why does he seemed stressed...

[peterm15]

ive taken alot of advice but im still havin trouble makin him happy... hes always dark...

heres a link to my discription of my habitat...

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59710&perpage=15&pagenumber=2

since the pic was taken ive added fake plants to the sides to create more cover.. he was happy for about a day...

and ive also covered 2 sides to give him more closure and to keep heat and humidity in... i just cant figure it out hes always pissed...... except when hes sleeping or eating...

theres the proper drops in night temp and so onand so on... i just dont get it... and suggestiona on what might be stressin him...

[Bartman]

Maybe something in the room that he see's. Maybe cars going by in a window or if you have animals, them walking by. They have incredible eye site (my guy gets scared when im holding my snake across the room) so try and see if there is anything remotely possibly scaring him.

Could even be a statue or something :p Who knows!

[peterm15]

im in a basement so the windows he wouldnt be able to see out of and all my other lizards are beside and below him so he wouldnt be able to see... there not in viewing range... could it be posters... i doubt it but thats the closest thing to statues... or maybe a stuffed animal...

[marisa]

Anything in the area that can make even a slight reflection?

Some males in chams and iguanas get extremely agrresive if they can see their reflection. Even a shiney poster might be enough to do it for some.

Marisa

[peterm15]

ok well i have no mirrors so im gonna try coverin my posters to see what happens... but there would be very little chance of him being able to see himself... but some posters look like preditors,,( dragons) so well see if that works... anything else anyone can think of...

[CanadianJackson]

Maybe hes just stressed cause your continually making changes to his cage.

[ydnic]

Marisa:

your iguanas get stressed at seeing themselves, my iguana seems to enjoy the mirror in her room, how do you tell between enjoyment and stress

Lucy seems to just stare at herself when she is bored(what I think is bored) and sometimes she walks back and forth infront of it or just climbs it - she doesn`t seem upset though...

[marisa]

My iguana never cared about seeing herself. She was female, and very laid back.

My roomates male doesn't like it. It's easy to see the differance between enjoyment and stress.....or getting angry....when he sees himself he normally turns a darker shade, for him black, and flares his dewlap, and tries to charge maybe if he is really pissed.

It's also a common thing for iguana owners around the world. Even plexiglass on enclosures has been known to cause a problem with some males. Although some don't mind and it sounds like yours likes it like some do. :D

Marisa

[ydnic]

yeah thats what I thought - thanx though you had me worried for a moment - she never thrashes her tail or anything - when i was setting her room up for her I read that some iguanas like to have a mirror (almost for company) so I thought I`d give it a try - anyways thanx!

[BoidsUnlimited]

Hey YDNIC!

How is Lucy? She is an adopted Iggy right? I remember you telling me about her awhile back. Or am I just crazy.......

[peterm15]

Originally posted by CanadianJackson
Maybe hes just stressed cause your continually making changes to his cage.

ive been making the changes to try to make him happy... i have never really seen the bright green cocours on him... i do sometimes maybe once a day but that i dont like cause i want him to be happy... i just cant figure it out... im trying to corect any mistakes that i may have made but i just cant figure it out... im gonna try turning off the ceremic heater and droping the night low to about 69... i know that that is safe but im gonna see if that helps...

i would say hes just pissed when he sees me but its not that... he freely handfeeds and is mostly green when he does...

[Collide]

JUst some randome thoughts,

how much is he fed soem veilds eat more then others mabey he is pissy because he is hungery,

mabey the cage is to low and he feels vonurble, they like to go high to feel safe,

constant changes can make them pissy as well my female veild hid in her pothos plant for 3 days when i removed a towel i had up on one side of the cage.

lighting, bad lighting bad colors...

veilds are not all bright all the time any way mabey its just his normal colors

little moo normal

http://oldworldchameleons.info/album/displayimage.php?album=14&pos=2

little moo pissy at me half display.

