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Posted by Amy on January 11, 2002 at 15:58:24:

In Reply to: Re: couple of ig ??s posted by nanci on January 11, 2002 at 09:18:19:

Louie's got a Reptisun UV light as well as an incandescent heat source (day and night), and has been trained to go potty in his (small) cat litter pan with a small amount of water in it. He was doing so well and went every day in his pan until he found the cage wasn't entirely secure and he can get out and roam (luckily many ties he will find his way back to the cage on his own). His cage is lined with newspaper, and recently in the past few months he will only go on the newspaper and not in the pan. I just don't know what happened from the time of being potty trained to being a slob! :) Is the water possibly too cold for him or something? He really does seek out the cat litter box when he's out of the cage, and I have never seen him ingest any of it (mainly because I watch like a hawk when I am there and immediately return him to his enclosure). How do I retrain him? Other than that, everything else is fine, and he is healthy, eats well, has regular stools, and is all personality. He's just small and his head hasn't quite grown into his body.

: : Hi everyone, I haven't posted in over 5 months or so, but Louie is doing fine and feisty as ever. My question is, he is about 3 1/2 ft long and almost 4 years old. I have read that iguanas should grow much faster than that, but he has never been fed any animal protein and eats mostly collared and turnip greens with some fruit (raspberries, banana when he is good as a treat, veggies such as green beans, peas, and carrots for variety) and still to me seems like a juvenile, although he has been doing his "big boy" thing with the seminal plugs every so often. I'm just wondering if this is normal and if he is just a subordinate male. I even used to think he was a female because he always had small femoral pores, until I saw him secreate seminal plugs. He gets plenty of UV and misting many times daily. Any suggestions on what is going on? Also, he gets out of his cage frequently and no longer poops in his water pan. Instead, he goes to the cat litter box to go! I wonder if I should put cat litter in his pan? He used to be well trained but now goes wherever he pleases all over the house and it is quite frustrating! Sorry this is so long but any info or responses would be great! thanks!

: No, do not give your ig the cat litter. They can ingest it and it will really mess up their insides. Plain paper, newspaper, paper toweling, linoleum, etc., is better. Maybe you could get a littler box and put a bit of water in the bottom and he can go there (just a thought).

: Your ig does sound a bit small for its age. Mine is over 3 feet and it's 20 months old (and lost about 4" of tail last year). You are feeding it good food. Do you give your ig UVB light? That's the most important because that helps them utilize their calcium -- in fact they need UVB or could develop MBD and die. I use a basking bulb AND a 5.0 fluorescent UVB and also supplement the heat (it's cold here right now) with a human heating pad.

: I have also read certain species of igs are smaller than others, too.

: If yours is healthy, eating and doing everything normally, I don't think I'd worry. People are always telling me my ig is thin, but the girl at the vet's office said he's fine and has great muscle tone.

: nanci

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: Louie's got a Reptisun UV light as well as an incandescent heat source (day and night), and has been trained to go potty in his (small) cat litter pan with a small amount of water in it. He was doing so well and went every day in his pan until he found the cage wasn't entirely secure and he can get out and roam (luckily many ties he will find his way back to the cage on his own). His cage is lined with newspaper, and recently in the past few months he will only go on the newspaper and not in the pan. I just don't know what happened from the time of being potty trained to being a slob! :) Is the water possibly too cold for him or something? He really does seek out the cat litter box when he's out of the cage, and I have never seen him ingest any of it (mainly because I watch like a hawk when I am there and immediately return him to his enclosure). How do I retrain him? Other than that, everything else is fine, and he is healthy, eats well, has regular stools, and is all personality. He's just small and his head hasn't quite grown into his body. : : : : Hi everyone, I haven't posted in over 5 months or so, but Louie is doing fine and feisty as ever. My question is, he is about 3 1/2 ft long and almost 4 years old. I have read that iguanas should grow much faster than that, but he has never been fed any animal protein and eats mostly collared and turnip greens with some fruit (raspberries, banana when he is good as a treat, veggies such as green beans, peas, and carrots for variety) and still to me seems like a juvenile, although he has been doing his "big boy" thing with the seminal plugs every so often. I'm just wondering if this is normal and if he is just a subordinate male. I even used to think he was a female because he always had small femoral pores, until I saw him secreate seminal plugs. He gets plenty of UV and misting many times daily. Any suggestions on what is going on? Also, he gets out of his cage frequently and no longer poops in his water pan. Instead, he goes to the cat litter box to go! I wonder if I should put cat litter in his pan? He used to be well trained but now goes wherever he pleases all over the house and it is quite frustrating! Sorry this is so long but any info or responses would be great! thanks! : : No, do not give your ig the cat litter. They can ingest it and it will really mess up their insides. Plain paper, newspaper, paper toweling, linoleum, etc., is better. Maybe you could get a littler box and put a bit of water in the bottom and he can go there (just a thought). : : Your ig does sound a bit small for its age. Mine is over 3 feet and it's 20 months old (and lost about 4" of tail last year). You are feeding it good food. Do you give your ig UVB light? That's the most important because that helps them utilize their calcium -- in fact they need UVB or could develop MBD and die. I use a basking bulb AND a 5.0 fluorescent UVB and also supplement the heat (it's cold here right now) with a human heating pad. : : I have also read certain species of igs are smaller than others, too. : : If yours is healthy, eating and doing everything normally, I don't think I'd worry. People are always telling me my ig is thin, but the girl at the vet's office said he's fine and has great muscle tone. : : nanci

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