Posted by Andrew on 7/15/2012, 7:22 pm 75.111.59.17
There is no bathtub in my current house and the only bin big enough to bath is easily jumped out of. Trying to convince a 3.5' ig and his razor sharp claws to chill in a little tub is a hard thing to do without leather gauntlets. Any suggestions or tips for baths? I need him to stop pooping on his cage.
Re: Bathing a stubborn ig
Posted by Brenda&Spike on 7/16/2012, 2:50 pm, in reply to "Bathing a stubborn ig" 99.44.84.192
I feel your pain. My girl Spike now 5 was stubborn as all get out and I got a bath right along side of her lol because of her thrashing. I kept trying different things to see what suit her better than before. Here is a list of some things that helped me.
1.Warm water in tub or basin beforehand. 2.Make sure the room is quiet and if possible have the basin on the floor if not using a tub. 3.have towels layed out on floor so she feels secure,(we have tile floor in our bathroom) 4.I experimented with different color hand towels laid in the bottom of our tub. She will go to the color PINK only.... hahaha dont know why, but it works for us. 5 So with pink towel in tub I gently lower her in the water, onto the pink towel, and she will readily soak for me now and relax even enjoy swimming around. 6. I have a pink towel on my shoulder and side of tub so when she is done she crawls out and up on my shoulder.
NOTE: the ones that have bathtubs used colored tape to make designs on the sides of their tubs so their igs could see the sides and not freak out. Or buy those colored nonslip stickers for tubs and just stick them to the sides of the tub right along with sticking a batch on the bottom for grip.
I hope some of these tips will help you. I'm not saying pink is the magic color either. Iguanas are fickle. So you have to try different things to see what works for yours. Good Luck. :)
Pour the water before entering the bathroom because the running water scares them at first. Cut his claws the day before, Put a towel or matt on the bottom so it isn't slippery, or better yet a rock or brick to hang onto. A two inch bath is enough for the first time. Don't let go until Iggie is calm. Watch for shadows, because the porcelain reflects to them in ways that can cause great reaction. Hold iggie and talk in reassuring voice, and you need to be careful leaning over to put him in so he doesn't feel like he's falling. Start with warm but not hot.
