Could you please help and tell, are these products good for iguana. Unfortunately in this underdeveloped country, where i live, these are only ones we can get in the store. My husband bought them, but I can't find anything neither good, nor bad mentioned about them in this home page. I have read that there are so many bad products for iggies in the market, so I don't trust anything that has not been approved here.
1) Exo Terra Repti Glo 5.0 fluerescent tubes; Here I found the descrioption: http://exo-terra.com/en/products/linear_fluorescent_bulbs.php ). We are using them for our 2.5 old baby for two years (changing every 6 month). All the time I thought that I red good about them here, but today - when searching for approving information about the other products, I noticed that I was wrong. It is written that Zoomed 5.0 are good, not Exo Terra Repti glo 5.0.
We used Calcuim Gluconate till now (as vet said it's good). Husband wanted to get something better, but this was the only he could get here without D3. But somehow there seems to be lots of chemicals inside... Aren't they harmful?
Should I put this calcium in the trash bin and order in internet Calcium that is suggested here in this home page, or feed this and get the best one as the next?
And what about this? It contains D3, and again lots of chemicals that doesn't looks good in my eyes...
Thank you very much.
-loving Iggy parents-
Re: Products for Iggy
Posted by roger on 7/25/2012, 12:04 pm, in reply to "Products for Iggy" 70.36.215.249
1. The REpti Glo 5.0 tubes give too little UVB. If you like the brand Exo Terra, get the Repti Glo 10.0. Don't believe the distance rating. 20 inches is too far. Place it at 8 to 10 inches. Try to invite a member from a local reptile club (aka Herp Society) who has a UVB meter for a visit and to check out your iguana.
If your iguana eats leafy greens, he dosn't need the calcium supplement. Improper supplementing with calcium, especilly with calcium gluconate, can harm your iguana.
Iguanas easily get hypervitaminosis. The variety of greens it eats provides it's vitamins. Iguanas die in their second five years from stressed and killed kidneys from that. Iguanas are created to live well on a low nutrient, high fiber diet. Their gut turns the fiber into carbohydrates. Leaves are their perfect food, with extras like bites from a fallen papaya fruit thrown in during the week.
Exo Terra Multi Vitamins (among other pet vitamins) are infamous for for the problem of the content listing not matching the real content. Supplements for pets are not required to have proper labeling. They exist to extort money from you. If you MUST supplement, use Centrum ground into a powder. Feed twice/week with an amount equalling the size of two pinheads. Better yet, toss the supplements and increase the variety of leafy green vegetables.
I hope you believe these facts, because they are vitally important.
Roger
Re: Products for Iggy
Posted by Lii on 7/26/2012, 2:27 am, in reply to "Re: Products for Iggy" 159.148.76.43
Thank you Roger! Of course I do believe all you say - I think you here are the best iguana experts in the world, that's why am here. So thank you for free consultations. :)
Exo Terra is the only brand, that we can buy here (really!). Today I am buying and replacing or Repti Glo UVB 5.0 to 10.0. But I have questions again:
1) Are Zoo Med 5.0 better than Exo Terra 10.0? I can find where to buy in internet and order Zoo Med 5.0 already now and replace again when get (could be after a month) to these that I am buying today. 2) about the distance - I had never believed what is written on the packages, and all our tube fixtures has always been set 8 inches distance from iggys back (when he is laying and basking) - as it was suggested here in this home page.
But I would like to ask: Should I measure the distance from basking floor to the tubes or from the iggy's back (when laying) to the tubes? I sometimes afraid the light can be bad for his eyes when he stands?
3) Food. Food is a problem at wintertime.
At summer I am mostly feeding him dandelion greens - he likes them. Plus I add a little of other greens and veggies, but dandelion from May till end of October (6 month) are staple green for him. He likes and eats also oranges, papaya, cherries and other fruits. Unfortunately we do not have collard greens and mustard or turnip greens or watercress even not in the best food shops in capital. Last year I ordered collard green seeds from US and growned i the grandmas garden for iggy myself. From staple veggies we have also beans and peas. Actually we have all fruits and veggies, except these greens of high value I mentioned above.
These summer month I had given him only little vitamins or calcium. But if you say - no - I won't add them to his food any more.
Wintertime is the problem. I can get cabbage, carrots, spinach, bok choy, lettuce - I know they all are bad - I read in food information chat. But i have no big choice what to do - I cant seat my Iggy in the plane and say: "go there to Florida and get a better life". All I can do to tray to find some solutions here, because (as I wrote in answer to "Catbob" - I did not imported him to this country, but more rescued from local pet shop).
Thanks.
