Iguana and Temps

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Posted by nanci on November 20, 2001 at 10:47:45:

In Reply to: help....need kudos :-( posted by badgrrl on November 19, 2001 at 22:12:52:

: Help!!!
: I've been reading MK's book all day and, needless to say, I'm just sitting here waiting for my iggy to roll over and die. I'm feeling just a BIT overwhelmed here -- anybody have any suggestions to make me feel better? I'm mostly worried about the size of my iggy's tank - it's only a 20-gallon long and the book says it should already be like 3 feet by 6 feet. Also I'm worried about the temps - in the "hot" area it's consistently about 95 degrees, and about 80 in the "cool" part - the vet said it should be more like 85 and 75. The only problem is I don't know how to get it that way - the heat lamp can't be moved any farthwer away from the end of the tank since its clamp only fits on the bedpost - it's facing the wrong way to clip it farther away on the headboard. Also the book says to turn off all the lights at night - which I do. But every morning when I pick her up she feels cold. AND she's still not eating a whole lot. I chopped the salad up into a paste and I kind of spread that over some greens and mist it every few hours. She gained .75 ounces in three weeks (from 1 to 1.75) so the vet said I'm doing great but I have this burning desire now to be the "perfect owner" since the book makes such a big deal about how big a commitment this all is. Does anybody see anything glaringly wrong about what I'm doing here (NO heat rocks or lettuce and fresh water every 12 hours or so) or might she live for a few weeks at least? Sorry this is so long and thanks for listening!!
: P.S. I took her in the shower today - it was the cutest thing! She was trying to crawl up my leg but kept slipping off! She seemed to like it okay though once she calmed down - I put her on the "shampoo ledge".

I don't know what the temperature is for my iguana because he free roams in a second floor. There are days he purposefully keeps himself cold. I can put him under the light and he will immediately move away as soon as I leave the room.

As for night time -- I think I solved that. Mine watches TV with me at night (and falls asleep). I have a comfortable chair in my room and I have a heating pad (set to low) on it, with a lightweight cover over it. When I'm ready to put him to bed, I put him on the pad and he goes right back to sleep because it's warm). I then turn it off maybe l/2 hr. to an hour later. I usually get up early in the morning for a bathroom break (5-6) and I turn the heating pad back on, so he wakes up warm. Oh, I use a large cover to cover the whole chair. It's been working great for me.

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: : Help!!! : : I've been reading MK's book all day and, needless to say, I'm just sitting here waiting for my iggy to roll over and die. I'm feeling just a BIT overwhelmed here -- anybody have any suggestions to make me feel better? I'm mostly worried about the size of my iggy's tank - it's only a 20-gallon long and the book says it should already be like 3 feet by 6 feet. Also I'm worried about the temps - in the "hot" area it's consistently about 95 degrees, and about 80 in the "cool" part - the vet <and book> said it should be more like 85 and 75. The only problem is I don't know how to get it that way - the heat lamp can't be moved any farthwer away from the end of the tank since its clamp only fits on the bedpost - it's facing the wrong way to clip it farther away on the headboard. Also the book says to turn off all the lights at night - which I do. But every morning when I pick her up she feels cold. AND she's still not eating a whole lot. I chopped the salad up into a paste and I kind of spread that over some greens and mist it every few hours. She gained .75 ounces in three weeks (from 1 to 1.75) so the vet said I'm doing great but I have this burning desire now to be the "perfect owner" since the book makes such a big deal about how big a commitment this all is. Does anybody see anything glaringly wrong about what I'm doing here (NO heat rocks or lettuce and fresh water every 12 hours or so) or might she live for a few weeks at least? Sorry this is so long and thanks for listening!! : : P.S. I took her in the shower today - it was the cutest thing! She was trying to crawl up my leg but kept slipping off! She seemed to like it okay though once she calmed down - I put her on the "shampoo ledge". : I don't know what the temperature is for my iguana because he free roams in a second floor. There are days he purposefully keeps himself cold. I can put him under the light and he will immediately move away as soon as I leave the room. : As for night time -- I think I solved that. Mine watches TV with me at night (and falls asleep). I have a comfortable chair in my room and I have a heating pad (set to low) on it, with a lightweight cover over it. When I'm ready to put him to bed, I put him on the pad and he goes right back to sleep because it's warm). I then turn it off maybe l/2 hr. to an hour later. I usually get up early in the morning for a bathroom break (5-6) and I turn the heating pad back on, so he wakes up warm. Oh, I use a large cover to cover the whole chair. It's been working great for me.

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