Feeding Iguana

If you are considering having an iguana pet, you need to check out some tips about iguana food.

The first thing you should know is that iguanas are vegetarians and they feed on vegetable protein. The vegetables with the best nutritional value for iguanas are those that are high in calcium, contain Vitamin D3 and are low in phosphates. Vegetables known as greens are the best ones for their stable diet. Some examples of possible green food are collard greens, mustard greens, alfalfa, dandelion greens, watercress. These include -yucca root, snap peas, parsnip, papayas, okra, mango, kabocha squash, green beans, butternut squash and acorn squash. You need to be very careful when feeding your iguana pet because an improper food can eventually lead to kidney failure.

On the other hand, not all vegetables are good for an iguanas menu. For example, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage related vegetables can cause thyroid problems, so it would be best to avoid them.

“Commercial iguana food” can be also used without fear. It provides the nutrients a green iguana needs in order to be strong and healthy. A mixture of fruit, vegetables (mainly greens) and commercial lizard food is the ideal combination. Other things to use are squash, yams and particularly raspberries and blackberries as they are high in calcium.

Besides iguana food, you pet also need a constant supply of fresh, clean water to drink from! You will daily need to change the water in your iguana cage. This kind of reptiles normally drink very little but do like to soak, unfortunately they do often use the bowl afterwards as a toilet.

Be sure that the humidity is not low. You can check this aspect by watching the quantity of water your green iguana drinks. The easiest way is to use an adjustable humidifier which will solve any problems you have.

Many people believe that iguana food can include almost everything, but this is a myth. iguana food has to be correct in order to keep your pet in a proper condition.

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Iguana's home - Humidity and Flooring Cover

Humidity

Now that you have your habitat built and set up with the right amounts of heat and light, the next part of the three part equation for your iguana is that of humidity.

Humidity is the amount of moisture that is in the air. Since iguanas come from areas that are generally very high in humidity all the time, you'll need to mimic that here in your habitat. But, how in the world do you create the right amount of humidity? The right level of humidity for your iguana will be between 65 percent and 75 percent, which are fairly humid conditions. There are several ways for you to get this high of a humidity level within your habitat.

First, there are the simple methods to doing this. You can just spray the habitat down with water throughout the day. Don't spray less than an hour before the lights go out for the night though. You can also place large containers of water in the habitat, which will help to make for the right amount of humidity within the habitat, too. In the later chapters, you'll learn about how you need to bath and mist your iguana, but for now, realize that is a good way to gain the benefits of added moisture, too. If you built your iguana's habitat correctly, the heat and humidity levels will remain high enough with these methods as you'll have a pretty decent way of keeping it in (Plexiglas is a great option for this.) But, it may not be enough, there is still a few things youíll need to take into consideration beyond just the construction and the environmental issues.

What will you put into your habitat? You should pay some attention to the details of this area of your habitat. We well provided for iguana that has all he needs in a clean and organized habitat is a long living, healthy and happy pet. Now, here are several things that youíll build or add to your habitat.

Flooring Covering

Now, when it comes to your habitat's flooring, take this consideration closely. You want to have something that is easy to replace or at least to clean. But, you don't want to have anything that your iguana can pick up with his tongue or even worse get wrapped around his toes.

You'll find many materials available in the pet stores but donít waste your time on them. Instead consider other easier to afford materials. Here are some options you have.

Floors of:

• Newspaper, ensure that it does not have any type of toxic ink on it.

• Paper towels work just fine, too. 
• Plain papers without any type of toxins in them. 
• Indoor/outdoor carpeting.

The carpeting is a great choice but if you purchase it, make sure it has nothing that can get caught on your iguanaís toes. Youíll want to wrap it around the edges and tape them underneath to keep them from being torn up or getting caught on his tongue.

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Iguana's home - Heating

Now, its time to think about the heating within your iguana's habitat. Even if you purchase a pre made habitat, youíll still need to find ways to keep him warm enough and to keep him getting the necessary light he needs.

Heating

The heating in your iguana's habitat is quite important to the well being of your iguana. There are many considerations to think about here, though. The good news is that this chapter will tell you all you need to know about the heat sources and needs of your iguana.

Why They Need Heat

The first consideration that you have is just why the iguana needs heat and what that level is. We've already mentioned that providing heat to your iguana is required to maintain its health.

Within your habitat, youíll need to provide a location that can provide basking heat to your iguana. Generally, this area should be able to get to the middle 90's in temperature. (All temperatures are listed in Fahrenheit.) The rest of the air within the habitat should be maintained no less than 75 degrees, but better if it is closer to 80. The final need is to offer a range of temperatures within the habitat to allow him to move around as he feels comfortable.

Now, to accomplish this, there are several things you should and shouldnít do. First, purchase several attachment thermometers. Place these in various area of the habitat so that they can be easily read by you from outside the enclosure.

Temperature

Another very important element to your iguana care is his temperature. Actual, the habitat’s temperature is important to monitor. Again, in later chapters we’ll provide you with some additional resources to help you to get the temperature right, but there are some things that must be mentioned early on.

