I have a situation on my hands. . . (long)

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Posted by Tmom on January 24, 2001 at 16:45:34:

This girl e-mailed me... this is her whole e-mail: "you know how to tame iguanas" no qestio mark, no period, not even a full sentence! So I replied, and asked her to tell me what she feeds him, how old he is and how long he is.

here's my reply:

"it is a boy and he is 5 months old and he is almost two feet"

Then another e-mail:
"i feed him lettuce and some food that i baught him yestarday it is red some"

So I replied saying that she cannot tell if he is a boy or not yet.

Here's my reply:
"he is a boy"

replied:
"oh boy, I 'll start off by saying that you are giving him the WRONG diet. You don't know if he is a boy. And You should read this e-mail carefully.

OK, first off: NO lettuce! It is all water, no nutritional value whatsoever.

Throw that "red stuff" out, its a waste of money and can even harm your IG. Go down to your local supermarket, buy some collard greens, mustard greens, and some dandelion greens. Buy some butternut squash. All of this runs at around 0.99 a pound. Cut or rip the greens up to be about
one inch in diameter. Use a cheese greater to grate the butternut squash. Remember to peel the butternut squash before you grate it, and sprinkle some over the top of the greens. get a NEW spray bottle (I say new, not one that used to have chemicals in it, because some of them may still be in the bottle) and spray water over the top of the food LIBERALLY. Go down to the petstore, buy a flourecent UVB light. Buy a light fixture for it.
What kind of enclosure do you have him in? A 10 gallon tank won't cut it. You'll need atleast a 55 gallon, and that will only last him about a few months. Being just under two feet long, it will be better to build him an enclosure yourself. all you need are 2x2's which around here, are 0.99 a pop and 8' long. Some plywood, it doesn't have to be top of the notch, all its going to do is make the walls. Some screen for the top of the cage. The UVB does not go thtough glass or plexiglass. You can either make the cage with screen walls (make sure that the screen or mesh or hardware cloth is rubber coated, otherwise your iggy can get some really nasty nose rubs) or you can make the cage with plywood walls and one side - like the front of the cage - screen. Plexiglass, although less expensive and lighter than glass, can sometimes run a little expensive, it all depends upon how thick it is, and how big the sheet you use. A thin 6' by 3' sheet is 25 dollars. you should make a door, which allows you to get your iguana in and out easily, it should also let you clean the cage easily. The cage sould be cleaned ATLEAST once a week, You should clean up and feces and urates, and disinfect the whole cage. Make sure that you air out the cage so that no fumes remain when you let your iguana back in the cage. He should be fine with a 4' by 4' by 2' cage.

You cannot tell the sex of an iguana until it is about 2 years old. You check my looking underneath the back legs, along the thigh region, there should be a series of bumps, these bumps are called Femoral Pores. When old enough, if male, the femoral pores will be large, if female, the femoral pores will remain small.

Just out of curiosity, did you get this iguana from a petstore? The people who work there often give out incorrect information.

You NEED to buy the UVB light, without it, your little guy can develop a life threatening disease called Metabolic Bone Disease, otherwise known as MBD.

I hope this helps you get started.

E-mail me back.

Lesya"

Well she replied within a minute:

"thankyou very much"

I replied and told her to keep me posted on his progress.

I just have a gut feeling that she isn't going to do a thing about it. She seems so nieve.

Can anyone tell me if I did everything right? Anything else that I can e-mail her?

Thanks!

-Lesya

Follow Ups:

sex Travis 01/25/01 (1)
- Re: sex Tmom 01/25/01 (0)
Re: I have a situation on my hands. . . (long) Mr. D 01/24/01 (0)
Typo!. . .. (more) Tmom 01/24/01 (2)
- Re: Typo!. . .. (more) Steve 01/24/01 (1)
  - Thanks Steve! n/p Tmom 01/24/01 (0)

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: This girl e-mailed me... this is her whole e-mail: "you know how to tame iguanas" no qestio mark, no period, not even a full sentence! So I replied, and asked her to tell me what she feeds him, how old he is and how long he is. : here's my reply: : "it is a boy and he is 5 months old and he is almost two feet" : Then another e-mail: : "i feed him lettuce and some food that i baught him yestarday it is red some" : So I replied saying that she cannot tell if he is a boy or not yet. : Here's my reply: : "he is a boy" : replied: : "oh boy, I 'll start off by saying that you are giving him the WRONG diet. You don't know if he is a boy. And You should read this e-mail carefully. : OK, first off: NO lettuce! It is all water, no nutritional value whatsoever. : Throw that "red stuff" out, its a waste of money and can even harm your IG. Go down to your local supermarket, buy some collard greens, mustard greens, and some dandelion greens. Buy some butternut squash. All of this runs at around 0.99 a pound. Cut or rip the greens up to be about : one inch in diameter. Use a cheese greater to grate the butternut squash. Remember to peel the butternut squash before you grate it, and sprinkle some over the top of the greens. get a NEW spray bottle (I say new, not one that used to have chemicals in it, because some of them may still be in the bottle) and spray water over the top of the food LIBERALLY. Go down to the petstore, buy a flourecent UVB light. Buy a light fixture for it. : What kind of enclosure do you have him in? A 10 gallon tank won't cut it. You'll need atleast a 55 gallon, and that will only last him about a few months. Being just under two feet long, it will be better to build him an enclosure yourself. all you need are 2x2's which around here, are 0.99 a pop and 8' long. Some plywood, it doesn't have to be top of the notch, all its going to do is make the walls. Some screen for the top of the cage. The UVB does not go thtough glass or plexiglass. You can either make the cage with screen walls (make sure that the screen or mesh or hardware cloth is rubber coated, otherwise your iggy can get some really nasty nose rubs) or you can make the cage with plywood walls and one side - like the front of the cage - screen. Plexiglass, although less expensive and lighter than glass, can sometimes run a little expensive, it all depends upon how thick it is, and how big the sheet you use. A thin 6' by 3' sheet is 25 dollars. you should make a door, which allows you to get your iguana in and out easily, it should also let you clean the cage easily. The cage sould be cleaned ATLEAST once a week, You should clean up and feces and urates, and disinfect the whole cage. Make sure that you air out the cage so that no fumes remain when you let your iguana back in the cage. He should be fine with a 4' by 4' by 2' cage. : You cannot tell the sex of an iguana until it is about 2 years old. You check my looking underneath the back legs, along the thigh region, there should be a series of bumps, these bumps are called Femoral Pores. When old enough, if male, the femoral pores will be large, if female, the femoral pores will remain small. : Just out of curiosity, did you get this iguana from a petstore? The people who work there often give out incorrect information. : You NEED to buy the UVB light, without it, your little guy can develop a life threatening disease called Metabolic Bone Disease, otherwise known as MBD. : I hope this helps you get started. : E-mail me back. : Lesya" : : Well she replied within a minute: : "thankyou very much" : I replied and told her to keep me posted on his progress. : I just have a gut feeling that she isn't going to do a thing about it. She seems so nieve. : Can anyone tell me if I did everything right? Anything else that I can e-mail her? : Thanks! : -Lesya

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