Some Iguana Questions

[BoidsUnlimited]

My friends sister is leaving for college, so she let me take her iguana.

My questions are: can I trim its nails? they hurt alot, haha. and hes pretty fidgety will he calm down with handling? or is it not a sure thing.

he is about 2 with tail

and also if anyone has pictures of an adult could you post it?

thanks

[JAdkins2451]

well when I had mine he would tame down when I had him out, which was a hard thing to accomplish.. And yes you can trim there nails.

Jamie

[Tonya]

i cut mines nails once but they were still really shrap....and since i got mine they have calmed down alot....i got the one around october...i can handle her easily now

[-okapi-]

Do you know the gender for sure? Males get huge you know, and once they get big they bite hard, the nails will be the least of your worries when its clamped onto your finger... but you can trim the nails if you want, just dont cut too much or youll hit a vein. Also take into consideration your iguana's climbing abilities when its nails are dull. I stopped cutting the nails on mine when I owned her because if she tried to move too fast up or down one of the logs in her cage, she would loose her grip and fall.

I would suggest wearing long sleve shirts and leather gloves while handling until it becomes tame. If you handle daily and try to stay where the iguana can always see you then they usually are not as jumpy when you try to pick them up. Also if they are always around your scent they will calm down when you are arround, so try to keep your iguana's cage in you room. Dont move too fast and startle it or do anything that causes alot of vibrations until it is very accustom to you and your daily activities. When you are around it think of it as a frightened kitten with very sharp claws, you dont want to get on its bad side.

Dont forget to use a UVA/UVB light (manmade sunlight) and make sure the light bulb is within 18 inches of your iguana. Your iguana needs this lighting so that its body can process vit. D3. If the bulb is farther than 18 inches then the rays decay and the iguana cant gain anything from it accept vision. Natural sunlight coming through a window is not a substitute. The impurities in the glass block like 97% of all the "good" rays needed for vit. D3. If you cant provide UVA/UVB lighting, then you need to get a suppliment which includes calcium and Vit. D3. (Without Vit D3 your iguana cannot use any calcium it ingests for bone growth which will cause alot of problems, it is very important).

For food, Give your iguana some chopped up pieces of collard, mustard, dandelion, or turnip greens. Also provide chopped up green "snap" peas, green beans, apple, squash, and carrots. My iguana was a full grown adult, so you will obviously need to feed in a smaller portion, but here is a rough outline of my iguana's daily food:

1 cup chopped green leaf veggies
and
1/2 cup mixed chopped veggies
25% green "snap" peas
25% green beans
25% squash
20% carrots
5% apple

This is a relitivly balanced diet, If you decide to suppliment it with vit. powders, read the ingredients. Dont buy anything with vit A unless the vit A is called Beta-carotene, otherwise the vit a takes way too long to pass through the system. Also chech calcium to phosphorous rations (look at next paragraph).

I didnt mess with those stupid store bought iguana diets, they all have horrible ratios of needed ingredients. Basically the crude protien ratios should not be above 12% MAX, and the calcium to phosphorous ration should be 2:1. However most iguana diets do not follow those guide lines.

The best book for you to buy would be Iguanas for dummies Because it is the BEST iguana book out there.

Good Luck!

[BoidsUnlimited]

Thanks for all of the info Okapi!

I dont know the sex, but I am aware of the size and such.
I use to own a 3 1/2ft FAT Savanna Monitor...so I know what I have ahead of me.

I DO use UVB lighting...and the diet you described is pretty accurate to what I am feeding mine.

Also, I have that book you mentioned =) And about 3 other Iguana books!

Thanks again,

Don