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Posted by Derek on September 18, 1999 at 18:23:32:
In Reply to: Hi! I'm taking a literature census. posted by LauraO on September 18, 1999 at 12:45:20:
Hmmmm...where to begin. First of all, I think I can safely say that 99% of all books on iguana care have outdated or just flat out bad information in them. You are asking for what books we recommend, well that's easy...James Hatfields Green Iguana: The Ultimate Owner's Manual. But, the problem with that recommendation is that most people are unaware that nearly every other book is very capable of causing serious damage and even death to an iguana that is cared for by the recommendations in some of these self-proclaimed "authoritative guides to iguana care!"
Let me just give you a few examples of the most common things you can find in a large number of readily available books on iguana care...
1. Animal protien (insects, mice, etc.) as a recommended food. 2. Very few have mention of the importance of UV lighting and sunlight. Both of these are critical in having a healthy iguana. 3. Many recommend foods that have been shown to cause several serious problems in mature iguanas, such as kidney failure and gout. Not to mention the fact that many care recommendations these books offer contribute to MANY cases of metabolic bone disease. 4. Enclosure size is rarely recommended and often times when it is, they recommend far too small of an enclosure for arboreal creatures that have been taken from a very large rain forest and placed in a 10 gallon aquarium. 5. Very few do not even mention the importance of finding a good and reliable vet that has experience with iguanas.
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg. The problems with most iguana books are greatly contributing to the epidemic. That epidemic is the mistreatment, abuse and neglect of green iguanas. It is bad enough that many people flat out neglect their green iguana pets, but when a book contributes to that...it should be flat out illegal.
The problem with iguana care books is not only the vast availability, but the fact that many publishers of these books are making the matter worse by continuing to publish them. Many publishers still publish the same outdated information from MANY years ago. They throw in a few color photos, slap on a nice new cover (with the big "NEW EDITION" on the front) and before you know it...every iguana owner who is looking for reliable information on how to care for their pet has a dead iguana.
If you are truely "familiar" with much of the literature...you already know this. You wanted our opinion, and here is mine. It's bad enough that there are many iguana owners that have to try and educate the world on how to properly care for an iguana, but when we are competing with a book full of lies and misinformation that anyone in just about any pet store can read...it makes our job a LOT harder and a LOT more difficult.
STOP THE SPREAD OF BAD INFORMATION ON IGUANA CARE AND THE BATTLE WILL BE HALF OVER!
P.S. This little rant didn't even touch on the unending supply of online iguana care recommendations by many so-called experts in pet care. This rant also did not touch on the never ending stereotypical stories about iguanas that seemingly every day end up in some newspaper or on a television newscast.
