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Posted by nate351 on April 18, 2003 at 16:57:34:
In Reply to: He won't eat... posted by kg on April 17, 2003 at 21:53:15:
I dont remember, did he ever eat for you? If not, he may still be adapting to his new home, light hours, temps, smells, etc. Also, his diet was pretty worthless before, right? Sometimes, when they are fed nothing but crap food (lettuce, broccoli, crickets), it takes them awhile to learn to like the good stuff. It's kind of like a kid wanting ice cream instead of, well, broccoli.
Is he bloated at all? Can you feel a hard lump in his abdomen? It sounds like he is evacuating what is left in his bowels and is about empty from not eating. It is possible that there is an impaction problem, but if he is going some and hasn't eaten in a few days, I would doubt it.
Keep him hydrated! This is a big must. I truly believe that drinking enough water is the most simple cure for a million and one illnesses. If he is constipated, water helps. If he is stressed, water helps. If he is just not eating, water (or maybe pedialyte) will keep him alive. If he has parasites... well, you get the idea.
Odds are he is just stressed. Provide him with plenty of room to escape the heat, as well as plenty of good warm basking area. Also, keep his cage out of any high traffic areas, so people, cats, and vacuum cleaners aren't constantly stressing him. Mist him as much as possible, and keep food constatnly available.
There are two theories about switching an iguana from one food to another. The first is that you should continue to offer the old food to keep the ig eating, then slowly add new food in, decreasing the ammount of old food, untill they are eating only new food. The second theory is that you should just offer new food right away. If the ig doesn't eat it, too bad - it will when it gets hungry enough. Personally, if I were switching an ig from romaine lettuce and banana, I would do the gradual thing, but If it were eating roast beef and crickets, I might try the abrupt thing. It's all a matter of situation.
Hope this helps.
nate.