First off, realize just what your iguana is. He is cold blooded. That means

that his body does not produce heat like yours does and that means you

have to provide it for him through his enclosure. One spot within your iguana’s habitat should be maintained at 90 degrees or higher F. This will be called his basking spot, where he can go to really soak up the heat. The surrounding air within the habitat can not drop below 80 degrees F.

Why does the temperature of the habitat matter so much? What if it falls off by a few degrees? So what? The problem with this is that the iguana depends on the right temperature to do much of its life functions. For example, without the right level of heat, the iguana can’t digest his food the right way and absorb the nutrients from it. Without the right light, your pet will not be able to grow correctly. He or she will likely be suffering from malnutrition. He is likely not to move around much and will remain inactive. That’s because he is uncomfortable and unhappy. He’s suffering.

But, you don’t want the habitat to maintain the same amount of heat all of the time. Providing areas that fluctuate to some level within the habitat is necessary as it will allow him to decide how to regulate his temperature. Finally, before we move on, you also should realize that the heat that you give your iguana must not be attached to the light source. Just like you need a day and night; so does he. Heat and light are two different things that your iguana must have.

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Iguana's home - Lighting

The Lighting

Another important area of the care of your iguana is that of the lighting. The lighting plays an important role in the care of your pet. You’ll need to carefully monitor the amount of light he gets. But, let’s spell out just what is needed here.

UVA and UVB:

These are the two most important considerations for the lighting of your iguana. He needs both of them.

UVA: This light will be responsible for stimulating the natural behaviors of the pet. This happens because it is a natural part of what makes up natural sunlight.

UVB: This type of lighting is also important. Without UVB, your pet will not be able to make vitamin D3. He also won’t be able to metabolize calcium. This will leave him weak and prone to injury.

Lighting is important for a number of reasons, but first of all because of their health. Without the right type of UV lighting, your iguana is likely to suffer from a condition called Metabolic Bone Disease or MBD. During this condition, your iguana will suffer in a number of ways such as with jaw and bone deformities, weakened bones as well as an early death. Unfortunately, it is common among iguanas that are kept in captivity.

So, how do you get this?

Of course, the best choice would be to be in the right climate and allow the sun to provide it. But, that’s not always possible. But, just because you can’t get the temperature right, it is still excellent to allow your iguana to get in the natural beams of sunlight anyway. So, the best thing for you to do is to provide your iguana with as much natural sunlight as possible.

Yet, this isn’t that easy. You see, window panes and even plastic will filter out the UV light that is coming in from the sun. Therefore, although you are allowing him to bask in the sun, he’s not getting the UV light he needs in this manner.

Here’s the plan, then:

Give your iguana as much natural sunlight as possible, without any type of filter between him and the sun. This should be a daily event for him. Then, give him additional, artificial light in addition to the natural light. One without the other isn’t nearly as good for your pet unless he gets a lot of sunlight without filters.

You will find UV light bulbs available to you at most pet stores, especially those that sell reptile products. In the next chapters, we’ll talk more about the lighting options that you have and how to carefully set up your habitat with it.

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Iguana's home - Size

Even before you consider purchasing an iguana, you must consider its needs for a proper home. Since the iguana's health is dependant on the actual environment that he lives in, it is essential that this part of the process happen first, before anything else.

Iguanas use their homes for more than just shelter. It is imperative that his home provides the necessary protection but also the right heat for his well being. Unlike the dog or other mammals, iguanas must have a well maintained climate in order to stay healthy.

This is due to the iguanas need for the wavelengths of the light within its home. They will use these wavelengths to aid in their metabolism as well as in their body chemistry.

What Was Home Like?

If you consider where the iguana is from, you can see what his needs will be in the climate that you create for him. The extreme temperatures of that environment were also fairly humid. This combination is what his body is conditioned for and therefore must be replaced in the shelter youíll provide for him if he is to survive and be as healthy as he can be.

Without an environment that is conditioned for the right temperature and humidity, your iguana will become ill, it will suffer and it may even die because of this one simple factor.

What does he need, then? There are several key pieces of information to consider.

Size

Do you need lots of room? The iguana is so small, how can they even imagine needing so much room? No matter what you thought about his size or the room he needed, this is an important consideration.

First, they aren't small. In many cases, an iguana will grow up to six feet in length. That's a lot of iguana for you to provide shelter for. There is one misconception out there about this, though. Many think that if they limit the room that they provide to their iguana that they will be safely protecting it from getting extremely large. This is not true. He will continue to grow.

Iguanas start growing at a faster rate then they will down the road. But, he will grow his entire life.Within your first year of owning him, your iguana will likely grow out of the 55 gallon aquarium that you bought it. For this consideration alone you should carefully decide on whether this is the right pet for you. Space is necessary for the animal.

The animal will need enough room to roam, not to just sit still. While they grow you can expand their habitat to make it larger to fit the iguana but you must take into consideration this often, as they will continue to grow throughout their lifetime, even as they are older.