http://oldworldchameleons.info/album/displayimage.php?album=14&pos=0


lac of water/ humidity may also be a factor

and personality u just might have a pissy one, plain and simple. with my most grumpy man i put a big plant in his cage and he spends alot of time in it because it gives him good cover.

just some randome thoughts

[peterm15]

well the cage is about 6 feet tall and he is in the top 2 feet right now... so thats not it... when my guy is bright he is about the same colour as thoes pics.. there is barely any colours... i feed him until hes not hungry then i sit 3 more in the cup for a later snack... if there not eaten before lights out i take them out.. dripper on most of the time... (off at night) and i mist 2-3 sometimes 4 times a day... humidity constant at 60 in my room thats why i spray... to get it to 70...

he is very bright with great patterns at night when the lights are out... im gonna get a pic up to see what you think...

[peterm15]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v604/peterm15/DSC00309.jpg

heres a pic of his "normal" colours

[concept3]

Just to add in my two sence to Marisa and Ydinic, When your iguana looks in the mirror, it doesnt recognize that it is looking at itself. All it sees is another iguana, so Marisa your roomates male does not like it because he sees another male iguana in his territory and the females could care less because the are not as territorial.

[K1LOS]

your room is a constant 60?? wow. How are you measuring that? If i didn't spray my cham cage it would get as low as 30%, maybe even mid 20's.

How tall are you? because if you are 6' then the highest your cham can get is eye level. This is the case with my panther, but he is a happy camper either way.

Is he getting a varied diet? Maybe he is grumpy cause all he get is crickets!

I know the windows in my basement suck, is it possible there is a draft blowing on the cage?

try and leave his cage as is for a few days after all these changes everyone suggested. Perhaps you have already solved the problem and he just hasn't had time to adjust to everything yet.


Geoff

[CarlC]

Have you given any thought that you have a vield? From the looks of him he is approaching adult hood. Maybe he is just showing his true colors and nothing you do will make him happy. Remember he was designed 100,000 years ago to climb around in the tree's not in a cage. Some males are just that way and nothing you can do is gonna stop that.
Your best bet would be to let things calm down for a few days. Let him get used to all the changes you have made. If after that he is still not relaxed you can go from there.

Carl

[peterm15]

K1LOS...well i leave him alone as much as possible which i have been trying sinse the begining ... and i have a humidifier in the room... so the lowest it gets is 50... hes on the other end of the room and the window is covered so there is no draft..... ive tried him on other worms but not recently... im gonna try silkies soon.... what can you suggest other than crix and mealies..... would a pinkie here and there be any good....

CarlC... are you saying that there is a possibility that thoes are his normal colours and hes really not stressed... he may not be happy buut not stressed... but then how do you explain the green at night and during feeding... id be really happy to know that there is a possiblity that there is not something stressing him and thats just him...

[Collide]

Chams are generaly diferent colored at night that is normal, and get excited when they see food...

[peterm15]

so the dark colours might just be normal for him

[ydnic]

Concept - I know she thinks it is another iguana - thats why I put the mirror there

Yes Boids she is adopted - she is doing great she has a whole room to herself in my house set up with all sorts of jungl gyms and what not - I think she`s prolly pretty happy

[galad]

A pinky maybe like once every two months woouldnt be that bad. Just kae sure you cut down on the calcium you are supplimenting. As pinkies are a great source of calcium. I know of a pet shop that feeds pinkies with no problemes just make sure it is of the appropriate size. I could imagine it would be alot easier to choke on a pinky rather then a cricket. Nothing longer then the width of his head as im sure you knew. But hey you never know.

good luck

ws

[marisa]

Thanks for the explantion concept although that's exactly what I meant by "some don't like it" as they feel aggresion towards the "new iguana"

;)

Marisa

[peterm15]

sweet... thanks... i got butterworms and silcies today and gave hime a snack... he truned bright green... i figured ill use the really small pinkies.. the ones that are only like 1/2 an inch long....

if anyone wants to comment on wether pinkies are good or bad please feel free... im always looking for more opinions...