Iguana shedding problems

[DorkyChantelle]

My green iguana (approx. 12-16 months old, not sure) is usually always shedding on some part of his body. He's usually fine with it. Right now he has one spike on his neck that seems to not be shedding properly. It just stays that white color and it's getting a bit hard. It always droops down a bit, whereas his other spikes stand up. I'm thinking that the dead skin is building up and I know it can end up constricting the blood flow so I'd like to fix it asap. I know you can rub mineral oil on it and I'm gonna go out and get some tomorrow but are there any other types of oils that would help (like sunflower oil or something) in the meantime? I also read that soaking it is good but I'm not sure how I can do that since it's right on top of his head (without submerging his head). He's also not quite tame (he will let us pet him but not lift him up off something) so I'm not sure how to go about soaking it. He has a bowl of water in his enclosure at all times but he usually just goes to the bathroom in it and gets out.

Any help would be great!

[Mygala]

Vegetable, canola, olive ...or any of the other cooking oils should be safe.

Fill the bath tub up with lukewarm water, and lay him in it. You want to just get it wet, and keep it wet for awhile, long enough to soften it.

bob

[Ravnos]

With iguanas, you generally will always have to give them regular bathtub soakings, and regular misting to make sure they stay hydrated. They are usually from humid climates in the wild, and that can be hard to replicate in captivity unless you have an impressive cage setup or you happen to live in Florida.

[DorkyChantelle]

He does get misted on a regular basis and we monitor the humidity in his enclosure (which really is quite impressive but I know baths are necessary too). We're in the middle of taming him right now and he just goes nuts when we try to take him out of the cage (we have to wear thick gloves to handle him). We're trying to get him to lay on our arm so he feels like something's under him (I think that's why he gets scared) and then we can take him upstairs to the bathtub (in the meantime, he's got a huge bowl in his cage that gets filled a few times a day).

[ArcadiaReptiles]

Good luck , what methods are you using for acclimation? i find the methods in http://www.greenigsociety.org are very good. It takes a long time but youll have a more well mannered Iggy in the long run

[DorkyChantelle]

I more or less used the methods from that website. Right now we're sort of on the "Take Your Iguana Out and Hold It Outside the Habitat" step. In a way, he's sort of taming himself. He was always quite cranky. He would tolerate a hand in his enclosure but not if it got too close. One day when my hand got close, he arched his back closer to my hand and closed his eyes. I gently started petting him and he loved it! I don't know what happened but all of a sudden he just decided that he would let me touch him. Since then, he loooves being petted. Especially when he's shedding He's fine being held inside the enclosure (as long as there is something under all of his limbs). Lately we've been trying to get him used to being outside of the enclosure. He mostly just closes his eyes and sits still but sometimes he'll open his eyes and get freaked out because he's in a different room than before. So we're just sort of taking this step slowly. But so far I'm really pleased with his progression from really crabby to a big suck up, lol. (I call him a he but we're really not sure yet...I'm actually leaning more towards female at this point).

Also, since this post there have been no more shedding problems I guess that one spike was just having some trouble shedding. He's growing really quickly now!

[ArcadiaReptiles]

Thats great got any pics? Iggys are my first true love. I hope to oe day have one again.

You gonna let him free roam once hes completely tamed down?

[ArcadiaReptiles]

oh by the way, i see your in New Brunswick, where did you get your ig?

[DorkyChantelle]

I don't have many pics on this computer but here's one of my ig's first trip out of the enclosure. That's my mom holding him (wearing a thick sweater because iggy claws don't feel so nice on bare skin, lol).

Iggy

And we actually got him from a pet store (Pets Unlimited). I was out of town looking at universities and when I came back, my parents had gotten my little brother an iguana from the pet store. Thankfully they researched the care and bought a proper enclosure and lights and things. Unfortunately, that iguana came to us in the final stages of kidney failure (obviously he was receiving poor care at the pet store). We tried to save him but he didn't make it We only had him for a couple days. It broke my little brother's heart and the pet store gave us another iguana (a little teeny hatchling). I was scared for this one but since he was so young, he hadn't had time to be mistreated as badly as the last iguana. That's the ig we have now Over a year now and he's growing big and healthy. My dad built him an amazing set up (it's huuuuge) and he's really thriving. I'm sad that my parents went such a bad pet store and gave them business but it's worked out in the end (they've since downsized greatly and no longer sell reptiles). In typical little boy fashion, my brother has basically lost interest in the iguana but he wasn't really involved in the care in the first place. We love him so much now and he's a part of the family It's been a rewarding experience getting him to trust us more and I'm excited to see him progress more. I'm kinda hoping he turns out to be a 'he' because I don't know if I can get out of the habit of calling him that, lol.

[ArcadiaReptiles]

lol Id much prefer a female. wouldnt have to worry AS MUCH about seasonal agression :s

[DorkyChantelle]

Quote: Originally Posted by ArcadiaReptiles lol Id much prefer a female. wouldnt have to worry AS MUCH about seasonal agression :s

Haha, true. But then you gotta worry about egg binding and all that fun stuff. I guess each sex comes with its own breeding season issues. I'll love him/her no matter what he turns out to be I think iguanas generally look the same at this stage but he's starting to seem more female for some reason, haha.

Edit: Oh yeah, I missed your question about free roaming. I'm not totally sure if he's going to be free roaming since we have the cats and a dog. Once he's doing really well with taming, we'll probably figure out a way to get him acclimated to the other pets and see how it goes. I think the cats will leave him alone after they get a smack from his tail, lol. He'll probably be able to be out when he's supervised but he'll go back into his enclosure at night or when we aren't around.

[ArcadiaReptiles]

lol Id much prefer a female. wouldnt have to worry AS MUCH about seasonal agression :s

[Ravnos]

Then you trade seasonal aggression for possible egg binding and potential calcium depletion issues. It's kind of a toss up. I received a rescue ig a while back. I was expecting the usual psycho iguana, but he's actually quite placid. I set up a basking area for him in one end of a room, and he spends most of his time there and wanders whenever he gets bored. At night when I turn the lights off, he goes and hides in a corner under one of my snake cages with his head sticking through a small divide in the stair banister so he can look down any time someone goes down the stairs. He started off paper trained, but he started going all the way downstairs and pooping on the linoleum at the entry way of my house. It makes for very easy clean up.

I am actually originally from NB as well. Been a while since I've been back there though.

[ArcadiaReptiles]

lol I know its not always the case and some are less bad than others. Were planning on getting an Ig when we get a bigger appartment. I miss iguannas. I just asked that because i had adopted out an iguanna to someone i know(My first rescue) and learned that when they got the baby they found someone to take him and i never found out who it was. I miss him terribly.

[ArcadiaReptiles]

darn it. i just notice i have a double post!! i didnt mean to do that lol