HELP with juvenile iguana

I really don't know where to start with this.... First of all I know nothing about iguanas, I have never owned anything that was any different from the typical dog, cat or fish. At the beginning of June this year my boyfriend told me that he was interested in getting a reptile of some kind. He ended up deciding on an iguana (since he had one when he was younger and knows how to take care of it). I did some research about them just to know what was going to be coming into my home. To make a long story short, a week and a half ago it started acting really lethargic. It is at the point now where it won't climb the branch we have in its habitat, it still eats but not very much, and it stays in the same spot all day and does not move. As I said I know very little about this animal but the severity of the lethargy seems really bad... We just don't know what to do. We have it in a 20 gallon glass tank with a fluorescent bulb, a basking light with UV, a basking spot
(kept at 90 to 95 degrees, the other side of the tank is kept at 78), a hide, a branch to climb, a big water bowl, he gets a salad everyday (mustard greens/collard greens, squash, zucchini, etc.) Everything that my boyfriend knows to do and that I've read is being done and he is still sick. I guess what I'm asking is does anyone know how to fix this? I feel horrible because I don't know what is going on and obviously something needs to be changed about what we are doing. Any help is appreciated... thanks in advance.

We just force fed him to see if that did anything and noticed that he can't eat by himself very well. I guess the best way to describe it is that his bottom jaw curves up... I don't know what that means but he is at least holding his head up now.

Do you use any vitamin or calcium supplements for the iguana? Lethargy and not wanting to climb sound suspicious of MBD to me... You should have it ruled out with a set of xrays. How old is he?

Glass tanks are terrible to keep iguanas in. I'm not sure where your boyfriend read that they're okay for them. It's possible the iguana is just stressed from being kept in a tank. Iguanas can grow to be about 3 or 4 feet long, especially the males they get pretty big. He really needs something larger that allows him to move around more freely. I've seen a lot of people use screened in enclosures with theirs. If you give him a bigger habitat, hopefully he'll perk up for you, but at the same time you adjust his habitat, you should rule out any medical condition that might be causing it as well.

And maybe this could help too, you might want to show this to your boyfriend: This link has a lot of great examples of iguana enclosures. You will notice that most of them are multi-leveled and have a good amount of height to allow room to climb. http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/H.../Enclosed.html

Originally Posted by dynorb189

We just force fed him to see if that did anything and noticed that he can't eat by himself very well. I guess the best way to describe it is that his bottom jaw curves up... I don't know what that means but he is at least holding his head up now.

It means that he most likely has MBD...a flimsy, misshapen jaw is also one of the big symptoms. You should have a set of xrays taken, and the vet can give you some treatment options.

You should DEFINATELY get him a larger enclosure after he is treated if that is the case.

yes we have vitamin and calcium supplements for him and my boyfriend is currently working on a 6' tall 3' wide 3' deep cage for him now. It is going to be a screened enclosure but I didn't know about the glass tank being bad. So we'll make plans tomorrow for a vet visit. But he is only a couple of months old, will the cage be too big in comparison to him once it is completed?

6' is pretty big, but I don't think you can go too big as long as you have enough branches and hides, and as long as you make them low enough for him to be able to climb on while he's still on the smaller side...he will grow quickly, so I think the cage should be just fine for him to be able to grow into. Yeah, tanks aren't great for these guys, they simply just do not provide enough room at all. Glad you're able to make a vet appointment. Let me know what they say and how the xrays turn out if the vet decids they're needed. Good luck, and be patient. MBD can take a while to treat, but it is treatable. He might be a little deformed permanently but it shouldn't affect his lifestyle once he's all better. That is, if that's what is going on. But, it sounds a lot like it from what you're describing. Again, good luck & keep us posted!

Also, the fact that he is still a juvenile makes his chances for recovery much better than that of an adults.

Thats so great to know Thank you so much for your help... I'll be sure to update when I find anything out.

The deformed jaw and lethargy are definitely mbd..probably started long before you got it...CAREFUL not to force his jaws...this is when bones break easily.Needs a reptile vet.He will not utilize a larger cage right now,doesn't have strength to climb..get him out in sun for half hour at a time,supervised..works very well on reversing beginnings of mbd in beardies.If you can find some calglucon in a drug store give it some if you can.Hope he recovers!!

thanks for the advice. I'll look for some of that calglucon tomorrow when we go to the vet