Re: Help a Newbie

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Posted by Joan on October 04, 1999 at 03:03:57:

In Reply to: Help a Newbie posted by Kurt on October 03, 1999 at 23:27:11:

Please give details on what you are feeding him, vitamins, cage setup, lighting and if you ever take him outside for direct sunlight. The jaw deforming the way you describe sounds like he may have MBD, metibolic bone disease. This comes from not eating the right foods and/or improper lighting. He must have greens that are high in calcium/low in phospherous. This would be collard greens, mustard greens and dandelion greens as the main food source with lots of other veggies and fruits.

He also can't absorb the calcium unless he has some source of UVB lighting. It should not be a bulb type light, but a tube that produces UVB, this is not your florescent household bulb. Some of the lights recommended for this are reptisun 5.0, iguana light 5.0 or vitalight. These lights need to be on 12-14 hrs a day and should be placed 8-14 inches away from the iguana. They also need to be pretected so the iguana can't burn themselves. You could also take him outside to get direct sunlight for a minimum of 20 a day. He just can't be in a window as the glass filters out the UVB rays that the iguana needs. If your weather is still in the 80's I would take him outside as soon as possible. Sunlight will help tremendously. Just remember, don't leave him unattended.

I'm just guessing at what your iguana has. You need to get him to a herp vet for a blood work up. The vet will be able to tell if it is MBD and if a calcium shot is necessary.

A good calcium supplement is "Tums". Just crush them and sprinkle a little bit, like seasoning, on your iguanas food several times a week. If he has MBD the vet might recommend giving him the supplement everyday for a while.

Others will comment on anything that I missed.

Joan (we need more details)

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: Please give details on what you are feeding him, vitamins, cage setup, lighting and if you ever take him outside for direct sunlight. The jaw deforming the way you describe sounds like he may have MBD, metibolic bone disease. This comes from not eating the right foods and/or improper lighting. He must have greens that are high in calcium/low in phospherous. This would be collard greens, mustard greens and dandelion greens as the main food source with lots of other veggies and fruits. : He also can't absorb the calcium unless he has some source of UVB lighting. It should not be a bulb type light, but a tube that produces UVB, this is not your florescent household bulb. Some of the lights recommended for this are reptisun 5.0, iguana light 5.0 or vitalight. These lights need to be on 12-14 hrs a day and should be placed 8-14 inches away from the iguana. They also need to be pretected so the iguana can't burn themselves. You could also take him outside to get direct sunlight for a minimum of 20 a day. He just can't be in a window as the glass filters out the UVB rays that the iguana needs. If your weather is still in the 80's I would take him outside as soon as possible. Sunlight will help tremendously. Just remember, don't leave him unattended. : I'm just guessing at what your iguana has. You need to get him to a herp vet for a blood work up. The vet will be able to tell if it is MBD and if a calcium shot is necessary. : A good calcium supplement is "Tums". Just crush them and sprinkle a little bit, like seasoning, on your iguanas food several times a week. If he has MBD the vet might recommend giving him the supplement everyday for a while. : Others will comment on anything that I missed. : Joan (we need more details)

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