BACKGROUND STORY: PIP AND MOLLY

I haven't had Molly and Pip  very long now just over a year. I purchased them from a pet store in the US and had them shipped to me via Reptile Express. I had to submit import permits to get them. The permits took about a month to get approved then my babies where on their way. I received them April 4th 2013, It was one of the happiest days of my life to unbox them and get them settled it. You can see the unboxing video HERE .
This is a picture them shortly after I got them.

                                                

When I got them Molly was only 69grams and Pip was 59grams. Molly now weighs in at 2025grams and Pip around 850grams. It ended up that Pip had worms when I got him so we got him cleared up and he ended up getting them a second time. So h no longer has them and hasn't in a long time but that's why he's a bit smaller.

It has been amazing watching them grow up from tiny little babies and watching them developed and change.

 

 

The guys still have a lot more growing to do that's for sure but I just love watching them!

 

 

      



 

 

 

Robin

 

BACKGROUND STORY: BILLY

So my boyfriend and I don't know too much about Billy's past, back in early 2012. We went to Brampton to pick him up, only seeing pictures of him and not really knowing what to expect. Just like Sassy he was being housed in a tank as well ( I don't recommend tanks for anything other than a hatchling) he was in a bigger tank that what Sassy came from but it offered me little comfort. These are the photos we seen of him prior to purchasing him, some local people may remember seeing these photos on Kijiji.

The owner had him in a cardboard box and we could hear him scratching around in there trying to get out. After we left there apartment We transferred him over to a crate s he would be more comfortable in the car ride and be able to see out, this is him during the car ride home.


He was a bit thin and if you zoom in on the second picture you can see he had a broken toe that crossed over the next, his nails were never trimmed so with them being so sharp the broke toe had been cutting away at the second toe. So he had a very deep cut there that was infected so that what we worked on first when we got him home and settled it. The following picture is right when we got him home.

 

He was such a good by when we got him home, he was always wanting to be with you and climb all around like a healthy ad happy iguana should want to do. He quickly started to put on some weight as he is a bit mall for his age, in these pictures we were told he was 2.5 when we purchased him.

As he was out so often climbing around and his broken figure actually began to straighten out over time, today the finger looks completely straight just with a small bump on the knuckle. He has grown so much since the day we got him.

This is a little bit later on after he put some good weight on and looks a lot better. Bellow is him growing up about 6-8 months after we got him.

 

 

To the big boy he s now :)

 

 

He still has a lot of growing to do, but he will live out his life here with my boyfriend and I.

My big beautiful boy Billy

 

 

 

Robin.

 

 

 

 

POTTY TRAINING YOUR IGUANA

Potty training your iguana can be one of handiest things your iguana can do. No one likes having to clean up poo every day or multiple times a day, so having your iguana trained to go in a tub of water or even on the toilet can be very rewarding.

I will first state that young iguanas and hatchlings tend to poo more frequently throughout the day than adults. From my experience hatchlings to a year old poo about 2-3 times a day if not more and after that it slows down to one poo a day when they get to about 3-4 years old, again this is from my experience.

First off, add a large water tray into your iguanas enclosure, something they can fit their body in, it doesn't have to be deep. You can provide a second smaller dish for drinking near where you place your iguana's food dish if you are not available to change the water frequently.

Some iguanas take to going in the water right away, as an owner this makes your training a lot easier as it is already completed; get your iguana to go in the water, but you can switch to the tub or toilet if you want.

For iguanas who don't take to the water right away....

Iguanas are creatures of habit, they get into a routine and they like to be fed at the same time and as they get older will most likely go to the bathroom around the same time of day. When you have it figured out what time your iguana normally goes at you can make it easier for you. You want to catch your iguana prior to going to the bathroom in the enclosure and place them in a warm bath in the tub, water should only be a couple of inches (or up to the side of the iguana, doesn't need to be deep) the water will stimulate the iguana to go to the bathroom, if he or she holds it in, put them back and try again later.
This is where the creature of habit comes in, continue to do this routine and try to get your iguana each time it has to go, this will get your iguana use to going in water. So when your iguana is in his or her enclosure and they have to go they will look for water to go in i.e the dish you have provided.

Some iguanas may take longer than others to master this skill but stick with it and they will come around.