Re: Products for Iggy
Posted by roger on 7/26/2012, 9:13 pm, in reply to "Re: Products for Iggy" 70.36.215.249
I admire you for picking up a lost soul. I wonder if you are having any behavioral issues that usually come with re-homed iguanas. I rescued one of my first iguanas from a pet store, too, and he was as strong and mean as a demon. In two years he had turned into a pussycat.
About what I write, scrutinize it and build a wider base of assent, because I'm not perfect. But I'm confident about the stuff I've written to you below.
1) Are Zoo Med 5.0 better than Exo Terra 10.0? Well we have no comparison anymore. About ten or 15 years ago someone collected all the various UVB emitters and measured them with a UVB meter, and created a table of relative emittance for us. Even then, we had no way to compare one of them to an "absolute value" because we'd need a physics lab to have the equipment to get a number.
For two or three decades, the UVB 5.0 was the only choice, and it finally enabled us to keep or igs healthy. Since then there is the REptisun 10.0, and several mercury-vapor lamps that give more UVB than the 5.0 and are very popular. Still, the 5.0 is perfectly adequate if it's hung down to 6 or 7 inches from the top of the iggy's back. If I had the money, I'd opt for the fancier, higher output, and more expensive UVB lamps. But I would be careful how I decide to choose an exposure distance from the iggy's back.
2. But I would like to ask: Should I measure the distance from basking floor to the tubes or from the iggy's back
For the ReptiSun 5.0, six to eight inches is the only rule I've ever seen (except that I always hung the 5.0's at the unpopular distance of exactly six inches, and that worked well for 14 years. I hung the 10.0's at 8 to 9 inches, as a pure guess, which worked for my iguanas.
"These summer month I had given him only little vitamins or calcium. But if you say - no - I won't add them to his food any more."
Remember the dose I specified? I was serious about that. If you are more comfortable when you supplement, use exceedingly small doses of a supplement without any of the Vit. D's or iron. (A bit the size of 1/4 of an aspirin pill should be ok.)
Malnourished iguanas, and those fasting for more than 4 weeks need supplements. Deformed iguanas need a prescription calcium supplement until it's blood levels are right again. It's a controvercial issue. I come down on the side of feeding high nutrient greens soaked in water. With iguanas, it turns out that water is the most important supplement of all. Use any trick to get more into him.
"cabbage, carrots, spinach, bok choy,". All can be fed in small amounts continuously. Just keep them under 15% of the total eaten diet. Romaine Lettuce can be fed freely when fresh leafies are hard to find.
About what I write, scrutinize it, because I'm not perfect. Do you happen to know that frozen greens retain all their nutrients except thiamine? Iguana keepers all across Canada feed frozen greens during the winter, and sparingly supplement with thiamine. I used to feed frozen-thawed greens once in a while too.
Re: Products for Iggy
Posted by Lii on 7/27/2012, 5:21 am, in reply to "Re: Products for Iggy" 159.148.76.43
Thanks a lot, Roger.
Yesterday replaced tubes Exo Terra 5.0 to Exo Terra 10.0. But will order Zoo Med Reptisun tubes when changing time will approach. Feel much better now and hope Iggy does too :) Distance seems to be also proper now - 8 inches from his back, but he is growing so am higher-ing them time to time. :)
Thanks, lots of good information about food and supplements too. Have heard about freezing greens, but somehow had not done that so far. But now am sure will do that before the end of fresh summer greens season. And will grow some collard greens myself again.
In his first home - pet shop, he was living together with another iguana, and this another one seemed like a boss: active and brave, while our baby was laying in the wet corner. Beside skin problems, deep scar on the arm, a little damaged tail, at the age of not more than 6 month (maybe less), he has lost also half of one finger of his leg. So wee took home the weaker one. When we put a bag in his new big cage - that was the best moment - to see his fist steps out of the bag. He looked around and slowly moved up to middle floor, where saw a bowl with dandelion greens and little other, and started to eat in such hurry and appetite, like he had not been eaten for a long. I expected him not to eat first days because of the stress of now home, but that was a good surprise. Although he was so scare of everything for a very long, but now he is loving and already more self confident :)
Just am sad that two years he has lived under the UVB tubes of too week output... Truly hope there is not much damage inside of his little cute body because of us...
Re: Products for Iggy
Posted by roger on 7/27/2012, 10:23 am, in reply to "Re: Products for Iggy" 70.36.215.249
It's just great that he's healthy enough to eat on his own, and has a strong appetite.
Did you know that iguana food intake is high enough once they've gorged themselves and stop eating on their own, and not because their food ran out.
