Re: Oops...wrong button above! Yes, Ally is a....

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Posted by Ally's Mom on May 14, 2000 at 12:12:06:

In Reply to: Anyone heard of the CLUB-TAILED-IGUANA??? (more) posted by IGUANA JOE on May 13, 2000 at 14:42:40:

Hi - My Ally is a ctenosaura quinquecarinata - which our famous "Mark M" on the cteno forum refered to as a club-tailed iguana. I could never definitively identify Ally (thought his could also be a clarkii) so I sent Mark M. some pictures. He said yes- Ally is a c. quinquecarinata...club-tailed iguana.
Here is the meagre info I have found/aquired:
One the net - 1) These are the tastiest of all lizards, and an accompanying recipe on how best to cook. 2) They are the most colourful of the spiney-tails.
From Mark M. - he breeds them. Very difficult to establish - most die when brought home. I believe he has nine breeding pairs. He feeds his dry iguana food, as he has a lot of lizards and is not able to provide fresh greens etc. He also gives them animal protein. I think he has posted that he is trying to make a web page on them. He would not offer me any further advice on their care, as he thought since I had managed to keep Ally alive for over a year I must be doing it right. Also, these ARE very colourful lizards - in their natural environment. Mark says his are the same dull grey/maroon/silver/brown as my Ally in the winter, but when he has them outside in the summer they are turquoise with black squiggely lines, white dots, and bright yellow legs!!! Makes me think they are very unhappy in captivity......and sad for my dark Ally.
I have detailed my actions with Ally on the forum here, because I did not know what to do for him. He was not a happy camper for quite a while. If you are able to find my posts, the 2 or 3 of them, you will see how I arrived at my decisions on how to care for him. If you are not able to find them and are interested, let me know and I will rewrite it all out. I will tell you my conclusions:
1) Desert lizard by the feel of his skin. Very tough, yet thin. So I keep his temps very high - and noticed that he does not eat below 86 degrees, and becomes active and playful at 90 degrees.
2) As such, I think there is not a whole lot of green leafy stuff in the desert - and notice that he LOVES fruit. His diet is full of apples and other ig-approved fruit. In fact, he does not eat green stuff - even when that's all I give him for days. I still try - he gets them every day, but he would starve before eating greens. That could be his own personal preference...if it's green it's not edilbe! He does love carrots. I use a potato peeler to make all his food into very tiny strips.
3) he poopies IN his food dish - even though water is next to it.
4) Will run through the water, but not soak or drink.
5) Thinking of the desert - I do not spray him. maybe once a month.
6) Low humidity like the desert.
7) LOTS of plastic vines for him to swing on - he is part ape I think. Although when I first got him, all he did was hide under the carpet for months. Because....
8) He needed a HUGE cage. He was only 4 1/2" SVL, but did not venture out of hiding until I put him in the green iguana's cage. I assumed he would be traumatized by the move - the new cage was on another floor of the house; opposite side of the house (different light from the sun), and this was the most skittish creature I'd ever encountered. For sure he was going to take a while to acclimatize. Ha! Fat lot the hummomy knew! The lizard that had hid for three months became an instant tarzan. Even ate better - right on the first day. I still get the feeling he needs an even bigger cage. I think this one is 2 1/2' square at the bottom, and nearly 5' tall. I think my little 5 1/2" Ally needs more room!
5) All else is the same as a green ig - heat gradients, UVB lights, etc.
6) Last but not least - he needs some animal protein. If I did not trick him, he would only eat animal protein. The info. I have seen on spineys say 5-10% animal protein, but personally I believe it is more. Think of the desert - how much fruit/plant life is there compared to bugs?? I do notice when I don't feed him mealworms (which I gut-load for a while fist) he gets skinny really fast. I don't feed him much...but I am willing to bet the day will come when we discover he needed 70% animal protein. I think that because of how fast he gets pathetically skinny without it. I feed him the higher calorie greens and fruit, so it has to be the protein that makes the difference. But because he is happy and apparently healthy, I am sticking with the "if it ain't broke" philosophy - and he gets 5-10% animal proteirn.
Oh, and watch that spiney tail!! I have not seen him whip, but when my daughter tried unsucessfully to pick him up the other day, the spines cut the skin on her hand and he ran past past her. Just a scratch - but imagine what he could do if he tried! (Did you read my "catatonic lizard" post??)
I'll try to get him outside this summer to see if his colours come out. Darned things should be illegal to sell in Canada!
Hope this helps- sorry for the babbling but because there is NO information on these guys out there, I think I should share every bit of my experiences with Ally.
Wendy.