If your iguana goes at random times of the day it can be tricky but still achievable. You just may have to put them in a bath more often throughout the day and be more vigilant, pick up on your iguana body signs and movements when it needs to go. Or if they are going in the same spot in the enclosure that's where you need to put the water dish.

When things change for iguana their habit may change also. When Sassy was free roaming in the apartment I used to live in I would put her on the toilet around 1 each day and she would poo there. When I moved to my house and she got her own room I wasn't doing that anymore as she had a very large water tub that she took to using well. However the last month or so she stopped using it (unknown reason) so I have started her training at the beginning again with putting her in the tub, she has been doing well with training so far. So don't be discouraged if things change... it happens just start training again and keep going.

Now some people might like the idea of the iguana going on the toilet, it is really handy but only use this with iguanas who are large enough to span the hole in the seat safety, or make something to cover half the hole if the iguana is smaller.  This can be easily achieved if your iguana is used to going to the bathroom in the tub. Here are the steps....

When a iguana is about to poo they get into a distinct body position and will do funny little movements with their back end... first you need to figure out what those are and identify at what point your iguana is about to go.
Secondly when your iguana gets it that position gently lift them up and set them on the toilet, you can continue to hold them over it to start if they don't want to sit on it right away. You iguana may at that point hold in their poo, if your iguana does that simply place them back in the water and wait for them to get ready to go and try again. When your iguana has to go bad enough he or she will go while sitting on the toilet. When you do this consistently your iguana will then associate the toilet with going to the bathroom and you should be able to skip the tub and set them right up there.

Here is the link back to the YouTube video


I will say this again BE PATIENT!!!! Your iguana my not pick up on it right away but if you keep at it your iguana will get the hang of it.


Robin.

TYPICAL IGUANA POSTURE

I will be posting a few photos of a few commonly seen postures that iguana may do and explain what each means.

Here is the first one

 

These both are or can be resting positions. Iguana may have their dewlap extended or slight handing down while resting or basking depending on their temperature. In a resting and calm position the dewlap should not be sucked forcefully into the neck, you will see this on the nest photo.

 

 

 

In this photo you can see the stuffed iguana toy that I have in the bottom left corner and this is Pip's reaction to that toy. Pip does not like the toy as well as he is afraid of it. The key features in this position are the sucked in dewlap and t shrunken body. You can see the skin fold all along the side of the stomach when comparing it to the resting photos. When this line appears when it normally isn't there (can apparent due to dehydration) the iguana is attempting to make him or herself seem as small and non threatening as possible to what ever is scaring him or her. In this case Pip left his head up since he knew the toy could "see him" and was very close. In some cases you may approach your iguana's enclosure and he or she may shrink down and lay flat against a branch or even try to move around the side of the branch. You will be able to see the same features as this but the iguana will be flat against what ever they are laying on at the time. They do this when they are trying to not be seen or detected. You do not want to see this in your iguana, along with this posture comes stress.

 

SUCKED IN DEWLAP. If you have multiple iguana you may see this posture or just the sucked I dewlap when they are together. This means the one iguana (with the sucked in dewlap) is trying to tell the other iguana that he or she means no trouble and surrenders to the other, however this posture may not stop another iguana from attempting a fight if he or she really doesn't want the ig there.

 

 

Finally for this blog post (I will add different postures later on in a different post) is aggression or a warning posture.

 

 

 



Key features in this are a puffed up body, iguana may stand up tall with base of their tail off the ground, open mouth and the iguana may be hissing along with fast jerky head movements if you move your hand near. What happens a lot with baby iguanas is if they are in this position and you move closer they will whip their tails so this is a warning sing to back off or leave me alone.

 

Scared iguanas may take on this position also as a last resort or if they are cornered. In this case the iguana may tail whip and bit however each iguana is different and some my just put this on as show and if you move closer they may run. You really have to get to know your iguana personally these are just guide lines.

 

 

MY LAST POINT. If you just purchased an iguana and you are seeing the second posture a lot, give the iguana some privacy for about a week and try not to handle them a lot in order for them to settle in before you work with them. If your iguana continues to posture like that find out what it is that is scaring them and work with it or remove it, for example it may be you which just takes time and training or it may be an object in the room or even a pet cat. I have also seen problems with this posture when the iguana could see himself in a mirror that was close to his enclosure so he was constantly scared of that reflecting. So be aware of your surroundings as well as your iguana's to help him be as happy as he can and have very limited stress.

