A few links to get you started....

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Posted by Mark Berger on September 09, 2002 at 07:53:26:

In Reply to: First rescue? I guess PIC and story inside posted by Jeremy H on September 08, 2002 at 23:18:29:

The internet is loaded with good iguana information. Please read everything you find at these two links:

http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/index.html
http://www.baskingspot.com/iguanas/
http://www.milagros.net/caiman/

Then purchase one or both of these books:

Iguanas for Dummies by Melissa Kaplan
Green Iguana: The Ultimate Owners Manual by Jim Hatfield

After you accomplish this, you will be much better prepared to ask some educated questions here. But to summarize:

Iguanas do not belong in tanks. They need a large (TALL and WIDE) cage.

Cypress Mulch is BAD... Iguanas will ingest any substrate that resembles food. Use newspaper.

Have you provided heat and UV? Heat: ambient around 80 degrees, basking spot around 95. UV: Yes, natural sunlight or a suitable reptile light to simulate it. Glass filters UV, and the light should be within 12" of the animal.

He probably wont eat because he is stressed, cold, and scared. Leave him alone... Make sure he is warm, and offer fresh food daily. He may not eat for a week or two, or may start nibbling here and there as he gets more comfortable. But before any of that happens, you need to fix the caging situation. He would be better off free roaming your bathroom with a 250 watt heat lamp hung from the shower rod.

You are really going to have to start doing a LOT of reading. Keeping iguanas is no where NEAR as easy as what you think right now. You've already pointed out numerous problems... These are complex animals, with much more to learn about than the snakes you keep. They are a full time job, needing several hours of attention EVERY DAY. Better decide quick if you are ready to take this on....

Mark

:Well this all started at the pet store I work at. One day I came in and my boss said someone had an iguana for me? So later on they brought this 4.4ft iguana in and showed me. It was big male that looked very stressed. I told them to bring it to me later after work. I do big pythons iguanas are new territory to me. Anyway he came by and brought me the iggie, and it was aggressive which was fine I deal with ceylonese pythons and nile monitors. So I cleaned out a 6ft long tank and put him on cypress mulch like the book said and he still wont eat for me? Is he still stressed? I have bought him every green in the book and bok choi and I mean christ how hard is it to make an iguana feel at home? I took him out a few times he tail whipped the hell out of me so I grabbed him and put him away. I dont think he was used to humans being around that much. He shakes his head all the time( I have no clue what that means ). But I like him and he is surprisingly not that hard to keep. I am working on a taller cage. heres a pic and please give me your opinions!

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