Re: Dense Bone prob in my IG PLEASE ADVISE SHE"S not doing well

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Posted by meagan on June 15, 1999 at 14:45:03:

In Reply to: Dense Bone prob in my IG PLEASE ADVISE SHE"S not doing well posted by Joe Nardi on June 15, 1999 at 06:03:30:

try taking her in the sun. i don`t know what the weather is like in new jersey, but if its at least 85 degrees outside, take her out into direct sunlight. the sunlight will help her greatly! my iguana was neglected almost to the point o death and the only thing that kept him alive was that he lived in an outdoor enclosure and was exposed to lots of natural sunlight. the sunlight helps her metabolize calcium in her food, so if you put her in the sunlight, she will absorb much more of the calcium out of her food. just remember that you need to be out there with her, and make sure that she doesn`t overheat. she will pant much like a dog if she is too hot. also, you can`t tkae her outside in the glass enclosure because the glass will magnify the suns rays too much and make it too hot for her. not only that, but it blocks the uvb rays that she is in such need of right now. if you can, try to VERY GENTLY slide something solid under her, like a peice of cardboard depending on how much she weighs and how active she is and lift her out of the glass tank and put her into a wire one for when you take her out to sun. another thing that caught my eye in your letter was that you said that you had bought a uvA light. while uvA lights are marginally beneficial, what she really needs is a uvB flourescent. the uvb in sunlight is what helps iguanas metabolize calcium in the food that they eat. she need a flourescent like that to go over the top of her cage and sit within 8-10 inches of her. one like the zoo med iguana light is good. or a vitalight is good also. a uvA lamp will do little for her other than maybe put some heat into the cage. also, the uvB producing incandesceants are no good either. you need the flourescent tube. i hope everything works out for you and your iggy. please keep us posted on her condition and as always if you ahve any more questions at all, we will be here to answer.
meagan

: Please help. I found my Ig (1 yr old)upside down in her cage one night. I turned her over and "hoped" everything was ok. The next day I checked on her and she was stuck between a branch and her water bowl. I put her on the bed and when she tried to move she only moved her front legs, draged her rear ones. I took her to the Vet who told me she had dense bones and a broken rear left leg. We always bought lights from the local Pet Smart. We were under the impression that the lights were UVa but they were not. We have since gotten true UVa lights and we have her confined to a smaller 15 gal tank. We were given a supplement called NEKTON-REP to sprinkle on her food. She will only eat Romain Lettuce. Recently though she has taken a few bites of frozen mixed Veggies. Which we are trying to push. I always tried to feed her 10 different kinds of foods but she would only eat the Romain. :( She also has developed a spinal defoemity (as told by the vet) and she seems to be suffering from a lack of energy since the situation. This morning I have petted her for 10 min and she won't open her eyes except for a few seconds at a time. It hurts me so much to see her like this... I am wondering if she is in pain or is she just in need of the Vitiams. I just want to do everything I can for her. My vet told me not to even pick her up for fear of breaking something because her bones are so brittle. please anyone can you offer some advise as to anything more I can do. They couldn't put a cast on the leg because it was to close to the hip and to do anything else would be senceless because of the bone probs. Thanks for any help you can offer Joe...

: PS I live in New Jersey

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: try taking her in the sun. i don`t know what the weather is like in new jersey, but if its at least 85 degrees outside, take her out into direct sunlight. the sunlight will help her greatly! my iguana was neglected almost to the point o death and the only thing that kept him alive was that he lived in an outdoor enclosure and was exposed to lots of natural sunlight. the sunlight helps her metabolize calcium in her food, so if you put her in the sunlight, she will absorb much more of the calcium out of her food. just remember that you need to be out there with her, and make sure that she doesn`t overheat. she will pant much like a dog if she is too hot. also, you can`t tkae her outside in the glass enclosure because the glass will magnify the suns rays too much and make it too hot for her. not only that, but it blocks the uvb rays that she is in such need of right now. if you can, try to VERY GENTLY slide something solid under her, like a peice of cardboard depending on how much she weighs and how active she is and lift her out of the glass tank and put her into a wire one for when you take her out to sun. another thing that caught my eye in your letter was that you said that you had bought a uvA light. while uvA lights are marginally beneficial, what she really needs is a uvB flourescent. the uvb in sunlight is what helps iguanas metabolize calcium in the food that they eat. she need a flourescent like that to go over the top of her cage and sit within 8-10 inches of her. one like the zoo med iguana light is good. or a vitalight is good also. a uvA lamp will do little for her other than maybe put some heat into the cage. also, the uvB producing incandesceants are no good either. you need the flourescent tube. i hope everything works out for you and your iggy. please keep us posted on her condition and as always if you ahve any more questions at all, we will be here to answer. : meagan : : : Please help. I found my Ig (1 yr old)upside down in her cage one night. I turned her over and "hoped" everything was ok. The next day I checked on her and she was stuck between a branch and her water bowl. I put her on the bed and when she tried to move she only moved her front legs, draged her rear ones. I took her to the Vet who told me she had dense bones and a broken rear left leg. We always bought lights from the local Pet Smart. We were under the impression that the lights were UVa but they were not. We have since gotten true UVa lights and we have her confined to a smaller 15 gal tank. We were given a supplement called NEKTON-REP to sprinkle on her food. She will only eat Romain Lettuce. Recently though she has taken a few bites of frozen mixed Veggies. Which we are trying to push. I always tried to feed her 10 different kinds of foods but she would only eat the Romain. :( She also has developed a spinal defoemity (as told by the vet) and she seems to be suffering from a lack of energy since the situation. This morning I have petted her for 10 min and she won't open her eyes except for a few seconds at a time. It hurts me so much to see her like this... I am wondering if she is in pain or is she just in need of the Vitiams. I just want to do everything I can for her. My vet told me not to even pick her up for fear of breaking something because her bones are so brittle. please anyone can you offer some advise as to anything more I can do. They couldn't put a cast on the leg because it was to close to the hip and to do anything else would be senceless because of the bone probs. Thanks for any help you can offer Joe... : : PS I live in New Jersey

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