 

I hope this help some new owners with posture and look for another post like this in the future for other postures and how to react to them.

 

 

Robin 









 

THE HOLD I USE ON PHOENIX DURING TRAINING

If you haven't seen my newest training video working with Phoenix click HERE to view it. During this video you will see me hold Phoenix a certain way that helps calm her, keeps my hands safe and doesn't seem like a threatening move to the iguana.

Here's a photo of the hold....

 As you can see in this picture I do not have any part of my hand or arm over her back and pinning her down. Iguanas are a pray species and because of that when they are put into a position that they feel constricted or completely immobilized they may become scared and feel threatened, which is what you want to avoid when training your iguana.

 

This hold allows me to have control over her in a non threatening way. So here is how its done....

 Iguana's chest resting on palm of your hand, your thumb should be behind the arm (in the armpit)

Index finger runs along the throat (no pressure just resting there)

Middle and ring finger (index finger also if the iguana is smaller) are in front of the other leg with the pinky finger in that armpit.

Your arm then runs down the iguanas side and over the top of the back leg (this stops that leg from coming up onto your arm and cutting it)

 

Once in that hold you want to lift the front feet off the ground (some igs may not respond well so you may have to leave them on the ground, each ig is different) the feet should be set down once the ig is calm, if the feet touch the ground and the ig tries to run off simply lift them back up again.

 

Also if the iguana was to squirm you simply place your index and middle finger on the opposite side of the hips (above the leg) that your arm is on and apply slight pressure to keep the iguana in one spot. Once the iguana stops squirming remove those fingers from her one side and return to the hold.

 

The goal of this hold is to be able to let your iguana go and have it remain in that spot not frightened. As your iguana calms down and his/her feet are on the ground you then can start with removing your fingers, not completely but removing them from the side so they are not touching the ig anymore. Eventually the iguana should just be resting on your palm of your hand without you holding on at all.

 

 

 

While in this hold you can pet your iguana as well as talking nice and soft to him/her.

 

I have had great success with this hold and it is a great calming and non threatening way to hold your iguana but still give it the feeling that he/she isn't completely contained.

 

I hope this information and picture helps clear anything up and id love to see photos of you guys using this hold and or stories of it. You can contact me on my FACEBOOK PAGE  or on instagram at @robinsmall or #ontarioiguanas

 

 

 

This is Phoenix after about 10 minutes of me working with her. When I first bring her out I can't even hold on to her as she dives off of my hands, now she was climbing all over me and went into her enclosure after very calmly

 

 

Thanks for reading and I hope this helps some people out!!!

 

 

Robin.

 

 

BACKGROUND STORY: Sassy

This is the first of 4 blog post that I am planning on doing. I will do one for each of my its (one post for both Molly and Pip since I got them at the same time) to let everyone know the history behind each of my iguana, where I got them from and what kind of shape they were in. I will do this in order of what iguanas I purchased first to me newest ones.

I got Sassy for a birthday gift to myself back in October 2010. She came from a home that had many other reptiles such as large snakes, which wasn't the issue, however when I brought her home she was around 4.5 years old (estimated age as I had little info from the owner) she was already 4 feet long and at her size she was being housed in a tank no bigger than 75g.  She was in such a small enclosure and because of how many reptiles he had in a tiny space she didn't get much out time due to not enough room.
I was so excited to get her home, I had a temporary enclosure for her that was about 6 times the size of the one that she was in before but I didn't think it was big enough still. So I built a bigger one for her shortly after getting her. At this time I still didn't have a name for her, however once she got into her new enclosure she became very territorial over it, she was sweet as a puppy when out but very aggressive inside of it, so I quickly decided on Sassy and it stuck perfectly. Her territorial aggression came from being housed in a small enclosure, then when given something hug and comfy she had a very strong urge to protect it as her own as it was most likely the biggest thing she had ever called home. I found that this type of aggression was easy to work with and she turned around very fast when she realized that no one was going to take it from her.

This is when I first brought her home, you can see her temporary enclosure at the bottom left, it was a short but long, not suitable for an ig...the following page is the cage I built for her soon after.




