Iguana Question

[Deleted]

I know some of you have had reptiles. A bit of advice?

Iggy's cage is 6' x 8' x7' and lit with a UVB and heat light. The habitat itself is wood and I have mesh on the front. We used tree limbs for the inside. The one she lays on, I have wrapped with a heat tape.

It is getting really cold here at night and I cannot afford to keep my house at 70+ degrees all the time... So, I currently cover her mesh with a sleeping bag at night and run a space heater to heat the area before I go to bed. I turn it on again in the morning. However, I don't think she is warm enough so I am looking at adding a CHE to her area.

CHE's come in a ton of wattages and I am not sure which to get. Any ideas?

I want to keep her warm enough to stay healthy, but don't want to overdo the electric bill in the process... But, she hasn't pooped in a couple days and I find online that the typical reason for this is she is too cold. So, I have to find a solution.

[Deleted]

Heat tape is not the best for reptiles. They should get their heat from above, not below. The can get burned by staying on heat tape for too long.

For an iguana the most important thing that people don't do is keep the humidity up. It should be up to at least 65%-75% in his enclosure. This is hard to do while also keeping it warm enough, especially while a mesh front enclosure. But if the iguana does no have the proper humidity it will not be healthy.

For a CHE, they get really hot so make sure to keep it in a place the iguana can't touch it and away from flammable material. Also make sure the fixture you use it in is made of porcelain and not plastic. To get the proper temp I would use a dimmer with your fixture. That way you can control the heat much better than either having it on or off. You should have a couple of probe thermometers in the enclosure. One near the hottest part and one a cooler area. You can control the dimmer to get the proper temperature gradients.

[Deleted]

I use a reptile heat tape and it doesn't get too hot. I was a bit leary at first but she seems to enjoy it. But, it also isn't hot enough to keep her warm when the house is cold.

I spray her habitat multiple times a day and run a humidifier. I also use a heat bulb and UVB bulb during the day. My challenge is heating her at night without light, so I am going to try a CHE. I do know they get hot, to use a ceramic socket and all that.

She turned bright green again, so I think she is healthy, other than the recent heat issue. But, it is 20-30 degrees here now at night so keeping my house hot with electric heat is expensive, so I tend to keep it cooler.

I think I am going to cover most of the wire mesh on her habitat with a canvas drop cloth to help with the heat/humidity issues.

This is a photo taken a couple weeks ago, during her shed.



and one of when we found her. She looks so much healthier!

[Opti]

How cold do you let it get? Off the top of my head I'm not sure what low temps Iguanas can handle. I'd actually check out some books at the library or see if you can find stuff on the Internet. (I personally would trust the books more.) I agree with Archie that part of the issue
can be hydration. Humidity should be appropriate and I often soaked my lizards once a week except for the water dragons who would even sleep in their water. You may find a soaking especially in slightly warm water will hydrate her enough for her to poop.

Since she is big I would just use the bathtub if you have one. After you are done I'd either clean it with boiling water(I put my tea kettle on and use that) or some vinegar. If you want to go hardcore use bleach but them you want to run sufficient water to wash it away as it is not that great for people or critters.

HTH

[Deleted]

I bathe her daily in a warm tub. It's nice because she loves it and she poops there. When she is done then she hops out of the tub onto her towel and then walks around the house for a while. If it is cool, she goes back up her tree under her light. If it is warmer or really sunny, then she goes and lays by a window and watches outside. (Next year I will build her an outside hangout where she can get sunlight during the warm daytime.)

Iggy and the cats get along well. She doesn't like my dogs, so they are outside while she is out. I never leave even the cats alone with the Iggy when she is out. I make sure I am in the house and watching for the tail chewers. She has yet to ever be aggressive with my cats. They have been nose to nose and she just stares them down. I think they all understand what her teeth or tail could do.

I keep my house at 70 during the day and no lower than 62 at night. I have read that iggies have to be at least 70 degrees at night and hotter during the day. I have a space heater we use for her right now, and her lights/heat tape. The reason I want the CHE is for the early morning hours when the house can drop the coldest and for times like this when it is snowing and we have excessive cold. Most of the time here we aren't frozen solid, but sometimes it does get really cold and keeping my house too hot is really expensive, so I would rather just heat the iggy habitat as much as possible.

[Deleted]

Looks and sounds like you are doing a great job. Iggy looks very happy. IMHO as long as the day time temps are getting up to where they are supposed to be I would not be overly concerned about the night time temps. But if you do want to get a CHE I still recommend getting dimmer to go with it. You can get a dimmer at the hardwear store and wire it p rather than spending $40 on a reptile marketed one.

[dannylion]

Iggy is very lucky to have been adopted by such a caring human.

[Deleted]

Nov 11, 2012 6:29:52 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Looks and sounds like you are doing a great job. Iggy looks very happy. IMHO as long as the day time temps are getting up to where they are supposed to be I would not be overly concerned about the night time temps. But if you do want to get a CHE I still recommend getting dimmer to go with it. You can get a dimmer at the hardwear store and wire it p rather than spending $40 on a reptile marketed one.

Okay, I will look for a dimmer. Thanks for the suggestion.

I felt her body when I got up yesterday and she was really cold. The not pooping thing can be linked to that, so I am hoping with a CHE she will stay warmer.

We are fortunate that whoever let her go apparently first spent a lot of time with her. She is really docile and seems to like people most of the time.

[weltschmerz]

Awww, what a pretty girl! How about an electric heating pad or blanket, set on low, on top of her cage at night?

[NoNamePerson]

OMG You have turned Iggy into an Iguana? I miss a few day reading and posting and see what happens