The rule of thumb is that your iguana’s habitat should be at least twice the length of the animal and it should be taller. The taller it is the better. The minimum size for a habitat is that of six feet. It is minimum because this animal is likely to continue to grow. Without enough room, he will suffer needlessly.

Without the right size cage, your pet will suffer. He may injury himself just moving around. He will be stressed, which can cause him to be less friendly to you. Those that limit the iguana’s ability to move will cause his muscles to become weakened. If you don’t have this type of room to provide to your pet, don’t make his suffer at your expense. You should consider a pet that is smaller.

One way to know what the proper size of the habitat for your pet should be is to notice any injuries that he may have. Those that have been rubbing their noses on the glass or the doors will have burn marks or injuries there. You may see broken claws too which means he was likely scratching and looking for a way out.

In addition, these wounds are an indication that he or she is not getting enough exercise in climbing. This is especially true of an animal that has weakened muscles. Monitor the size of your iguana to the size of his cage. Monitor the growth of your baby iguana. When you start to notice the he is about 1/3 of the length of his habitat, you’ll want to consider replacing it with  something larger. But, it may be more cost effective if you instead provide a large enough habitat for your iguana from the beginning.

Nevertheless, during the first months of his life, a large sized aquarium is big enough for his needs. But, he will outgrow this within that first year. In addition, realize that your iguana will be fully grown within two and a half to three years time! Make sure you are planning ahead for when that next need arises.

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Taming Wild-Caught "Non-Venomous" Snake

Wild-caught snake usually tend to be more defensive because it is naturally and instinctively they will defend themselves from predators or other creatures that are considered a threat to them, including us, humans. But it is not impossible that we can tame a wild-caught snakes that if we want to maintain it. If we want to be a docile snake, snakes should be maintained is not the adult snake. Adult snake will be very difficult to tame because it has a very strong defensive instincts ingrained in his mind. It would be easier to tame the younger snake, because they will learn that we as his master will not hurt them, but actually treating them with great affection. 

Snake that had just caught from the wild is usually stressful and takes a while to adapt to the cage or the new environment. Periods of stress are usually marked by a snake would not eat. We recommend that the newly captured snakes do not immediately defused. Give them time to adapt to the cage / her new environment. Provide a comfortable cage, and enough water for drinking or bathing place, also provide hidding place if necessary. As much as possible not to hold the first-held unless necessary (for example, cage cleaning and drying). And try to give them food regularly (examples: 5-7 days once).

If the snake had to adapt to the cage and do not stress anymore (marked with a snake has been eating regularly), then we can begin the process of taming. No need to rush the process of domestication because the snake instead it can be stressful again. Do it gradually and regularly periodically, snake also will learn little by little that we are not going to hurt him, and eventually can become quiet and docile by itself gradually.

The following are some tips that can be tried in taming stage : 

1. At this first stage, do not be too long and often to handle your snake, because thats will be make your snake stress again. Handle only when cleaning cages. Soak your snake in a special place to soak with a filled water that is not too high / deep to remove dirt stuck to the skin. In the meantime you can clean the cage and replace it with a new base.

2. After a clean cage, try to handle your snake using a hook tool or it could be with gloves / mittens. Choose gloves that are not made of fabric / yarn wool because it can lead to tooth snake caught in fabric or knitted wool yarn such as wild-caught snakes bite you. Leather gloves or a tarp would be better to use.

3. Handle your snake with a steady and carefully. Snakes are still very defensive will not do anything and just wrapped around your hand firmly. Try to make your snake to move / walk from one of your hand to the others. In this stage try not to touch the head and neck of the snake because it can make them feel threatened, and then trigger a defensive nature. As much as possible avoid / minimize head of the snake from your face. Make a small moment, approximately 10-20min, and then enter back into his cage, and a few days then give the food to your snake as usual.

Repeat steps 1 through 3 for several times. If you still want to eat snake routine, continue to the next stage.

4. Add frequency handle your snake into 2 times a week. You can either handle it 4 days after the snake to eat and when cleaning the cage. Add also the time to be 20-30min. At this time you can try to touch the neck and swab the head. Do it slowly so the snake is startled and bit by bit they will learn that you will not be hurt. Repeat this step for several times.

5. If the snake has been seen more calm (usually marked with are rarely / never tried to bite again and snake movements, flexible and not stiff when walking on your hands), please try to handle your snake without using the tool again. Handle with extra caution, try not to make sudden movements which can make your snake surprised. Repeat this step for several times.

6. If after without using any tools, your snake is rarely / no longer try to attack, but usually will be seen is still jumpy when there is movement from its surroundings, you just need to add the frequency of handling to be 3-4 times a week. Do it all with patience and diligence stage, hopefully you snake will soon become a best friend who is very pleasant for you.

FYI: Each snake has a different character, although for the same type. This will affect how quickly taming process, depending on how the character of the snake.

Are you ready to be his friend???

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