Just like many mew iguana owners I made a lot of mistakes. Which is part of the reason why I have such a strong urge to help out new owners and provide quality information about iguana care so people don't make the mistakes I did and can have a healthy happy iguana for many years to come.
For example I housed her for about 6 months with absolutely no UV light, I simply didn't know along with feeding her regular lettuce instead of healthy greens. These are common mistakes and I learned fast from them and quickly got her the care she needed and started doing all the research I possibly could. Luckily Sassy didn't have any health problems from this temporary lack of proper care on my part.

Sassy is the iguana who started all of this, she led me on to rescue and rehome many more iguanas from terrible situations to new loving homes before starting my own collection.


Sassy has grown a lot since I've gotten her but she has always been my baby and will always hold a special part of my heart. She well remain with me no matter what and just like all my iguanas she will get what ever vet care she needs :D

The following photo is of my and Sassy after ding our shooting for a TV show called Adventure Zoo for Rogers TV



Sassy has been here from the start and is the iguana who started it all and has been growing with Ontario Iguanas from day one. I have unconditional love for her, without her non of this would exist.



Thanks
Robin

SEXING YOUR IGUANA

First thing first, it is very important to know the difference and know what sex you have in order to care for your iguana properly. When it comes to breeding season they both require different care that you need to Br prepared for especially if you have a female.

Here are a few photos on my iguana to help sex a young iguana. Iguanas cannot be sexes when they are hatchlings, they need to be about a year to 18 months to begin being able to tell (unless they are DNA tested)

Look at the following picture first and try to guess what one is male and female before you scroll down. The following pictures shows the difference and what to look for.

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This photo shows Molly on the top and Pip on the bottom.

There are a couple things you can look for, one is the hemipenis bulge at the base of the tail. There will be a bulge on either side.

Secondly you can look for the femoral pores along the underside of the upper leg. Males have larger pores that travel from their vent to the knee while females pores may be large but most of the time they are smaller , there will only be a small number of them in a line close to the vent, about 3-6 pores.

 

The pores are very visible on a male during breeding season as they will get waxy plugs growing out of them, the male will then drag his back end as he walks rubbing some of the waxy substance off on the surface to spread around his territory. These lines are invisible for us to see however other iguanas (males or females) can see this clearly.

 

Due to these invisible lines having two males even in separate enclosures close to each other can stress them out because they will both be leaving markings while out in the same area.

 

 

So what's the big deal if you get a male or female? Or does it really matter?

Well it comes down to dealing with a gravid female and possible dystocia (egg binding), its very common to have happen to female iguana in captivity and unfortunately many igs die from this each year.

 

I have seen so many causes where an iguana has laid eggs and the owners are so shocked because they thought their ig was a male the whole time. Females in that situation often have low calcium levels since they weren't substituted enough extra during that time and this can result in MBD or they many not be strong enough to actually lay they eggs which leads into dystocia and since the owners have no idea she is gravid she gets no help and will pass away.

 

PLEASE SEX YOUR IGUANA AS SOON AS YOU CAN. If you want specifically a male or female please adopt a juvenile iguana that's old enough to be sexes properly so you can be 100% . If you are going to buy an iguana or adopt one always sex it yourself or have someone you know sex it, don't always trust what the ad says, I have seen many that are wrong and mislead new owners.

 

 

I am always available to help sex an iguana if you would like help, you can reach me on my instagram page the fasted or on Ontario Iguanas Facebook page. If you would like help please send me a photo similar to the one I have posted above.

 

 

Robin.



 

 

 

MAKING TIME

Many people who own iguana often own other reptiles, amphibians or arachnids. Its very important to make time for all your pets, give them the attention they need and let them explore and do things they want to do outside their enclosure.

You cannot bond between your ig and you without spending quality time together. My boyfriend and I in total own 5 iguanas, 2 bearded dragons, 1 savannah monitor, 3 cats and 1 dog. I make it my priority to spend time with all my babies (bearded dragons aren't mine so Sebastian gives them most of their attention). With saying that, I don't mean sitting with them for 5 minutes I mean spend some quality time with your iguana, get to know them better, allow them to bond with you and you can then bond with them.

I am at fault some days I get to busy and I just don't have time and that happens, life gets on the way, but I always go back tomorrow and make sure that time is spent with them. With the amount of animals I have some days I spend all my time in the reptile room, that's why I put my craft table in there, so now I can sit and still get work done but be spending time with my iguanas as well and allow them to get out and run free.

