Green Iguana questions. HELP!?

Question

I recently was given a green iguana named Morty because a friend of mine wasnt taking care of him. I noticed that his back looks like its sunken in and has a hump at the beginning. I did some research and it sounds like he might have Metabolic Bone Disease. I was wondering if thats what he has and how i care for it.

His back isnt broken he still walks around and climbs. He looks healthy besides the sunken back and hump. And the end of his tail is kinda brown is that a problem?

I'm giving him calcium powder and vitamin suppliments on his food. He seems to like it.

Also how long should i keep his heat lamp on? I have a heat lamp for above the aquarium and he also has a heat rock which he lays on. i also let him bathe in the outdoors for about an hour each day to suck up some sun light. I have an area of the aquarium that is shaded. I just didn't want him to burn up if i had the heat on to long.

Thanks a bunch for all your help <3 I'm sure Morty appreciates it also.

Answer 1

thats the problem ur friend wasnt taking care of him the reason for his back just keep givinghim what ur giving and take very good care of him and u can keep his light on to keep him warm its not gonna hurt but in a few days if ur still worried about him u should call the vets office

Answer 2

Hi - good luck with your new friend.  I had a great time with my iggys til I moved country and had to give them away...

It does sound like it could be MBD, so you would want to get him to a vet that specializes in reptiles.  Ask your friend to help foot the bill if that is a problem since he was quite possibly the one who helped to bring it on.  

If you&#039;re only using a heat lamp, Morty won&#039;t be able to fully utilize the supplements you&#039;re giving him.  He also needs a full spectrum UV light, which you can pick up at any decent pet store.  This bulb will have to be changed every 6 mos or so because they lose their effectiveness over time.  The lights (both of them) should be left on for around 12 hours a day.  I found it easiest to put the lights on a timer, just make sure you don&#039;t leave the heat lamp next to anything that could burn if you take it off of his cage.  I nearly burnt down my dorm in college that way, and it was really hard explaining to the dorm supervisor why I had a heat lamp for my &quot;fish&quot;.  :)

They also like to be misted with water a few times a day - that&#039;ll keep him from drying up.  Remember, they live in tropical climates when they don&#039;t live in cages.  Weather that might seem too hot for you is heaven for them!

Answer 3

UV light and lots of calcium rich foods are the key to getting him healthy

Leave the UV light on 12 - 14 hours a day and feed him Kale,collared greens, and lots of romaine lettuce.

Sprinkle calcium powder all over his food all the time but not too much

Give him a little american cheese also

Sounds like the end of his tail is dead, it may just fall off   Maybe not.

His heat light should be on 12 hours a day also

Good luck with bringing him back to health.

I had two full grown ones at one time

Both were really healthy thank goodness.

Answer 4

You should keep his lamp on for just like 1 hour or 30 minutes a day, if its that bad u should keep it on for just 30 minutes a day.

Answer 5

You seem to be doing everything necessary to cure the MBD but do keep in mind that the lizards bones will be permanently altered.  The fact that it can still walk and climb normally is very fortunate.

In regards to your heat question, during the day your iguana should have a basking spot between 80 and 90 degrees, all day.  It should also have a place here he can get out of the heat if he wishes.

A few things I would advise, one would advise is to lose the heat rock.  They are notorious for malfunctioning and burning iguanas.  Personally I use heating pads built for humans.

You say he lives in an aquarium.  How big is the aquarium?  It is very unlikely that an aquarium will properly house an iguana for very long, as a normal iguana would outgrow a 55 gallon tank in its first year.  It is also very hard to get any temperature variance inside an aquarium.

Good luck!!