Care for a rhino iguana?

Question

Well my brother has asked me to take care of his RI and I would like to know how would i clean him/bath him if it bites. what can i feed him cabbage? lettuce? tomatoes? crickets once a week and how many?things to watch out for? things i should/shouldnt do? get him familiar with me to get use to. please answer asap thanks!

Answer 1

Rhino iguanas are very similar to green iguanas in some ways. They do need higher temps, and wider living spaces.

Temps need to range from 100-120 degrees. They are herbivorous, which means they eat plant matter, no bugs (no crickets, no worms). Not sure on the age of the rhino that you have, but a young one can live in a 20 gallon for 6 months, I personally would go w/ a 50 or larger tho, when older they need wider then higher enclosure, so I would build an enclosure that is tall enough for you to enter and exit. Green iguanas need an enclosure at least 6-7ft tall x 8-10ft long x 4ft, so I would go again your hight so if you're 6ft I'd go w/ 6ft and for long and wide I'd go at least 8ft for both. They can get 4.5ft in total body length.

They do need good UVB, there are many so called UVB on the market today that can cause eye damage and produce no where near the UVB that they should have. I would personally recommend a MegaRay for the UVB (have a UV reader is recommended, MegaRay's usually last up to a year or more, where UV readers are recommended to know when to change).

For food, collard, mustard, turnip, endive, watercress, squashes ... I'm not 100% sure if some foods can have the same affect on the Rhino's as they can on Green Iguanas. Green iguanas: spinach has oxalate acids bind to the calcium, so even though spinach is high in calcium, almost none is actually available for the iguana to use, also the oxalate acids can form oxalate crystals which can and do build up in the kidneys causing kidney damage/failure ... rhubarb is poisonous ... tomatoes for green iguanas can be acidie tasting, so it may be one of those things that you want to stay away from, try a little bit and see, I would stay away from the seeds of the tomato ... But there diet does seem very similar, so there is a chance that the same bad to some degree greens may be bad for the rhino's (again not 100% sure).

They should have calcium supplement added to there greens. Calcium supplement is not recommended for green iguanas daily, so please keep that in mind. REP-CAL Calcium No Vitamin D3 I would recommend. If the Rhinos are like Green iguanas they can't absorb threw digesting the D3, it is threw the UV ray. On the centralpets they recommend giving the Rhino monkey biscuits, personally I wouldn't give or buy, due to the possible kidney problems w/ giving.

Rhinos do need some humidity, not as much as Green iguanas, but you can give your Rhino a bath (search webshots there is photos of a rescue Rhino in a bath tub). You should provide a large enough swimming/pooing area that you can for them, along w/ a drinking dish.

To get familiar w/ you, I would say do what I tell ppl w/ green iguanas, just sit next to them talk about the weather, read a book, anything like that for them to get familiar w/ your voice. Give head rubs, neck rubs, chin rubs. Take things slowly. Again since I don't know how old the one you have is, I'm not sure what stage he/she may be in.

I would advise you to stay away from heat rocks, they can cause serious burns to green iguanas, and from webshots it looks like it can cause burns also.

I would read, read and read some more, may want to check out some book stores also may have some good book information. Some sites/books may contradict each other, so please be aware of that.

Good luck!

http://www.repticzone.com/caresheets/541...

http://www.centralpets.com/animals/repti...

http://www.iucn-isg.org/actionplan/ch2/r...

http://www.reptileuv.com/

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/index.htm

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/fluorescenttube...

http://www.greenigsociety.org/

http://www.iguanaden.org/

http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/index.html

http://pets.webshots.com/album/90224583x...

Answer 2

google "how to take care of a rhino iguana"

you should probably ask your bro next time though,it's not just a pet,it's a life

Answer 3

Check out this link..

http://www.baskingspot.com/iguanas/iguan...

The author (Mr. Blair) of this article is a well-known Rhino iguana breeder. Mr. Blair has an extensive list of foods to feed.

Do NOT feed the Rhino animal protein! 80% of the diet should be green leafy veggies (Romaine lettuce (tad bit), collard greens, mustard greens, grated zucchini, tad bit of grated cucumber, grated yellow squash, tad bit of kale, etc. As for fruit it should only be 20% of the diet... grapes, cantaloupe, watermelon, tad bit of apple, peaches, nectarines, etc. Be sure you do NOT allow the iguana to have any seeds from the fruit.

Also check out this link... it is for green iguanas but the feeding is basically the same.

http://everything2.com/e2node/Green%2520...

Rhinos do bite, but perhaps your brother's is already tame.

Don't worry about bathing the iguana. Just provide a large tupperware container filled with water for drinking, bathing and humidity.

Hope this helps get you started!