can I do?

Question

I bought this animal from a flea market. I really want to take care of it and provide the appropriate habitate. It has a heat lamp, I put it outside for uv light, has water and I have been grinding up mixtures of sweet potato, bread, onion, greens, grapes and jumenile iguana food. I made a liquid out of the iguana food and using a syringe feed the iguana.

Answer 1

Do not feed bread, or Iguana food. Here is what you need to know and if you have any other questions feel free to ask. But if he doesn't start to eat you should definetly see a vet, which you should do anyway.

They should be feed:

45% leafy greens such as escarole, dandelions, endive, mustard, and collards, NO lettuces or spinach! They aren't good for him.
45% hard mixed veggies such as an orange flesh squash the harder the better(acorn,pumpkin,butternut... fresh green beans, fresh peas, parsnip, and green bell peppers, NO broccoli or cauliflower, or avocado!
10% fruit such as figs, papaya, mango, pear, and berries. NO bananas, only very rarely as a treat.
NO ANIMAL PROTEIN such as bugs, meat, eggs, or cheese!

Cage size:

Minimum length (side to side): 2-3 x
Minimum depth (front to back): 1.5-2 x
Minimum height: 1.5-2 x


Temperature:

They need a basking area of 95-100 and normal temps of 75-85. NO heat rocks!

Lights:

They need a 5.0 UV light.

Hydration:

They should also get baths everyday or so. And should have a water bowl in their cage.

Vet:

You should take Your Iguana for regular vet checkups to make sure it is in good health. Reptiles can have internal parasites that can harm them so you should make sure the vet checks that.

Here are some good sites, the first one was recomended by my vet.

http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/index.html
www.greenigsociety.org
www.triciaswaterdragon.com/igcare.htm
http://www.baskingspot.com/iguanas/igbook/
http://www.reptilecare.com/IgCare.htm

Answer 2

all right. the uv rays that the sun provides is not enough to get the digestive system moving. they atmosphere filters out alot of the uvb rays which are essential to captive iguanas. you are deffintly going to need to buy a iguana lig-t bulb, mine is from flukers. you need the temperature to be 80-85F on one side and for the basking area have it at90-95F at night get the temperature to 75-80F. put the food in the middle of the tank. THE DIET: should consist of 40-45% greens like collard green, turnip greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens , 40% to 45% other vegetables (this includes but is not limited to green beans, orange-fleshed squashes (butternut, Kabocha), snap or snow peas, parsnip, asparagus, okra, alfalfa (mature, not sprouts), onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, sweet potato, zucchini, yellow squash, and/or carrots), 10% or less of fruits (including, but not limited to Figs (raw or dried), blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, grapes, mango, melon (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon), papaya, banana, and/or apple), and less than 5% of other grains or commercial diets. Iguanas should never be rhubarb as it is toxic. and also lettuce like iceberg, romaine, and boston are all very not nutritional and should be avoided at all costs. i wouldnt suggest feeding them the iguana food...and also sprinkle a calcium supplament every other day or two.

Answer 3

Check out http://www.drkreger.com This is a new website I found that is thorough and has links to Melissa Kaplans and anapsid.

Try crushing up a centrum vitamin and mixing it in with grated yellow squash. They love yellow squash and Melissa Kaplan recommends the centrum.

They also need a calcium supplement which combined with the UV light, correct diet and the centrum should resolve this problem. My vet sells the powdered calcium carbonate, directions on bottle. $20.00 for two includes shipping and it should last you at least six months. Her no. is 330-948-2002

Don't feed bread nor onions. And I wouldn't recommend forcefeeding.

You DO NEED to get a UV light honey. They need it to absorb calcium, stimulate hunger, as well as for their psychological health.

Answer 4

That's the problem iguana's eat vegtables! It seems like you don't know much about iguana's try searching some sites for advice or go to the pet store for a care sheet.Quick! Iguana's need food to survive for their health. And Iguana's are vegatarians.

Answer 5

not a lot i can add to the second answer you were given...what i can say, is that you should try small amounts of food fed as a solid(sliced grapes are a real iguana treat that most of them love) see what your iguana likes, then mix that with the proper nutritional food. you may also have a 'positional feeder' a lizard who will only eat when it is in a particular place.

I seriously saw one iguana who wouldn't eat a thing unless it was on it's owners head. so, try holding, letting it on your arm and what not...also rememerb that iguana's are coldblooded, sot hey don't have to eat several times a day like we do...

sometimes once a week is enough for them.

Answer 6

Lizard Girl's our resident reptile rescue person. She knows the good websites.

I'd just add that it may not be eating if it was purchased recently. It may take it several days to get used to being in its new environment, so don't try to overdo it with him/her just yet. As long as his temps and humidity are good, he should start eating in a few days. I'd be sure he gets a good calcium and multivitamin in the meantime - he may not have had the best care in the past.

And I'd see about taking him for a vet exam. just to make sure there's no impaction or parasites involved. There's a vet listing by state in the anapsid website.

Answer 7

Lizard Girl has her head on right ! My only recommendation, go to a Reptile Vet asap. Might cost, but better then the alternative. Good Luck !!

Answer 8

Bread??? you can feed a iggy bread? hmm, i dunno about that. maybe give her more greens? if you just got her she maybe stressed and not really want to eat just yet. who knows what she was through before. hopefully she was a good speciman that had a well balanced diet and not have any bone deficiencys or what not.

maybe call a herp vet?
good luck

Answer 9

It's clear that he is rebelling against his captivity. Try getting him to relax with new age music and selected scenes from "Lawrence Of Arabia".

Answer 10

i have a python that might really like her. jk