Meet Spike!

Hello, and welcome to Spike's webpage! Spike is about 7 months old, and is an Iguana iguana, or common green iguana. Untill her typing skills improve, I will be the narrator of her site.

Spike's favorite foods are green beans, peas, dandelion leaves, and for a treat, lettuce. As soon as I can get to a health food store, I plan on trying more exotic foods with her. Her favorite pastime is climbing on the sticks I have in her aquarium. She also enjoys hanging upside down from the lid of her cage, but I don't favor her doing that. We also discovered today that she LOVES to climb the plank my husband made for her and look out the window. We are in the process of "iguana proofing" our room, so when she comes out of her cage, she is limited at what she can do.

Listed below are some basic Iggy tips.

This is a basic idea of what my little lizard looks like. As soon as I deveolp some film, this picture will have to do.

The Basics

Shelter, heating, and lighting.

• Young iguana's under 1 year old should be kept in a 40-60 gallon tank. This allows them room to bask, sleep, climb, etc. Adult iguana's will need a 100 gallon tank or larger, depending on the size of the lizard.
• Iguana's like to be able to hide from time to time. You can fashion a "hide box" for your green friend out of anything from a shoe-box, to a small wooden box. You can also use a hollowed out log, or empty paper towel roll.
• "Sizzle Rocks" are not a good choice for heating. They tend to scorch the animals sitting on them. A better idea is a heating pad under half the tank.
• White lights can stress your iguana. You can find a sun lamp at most quality pet stores. But the best type of light to get on a low budget are flood-lights you can find at a hardware store. They come in different colors and provide needed "radient" heat. Recommended colors are red, blue, and amber.

Cleaning.

• You must clean and disinfect your iguana's cage once a week.
• Use warm soapy water first and wipe or scrup the sides and bottom of the tank, then the outside. Rinse.
• Towel dry the tank, and make a solution of 4 parts water, once part bleach. Using a clean rag, wipe the inside/ouside of the tank after dipping the rag in the bleach water. Let the tank stand for 10 minutes, then rinse and towel dry, the tank is now disinfected.
• Also repeat this process with any sticks, rocks, or other "toys" your iggy may have.
• You must do this with the food and water dish EVERY DAY. Otherwise your iggy may get an infection, and that can get costly to take your friend to the vet.

Feeding.

• Ig's need to be fed once a day, perferably first thing in the morning.
• Their "salad" should consist of one green vegi*, one orange vegi**, a fruit***, some parsley, alfalfa, a bit of parsnip, and a small amount of smashed dog kibble.
• You can also lay out a few leaves of leafy green vegi's**** for your ig to snack on during the day.
• *Green vegi's consist of the following: green beans, snow peas, snap peas.
• **Orange vegi's consist of: kaboutcha, sweet potatos (not yams), carrots.
• ***Fruits consist of: figs, bananas, raspberries, strawberries, papaya, pears, plums, mango, apricots, cantaloupe, dates, grapes, soaked raisins, kiwi.
• ****Leafy greens consist of: collard greens, mustard, dandelion (including the flowers), escarole, watercress. Iceburg, red leaf, and butter leaf lettuce are not recomended because they lack the vitamins your iggy needs.
• Here is a recipie to make a weeks worth of "salad":
  • 1/2 cup green vegi
  • 1/2 cup orange vegi
  • 1/8 cup fruit
  • 1/2 bunch of parsley
  • 1/3 cup ground alfalfa pellets (Sprouts work too)
  • 1/8 cup mashed dog kibble
  • 1 large parsnip
  Using a knife, food processer, or kitchen grater, grate the green vegi, orange vegi, fruit, and parsnip. If needed, mash the dog kibble and alfalfa pellets. Chop the parsley, and mix everything together. If you have a vitamin supplement, sprinkle some of that on top, and mix again. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
• If at all possible, use fresh vegi's. The have the highest vitamin/mineral content. You may not be able to find all these vegi's/fruits at your normal supermarket, so visit your local health food store.