Iguana burn?

Recently took in a malnourished, jouvenile, green iguana. Shortly after being moved into his new environment, his head turned a dark gray color. Upon first seeing this I assumed it may be a burn since he liked to bask very close to a 100 watt light. I reduced it to a 50 watt but his head is still a dark color. I read up a little and found it may be a color change due to stress from being moved to a new environment. He doesn't seem to be stressed out. He started eating on a regular basis and is very alert and active. So i'm still a little confused as to what it may be. any idea's? thanks.

Hello,

First off, are you measuring the temps in the tank with a digital probe or a temp gun? They need to be 85-95 for basking & around 78 or so on the cool end.
How large of an enclosure is your iggie in?
What is the humidity? It needs to be around 50-70% or so.
Are you using a UVB bulb & if so, what type & brand is it a flourescent tube or a compact or coil?
What type of basking light are you using?
It is not uncommon for them to go through relocation stress & when they are stressed they become darker in color or have whitish or greyish patches on them.
The basking light should not be any closer than 6 inches to him. I recommend a reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb for your UVB. Keep that at 8 inches away from him, & directly beside that put your basking light to encourage him to bask. That way he will get heat & UVB at the same time.

Tracie

Using a digital probe. Basking spot seems to stay right around 90 degrees F. Cooler end is about 75 - 80.

Currently housed in a 55 gal tank but does not spend all of his time enclosed. We try to let him out as much as possible since the 55 gal is a bit small for him. He seems to like running around the house and looking for food so we have been setting up food dishes in random locations. Always under supervision of course. We have a hammock thing set up as an upper level in the 55 gal. This is where his basking spot is.

Humidity seems to fluctuate quite a bit. We try to spray the habitat as often as possible. At the moment it is at 36%. When we spray it goes up to around 75%.

Have a UVB exo terra flourescent tube. We positioned it in the center of the tank and runs most of the length of the tank. Using a 50watt heat bulb positioned 6 inches above the hammock but he seems to like standing up directly under the bulb.. putting his head about 2 - 3 inches away from it.. i may try moving the bulb up higher. The bulb is outside of the tank so no direct contact is made.

He seems to be adjusting fairly well. He went from eating almost nothing to eating almost 3 times a day. He is sorta friendly too. Doesn't mind eating in front of people but is a little apprehensive when approached and whips his tail sometimes even if approached slowly. I hope to build him a 6 x 4 x 6ft enclosure when the weather gets warmer.. (in iowa) thanks for the input!

Hello Mark,

Which Exo terra Reptiglo are you using, is it an 8 or a 10?
You should try to get the basking up just a few more degrees though. Are you using a bright white light or a colored one? Maybe you could increase the wattage of the basking bulb, & move it up to a 6 inch clearance, at all times perhaps? A 2-3 inch clearance is too close hon, he could get burned even though he can't touch the light.
Can you put a water dish in his tank on the warmer side to help increase that humidity? They really do need higher humidity & I think that he would do much better.
I am happy to hear that he is eating better though. That is great he is friendly & starting to get adjusted to things. That will be a large enclosure for him. Maybe you could extend it a bit more? That is pretty good though. Where are you going to put that?

Tracie