Re: My opinion and cage (PIC)

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Posted by IG27 on January 09, 2001 at 14:17:17:

In Reply to: Disagree with both .... (Even longer still) posted by Travis on January 09, 2001 at 00:13:23:

I agree with Travis, except on the aquarium keeping for smaller iguanas. I have raised one, He is 3 foot long at present, and about 18 months old. I started him out in a 55G, never had a problem with the reflection?
I'm also currently raising another smaller rescue(12 inches) that is in an aquarium, eats like a mule and very green?
They do need a lot of room, cage above is what Ziggi my 3 footer resides in, its 8ft long, 4ft wide, and 7ft tall! Has a basking shelf that is 4ft long and couple huge branches. He does climb on the mesh a little, but only when I'm around.
When he sees or hears me he slowly makes his way to the door and scratches, if I don't open it he starts climbing. I leave the room and he goes back to his shelf. I let him out everyday, very calm and loves attention! Gotta love'm.
I keep the room at 80 degrees, basking areas are 94-100, I provide 2 4ft Reptisun5.0, about 3 days a week, I use an ActiveUV heat bulb(only in the winter). IN summer he gets natural sunlight!

: Well Once again I have to disagree #1 Iguanas are arboreal ( Tree climbers ) the height is the most important thing the higher the better with one exception that is young iguanas lets just say those under three foot . The younger iguanas tend to JUMP more and therefore should not have the extra height as they will break toes legs and cut bruise and just hurt themselves . #2 As for this 1.5 times the size of stuff If you have an iguana under three feet you should have a minimum of 4 wide 4 deep and 4 high .After they get bigger than that then we need to make the BIG decision TO build the big cage or to let it roam . Both have a plus an a minus ( I let my oldest roam the house when I am home ONLY he stays in his room when I am not here ) as for caging you just cant build a cage big enough for an adult iguana in a regular ( unless you have a gymnasium in your house ) Lets look at those #'s for cage building again and for the sake of argument let's use my iguana Speedy He is 5'8" long so by the formula given he should be in a cage 8.7 feet high 2.9 feet deep ( he could not even turn around in it ) and 11.6 feet long ( remember that iguanas are ARBOREAL they need to climb not walk back and fourth ) I would be irresponsible to put Speedy in a box that size ! I do agree on the UVB lights I use two over a shelf I have provided 2 such places for Speedy I have one basking area for him ( made of a 2*2*2 wood box mounted to the wall with a chicken wire top and bottom cover for safety Speedy knocked the last one over but he is not going to knock this one over ) . As for the CHE if your going to use a whole room get a heater or turn the thermostat up because your going to need a few hundred dollars worth of them to heat a room ( not to mention the electric bill ) . #3 DON'T keep an iguana in a carpeted room ( Very hard to keep clean Linoleum is MUCH better also they can get carpet fibers around there toes and as they grow the fibers will not and the toes can pop off I had one that lost 4 toes to this although if you look you guy over as you should be doing this should not be a problem they can also EAT the loose fibers and they can impact in there gut ) . Just as a note you should never house an Iguana in a FISH tank iguanas do NOT like to see there reflection they think it is another iguana I cant even start to tell you how many people have dropped off brown jumpy iguanas in 20 gallon tanks and some in ten but I can tell you that a week in a 4*4*8 cage ( The size of my rescue cages ) they turn green and become very relaxed . I had an Iguana dropped off on the 5 that is 3'4" long he was very brown and has a huge abscess on his nose from banging on the tank ( A 35 GALLON TANK !! ) in the four days I have had him he is only about half brown now and sits on one hand and eats from the other his abscess is also being treated ( 3/4 the size it was already ) . So in revue #1 No tanks or glass #2 Bigger and taller is better #3 Even bigger and taller than #2 is better .

: Well I hope this helps you some
: If you need help with anything else please let me know
: Travis

Follow Ups:

Cage Travis 01/09/01 (1)
- Thank you, its plastic mesh,,,n/p IG27 01/10/01 (0)

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: I agree with Travis, except on the aquarium keeping for smaller iguanas. I have raised one, He is 3 foot long at present, and about 18 months old. I started him out in a 55G, never had a problem with the reflection? : I'm also currently raising another smaller rescue(12 inches) that is in an aquarium, eats like a mule and very green? : They do need a lot of room, cage above is what Ziggi my 3 footer resides in, its 8ft long, 4ft wide, and 7ft tall! Has a basking shelf that is 4ft long and couple huge branches. He does climb on the mesh a little, but only when I'm around. : When he sees or hears me he slowly makes his way to the door and scratches, if I don't open it he starts climbing. I leave the room and he goes back to his shelf. I let him out everyday, very calm and loves attention! Gotta love'm. : I keep the room at 80 degrees, basking areas are 94-100, I provide 2 4ft Reptisun5.0, about 3 days a week, I use an ActiveUV heat bulb(only in the winter). IN summer he gets natural sunlight! : : Well Once again I have to disagree #1 Iguanas are arboreal ( Tree climbers ) the height is the most important thing the higher the better with one exception that is young iguanas lets just say those under three foot . The younger iguanas tend to JUMP more and therefore should not have the extra height as they will break toes legs and cut bruise and just hurt themselves . #2 As for this 1.5 times the size of stuff If you have an iguana under three feet you should have a minimum of 4 wide 4 deep and 4 high .After they get bigger than that then we need to make the BIG decision TO build the big cage or to let it roam . Both have a plus an a minus ( I let my oldest roam the house when I am home ONLY he stays in his room when I am not here ) as for caging you just cant build a cage big enough for an adult iguana in a regular ( unless you have a gymnasium in your house ) Lets look at those #'s for cage building again and for the sake of argument let's use my iguana Speedy He is 5'8" long so by the formula given he should be in a cage 8.7 feet high 2.9 feet deep ( he could not even turn around in it ) and 11.6 feet long ( remember that iguanas are ARBOREAL they need to climb not walk back and fourth ) I would be irresponsible to put Speedy in a box that size ! I do agree on the UVB lights I use two over a shelf I have provided 2 such places for Speedy I have one basking area for him ( made of a 2*2*2 wood box mounted to the wall with a chicken wire top and bottom cover for safety Speedy knocked the last one over but he is not going to knock this one over ) . As for the CHE if your going to use a whole room get a heater or turn the thermostat up because your going to need a few hundred dollars worth of them to heat a room ( not to mention the electric bill ) . #3 DON'T keep an iguana in a carpeted room ( Very hard to keep clean Linoleum is MUCH better also they can get carpet fibers around there toes and as they grow the fibers will not and the toes can pop off I had one that lost 4 toes to this although if you look you guy over as you should be doing this should not be a problem they can also EAT the loose fibers and they can impact in there gut ) . Just as a note you should never house an Iguana in a FISH tank iguanas do NOT like to see there reflection they think it is another iguana I cant even start to tell you how many people have dropped off brown jumpy iguanas in 20 gallon tanks and some in ten but I can tell you that a week in a 4*4*8 cage ( The size of my rescue cages ) they turn green and become very relaxed . I had an Iguana dropped off on the 5 that is 3'4" long he was very brown and has a huge abscess on his nose from banging on the tank ( A 35 GALLON TANK !! ) in the four days I have had him he is only about half brown now and sits on one hand and eats from the other his abscess is also being treated ( 3/4 the size it was already ) . So in revue #1 No tanks or glass #2 Bigger and taller is better #3 Even bigger and taller than #2 is better . : : Well I hope this helps you some : : If you need help with anything else please let me know : : Travis

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