Re: vet day!

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Posted by Mr. D on January 22, 2002 at 21:02:30:

In Reply to: vet day! posted by badgrrl on January 22, 2002 at 20:00:16:

Sounds like you could have a few issues on your hands to be honest.....The first and most important here - it doesn't sound like your vet has the necessary experience to be treating iguanas. I say this because of several statements that your vet made. 1.) Gizmo is probably a girl. Knowing that short of probing, it is relatively impossible to visually sex an iguana until approximately 2 years of age. The fact that Gizmo only weighs 2 1/2 ounces tells me that s/he is still a hatchling in which case, sex determination is not easily detectable. 2.) Gizmo looked pale. Iguanas, regardless of hemispherical location, use color to help with thermoregulation as well as occassional proclamations of stress. Therefor, Gizmo's color will never stay the same but will always be lightening/darkening. 3.) Gizmo needs more sunlight in his/her cage. The only way to make that statement work would be to bring Gizmo's cage outside. Knowing that it's winter in Ohio you would have a healthy iguanasicle if you followed that advice. The reason for that would be that UV rays cannot pass through today's house glass. The glass is formulated with a UV barrier in most cases and willnot allow any appreciable UVB to reach the interior of the house. Putting Gizmo's cage in/near the window will help warm him/her but will not get ANY usefull UV to the cage. The only way to accomplish this in winter is to use UV bulbs. Either fluorescent tubes or mercury vapor bulbs will accomplish this. Personally, I prefer the merc vaopr bulbs. You can read up on them at uvheat.com as well as our site under the "UV" heading.

You may also want to start looking around for a qualified herp vet. You can look for one at www.arav.org under the "members" heading.

The Iguana Spot

Follow Ups:

Re: vet day! badgrrl 01/22/02 (5)
- sorry Mr. D I forgot the pic! badgrrl 01/22/02 (4)
  - Re: sorry Mr. D I forgot the pic! Mr. D 01/22/02 (3)
    - Re: sorry Mr. D I forgot the pic! badgrrl 01/22/02 (2)
      - Hmmm..... Mr. D 01/23/02 (1)
        
        Re: Hmmm..... badgrrl 01/23/02 (0)

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: Sounds like you could have a few issues on your hands to be honest.....The first and most important here - it doesn't sound like your vet has the necessary experience to be treating iguanas. I say this because of several statements that your vet made. 1.) Gizmo is probably a girl. Knowing that short of probing, it is relatively impossible to visually sex an iguana until approximately 2 years of age. The fact that Gizmo only weighs 2 1/2 ounces tells me that s/he is still a hatchling in which case, sex determination is not easily detectable. 2.) Gizmo looked pale. Iguanas, regardless of hemispherical location, use color to help with thermoregulation as well as occassional proclamations of stress. Therefor, Gizmo's color will never stay the same but will always be lightening/darkening. 3.) Gizmo needs more sunlight in his/her cage. The only way to make that statement work would be to bring Gizmo's cage outside. Knowing that it's winter in Ohio you would have a healthy iguanasicle if you followed that advice. The reason for that would be that UV rays cannot pass through today's house glass. The glass is formulated with a UV barrier in most cases and willnot allow any appreciable UVB to reach the interior of the house. Putting Gizmo's cage in/near the window will help warm him/her but will not get ANY usefull UV to the cage. The only way to accomplish this in winter is to use UV bulbs. Either fluorescent tubes or mercury vapor bulbs will accomplish this. Personally, I prefer the merc vaopr bulbs. You can read up on them at uvheat.com as well as our site under the "UV" heading. : You may also want to start looking around for a qualified herp vet. You can look for one at www.arav.org under the "members" heading.

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