R-
Re: Products for Iggy
Posted by Lii on 7/30/2012, 8:15 am, in reply to "Re: Products for Iggy" 159.148.76.43
No, I didn't. :) Thanks a lot for everything.
Re: Products for Iggy
Posted by Gale on 7/26/2012, 9:08 am, in reply to "Re: Products for Iggy" 67.187.196.19
I think you are doing a great job. I have started a garden here in California. I am going to grow some stuff in buckets in side. maybe you could do that. I will help with humidity. I don't know about where you are, but I lived in Florida for 30 years with 80% and here it is about 20%.
Re: Products for Iggy
Posted by Lii on 7/27/2012, 5:35 am, in reply to "Re: Products for Iggy" 159.148.76.43
Hi, thanks. I live very far from US - its N/E Europe (Latvia). The biggest problem is that from November till April here its too cold, but summer month are good for growing greens in the garden (lots of rain too). I just need to get seeds again. Its seems nobody except my Iggy doesn't eat collard greens in this country :)
Re: Products for Iggy
Posted by captbob on 7/25/2012, 11:19 am, in reply to "Products for Iggy" 96.254.111.10
As to the UVB lights, I would go with the 10.0 over the 5.0 if buying tube type UVB lights.
You can also order mercury vapor UVB lights on the internet which would be superior to the fluorescent tube type. Tube type UVB lights have to be REALLY close (like 6-8 inches) to the iguana to properly benefit the animal.
What country are you in? Does your iguana get to be outside in the natural sunlight much?
How is your iguana's diet? Are you able to get recommended greens etc where you live? If you ig has a proper diet, the supplements shouldn't be necessary, but hopefully others that do use them will chime in on the best products.
Re: Products for Iggy
Posted by Billybob on 7/25/2012, 12:03 pm, in reply to "Re: Products for Iggy" 67.191.0.208
IP lookup shows location as Latvia. May be a bit harder to get some things there.
BB
Re: Products for Iggy
Posted by captbob on 7/25/2012, 3:19 pm, in reply to "Re: Products for Iggy" 96.254.111.10
Who the heck would try to raise an iguana in Latvia?
That would be like my trying to house a penguin here in Florida. Maybe I could do it, but the penguin sure ain't gonna like it!
I'm guessing that the collard / turnip green eatin' population in Latvia isn't high enough to field a baseball team with.
Maybe I could get a polar bear...
Re: Products for Iggy
Posted by Lii on 7/26/2012, 12:43 am, in reply to "Re: Products for Iggy" 159.148.76.43
Sure you can tray, but actually there is nothing ridiculous!
I am NOT keeping iguana, because it is exotic for this climate zone, but just because I saw him in small cage in zoo shop, he has a huge scar/injury on his arm, body covered with dark grey mold/fungus, so afraid of people, that it took 1.5 year sitting besides his cage, talking and taming, and only now after 2 years comes the result - he likes being petted and voluntary comes in my arms. Am reading a lot in English, that's not so easy for me, to do all correctly and to raise a healthy Iggy and give him best possible.
Actually I think that's a good thing I am doing - rescuing him from horrible life in pet shop and giving him home, instead of that he could had came in the arms of some person who collects exotic creatures, and wouldn't care of him.
Re: Products for Iggy
Posted by John L on 7/26/2012, 11:24 am, in reply to "Re: Products for Iggy" 71.207.118.135
Since you're on this message board and asking questions, you're doing the right thing. You're trying to help an animal in need and that's what counts. Some of us on the board are wiseasses(translation--we make funny comments), so don't take some of the comments to heart. Just keep doing what you're doing and you'll have a big, healthy iguana. Don't be afraid to ask as many questions as you have.
Re: Products for Iggy
Posted by Lii on 7/27/2012, 5:37 am, in reply to "Re: Products for Iggy" 159.148.76.43
It looks like the temps are in the 60's and 70's right now, and the humidity in the 70% range, so it could be worse.
Re: Products for Iggy
Posted by Lii on 7/26/2012, 1:12 am, in reply to "Re: Products for Iggy" 159.148.76.43
Yes, at summer (june-august) it is +18+27 Celsium, winter (december-february) even drops till -25 Celsium.
But we have a good heating system, so its always +22+27 Celsium at our home. I like heat a lot too.
At iggys 3 floor cage it is always as it has to be. He is also freerooming for approx. 1 hour, but the floors are warm (carpets or floor heating). An an approx. 1 more hour every day he sleeps on my warm stomach while watching TV.
So our Iggy even do not knows what cold or winter is.
Yes, we have Alaska and Canada. My guess is that in 10 years we'll know that half of what we think now isn't right for them. I do wish they could all be where they are native and free.
