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Posted by Wendy on June 03, 2001 at 13:11:44:
I came on here a little while ago asking advice on an iguana who wasnt being looked after very well in my classroom. In case you don't remember, I'll stick in the other messages. You don't have to read them, go to the bottom if you want to read just the update.
Post #1: Hi, my teacher has an iguana in his classroom. This iguana is a male around 5 years old and about 3 feet long. He is rather skinny, his hips really poke out and he is on a diet of strictly romain lettuce and bean sprouts, not the best diet. I don't know much about iguanas, but I know more than enough to see that this little guy isn't being properly taken care of and was wondering if you could give me a specific diet that he could thrive on. I've already been on Melissa Kaplan's site and found the information a bit overwhelming. If you could please give me the diet that you find works best for your iguanas, it would be a huge relief for me AND the iguana! Thanks for reading this!
Post #2: Thanks for your response everyone! It’s a huge help! For an enclosure (until about two weeks ago when I finally got the best of the teacher) he was in a square, homemade cage that was about 2 ft by 2ft. It was covered with extremely rough screen. It was full of holes that were covered with duct tape. The iguana’s nose often got bloody and raw from trying to get out, and his jaw is slightly lopsided which gives me the impression that he had mouth rot before. His nostrils were almost covered over flesh after being rubbed raw. Now he has plastic covered, light and soft screen that it much better for him, it doesn’t hurt his nose and he can’t tear through it, the cage could still be much better though. For a substrate he has “wood” shavings, it doesn’t say what kind on the bag. His water is often full of shavings and it only gets changed about twice a week. He has a heating pad right in his cage (bad, bad, bad!) and I don’t think it is hot enough because he lies on it almost continuously, only venturing off to eat and occasionally climb up the side of the cage. What Diana said about him not being able to process nutrients right, his poop has flakes of lettuce in it. It is black and really watery, is this normal? I’ve already spoken to my teacher about adoption, and he said that he would consider it, but I don’t really feel he is. I belong to a herpetoculture society that has a kind of adoption agency for unwanted herps, so I mentioned that to him. One of the main foods the iguana was on before was broccoli, I told my teacher about why that was bad and gave him a handout that I had gotten at a herp meeting and he seemed genuinely concerned, so I don’t think it is intentional, he just doesn’t know how to take care of his pet. I’ll show him the diet and ask him to put the iguana on it right away, or do you need to wean them on? If he doesn’t because he “doesn’t have time” then I will offer to help him with it, and if all else fails, then I will get some people that he will HAVE to listen to help me. Being a teacher, money can’t be a major major concern, so that can’t be an excuse. This iguana’s cage was so filthy that you could smell him clear down the hall, but the teacher is starting to do a better job at cleaning it more often. Thanks for listening, this teacher is one of the kid’s favorites, and they also don’t have the interest or knowledge to see that the iguana isn’t being cared for, so I haven’t really been able to talk to anyone about this! Thank you guys so much! Wendy
I am pleased to say that on Thursday the iguana went home with a lady in desperate need for a mate for her depressed iguana. Depending on whether or not the two iguanas get along, the neglected iguana will have a new home where he can run free throughout an entire appartment!