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: Hi - My Ally is a ctenosaura quinquecarinata - which our famous "Mark M" on the cteno forum refered to as a club-tailed iguana. I could never definitively identify Ally (thought his could also be a clarkii) so I sent Mark M. some pictures. He said yes- Ally is a c. quinquecarinata...club-tailed iguana. : Here is the meagre info I have found/aquired: : One the net - 1) These are the tastiest of all lizards, and an accompanying recipe on how best to cook. 2) They are the most colourful of the spiney-tails. : From Mark M. - he breeds them. Very difficult to establish - most die when brought home. I believe he has nine breeding pairs. He feeds his dry iguana food, as he has a lot of lizards and is not able to provide fresh greens etc. He also gives them animal protein. I think he has posted that he is trying to make a web page on them. He would not offer me any further advice on their care, as he thought since I had managed to keep Ally alive for over a year I must be doing it right. Also, these ARE very colourful lizards - in their natural environment. Mark says his are the same dull grey/maroon/silver/brown as my Ally in the winter, but when he has them outside in the summer they are turquoise with black squiggely lines, white dots, and bright yellow legs!!! Makes me think they are very unhappy in captivity......and sad for my dark Ally. : I have detailed my actions with Ally on the forum here, because I did not know what to do for him. He was not a happy camper for quite a while. If you are able to find my posts, the 2 or 3 of them, you will see how I arrived at my decisions on how to care for him. If you are not able to find them and are interested, let me know and I will rewrite it all out. I will tell you my conclusions: : 1) Desert lizard by the feel of his skin. Very tough, yet thin. So I keep his temps very high - and noticed that he does not eat below 86 degrees, and becomes active and playful at 90 degrees. : 2) As such, I think there is not a whole lot of green leafy stuff in the desert - and notice that he LOVES fruit. His diet is full of apples and other ig-approved fruit. In fact, he does not eat green stuff - even when that's all I give him for days. I still try - he gets them every day, but he would starve before eating greens. That could be his own personal preference...if it's green it's not edilbe! He does love carrots. I use a potato peeler to make all his food into very tiny strips. : 3) he poopies IN his food dish - even though water is next to it. : 4) Will run through the water, but not soak or drink. : 5) Thinking of the desert - I do not spray him. maybe once a month. : 6) Low humidity like the desert. : 7) LOTS of plastic vines for him to swing on - he is part ape I think. Although when I first got him, all he did was hide under the carpet for months. Because.... : 8) He needed a HUGE cage. He was only 4 1/2" SVL, but did not venture out of hiding until I put him in the green iguana's cage. I assumed he would be traumatized by the move - the new cage was on another floor of the house; opposite side of the house (different light from the sun), and this was the most skittish creature I'd ever encountered. For sure he was going to take a while to acclimatize. Ha! Fat lot the hummomy knew! The lizard that had hid for three months became an instant tarzan. Even ate better - right on the first day. I still get the feeling he needs an even bigger cage. I think this one is 2 1/2' square at the bottom, and nearly 5' tall. I think my little 5 1/2" Ally needs more room! : 5) All else is the same as a green ig - heat gradients, UVB lights, etc. : 6) Last but not least - he needs some animal protein. If I did not trick him, he would only eat animal protein. The info. I have seen on spineys say 5-10% animal protein, but personally I believe it is more. Think of the desert - how much fruit/plant life is there compared to bugs?? I do notice when I don't feed him mealworms (which I gut-load for a while fist) he gets skinny really fast. I don't feed him much...but I am willing to bet the day will come when we discover he needed 70% animal protein. I think that because of how fast he gets pathetically skinny without it. I feed him the higher calorie greens and fruit, so it has to be the protein that makes the difference. But because he is happy and apparently healthy, I am sticking with the "if it ain't broke" philosophy - and he gets 5-10% animal proteirn. : Oh, and watch that spiney tail!! I have not seen him whip, but when my daughter tried unsucessfully to pick him up the other day, the spines cut the skin on her hand and he ran past past her. Just a scratch - but imagine what he could do if he tried! (Did you read my "catatonic lizard" post??) : I'll try to get him outside this summer to see if his colours come out. Darned things should be illegal to sell in Canada! : Hope this helps- sorry for the babbling but because there is NO information on these guys out there, I think I should share every bit of my experiences with Ally. : Wendy.

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