I know I'm most of the people who will take the tome to read this already know this info and the people who don't read it are the ones that should.... oh how the world works.

Well that's my mini message for tonight :) hopefully have time tomorrow to work on one of my videos for my YouTube channel.

Have a great night
Robin

THIS WEEKS NUTRITIONAL NEEDS

This post will show the process I go though every week to prepare the salads I need for the week for all 5 of my iguana :)

I purchased 6 bundles of collard greens, 5 bundles of escarole, one large acorn squash and a bag of parsnip.

This is just the collard... what a bunch of greens.

 

 

 

I start by first cutting up al the greens, starting with the collard greens. Now because I have different age gasps with my iguanas I always cut the largest part of the stem out of the leave to avoid having a choking hazard.

 

Then I continue to cut up the escarole greens.

Next I have the scorn squash and parsnip, I forgot to take a picture of it but I first take the squash and remove each end then chop the skin off of it. Then after its peeled I cut away all the big pieces they can eat and leave being the center eggs.



 

Continuing on to the parsnip, I take off the ends and slice it into strips then chop into fine bite size pieces that my smallest if will be able to eat.

 

I finish up by putting the food onto their dishes and dish up the salad they will eat today. Phoenix, Billy and Sassy all have their own dishes for each day, Molly and Pip have giant containers that dish up each morning into their enclosure dishes. As well as it gives me leftover to use for my his when they are extra hungry :)

 

I gave them a treat as well, the salads they had today had raspberries, least to say is they ate them fast!!!

 

 

This is what I get to do once a week :) makes my life so much easier with the prepaid salads :)

 

 

 

ROBIN

TRAINING YOUR IGUANA TO BE A LOVING COMPANION

        

Getting to work with your iguana and watching him or her grow up and mature into an adult is very rewarding and an amazing experience. Just like people and other animals all iguanas are different and have their own personality. Some may respond fast to training and others who may be a rescue may have a longer time to rehabilitate before they become "puppydog tame" as some people put it. Some iguanas may just always be nasty or not like to be handled, that's just who they are.

Take my lovely Phoenix for example, I have had her almost a year now and to this day when I walk by her enclosure she bobs her head at me and may also lunge, once I get her out and start working with her I can get her calm in about 10 minutes vs the 30-45min it took me before. Its all about patience and respect.

When you purchase a baby green iguana you never can tell what its temperament is going to be like as it ages, and it will change many times for many different reasons. You may have a well behaved 3 year old iguana one day and the next she bites you for what you think is "no reason at all". Well there is most likely a reason you just may not recognize because last week you did the same thing and she didn't care but not she doesn't like it. That is exactly the reason why you need to be aware of what your iguana is telling you every time you approach it. Watch how they are sitting, how they move, where their eyes are focused and body (including tail) posture.


Once you pick up on the signals your iguana is giving you and understand what they mean and how to address them individually your training process will be a lot easier for you and a lot less stressful on your iguana.

There are many different holds that I have found to work when dealing with flighty or aggressive iguanas which allow your iguana to still feel safe as well as keeping all of your fingers out of harms way. I will try to get a YouTube video of these holds posted within the week ( please be patient as lately I have been so busy). You can see me using one hold on Phoenix in the picture above but its a poor shot to show my exact hand position.

I will also be working on a video  of how I am currently working with Phoenix, as she wasn't responding to my other method that well (some iguana respond to different types of training, depending on their personality so you may have to work with a couple methods until you find what works). You can see my training video on my YouTube page by clicking here >>> Phoenix's old training method <<<

So look for those videos in the next couple weeks to come out!
If anyone has any questions or concerns you can easily reach me on my Facebook page or on instagram at @robinsmall or #Ontarioiguanas


Thanks
Robin.

MALE AND MALE IGUANA COMBINATION IS NEVER GOOD

 

This is not my iguana, I'm sharing this story on behalf of the owner who recently rescued this guy and is giving him the care he needs. This goes along with my previous post about owning multiple iguana. This male was housed with another male and when the fought the owner at the time wouldn't split it up. You can see the actual jaw marks on this poor boys sides. 

Like I said on my Facebook page these bite marks and gashes could have happened from a female also, iguanas can be extremely aggressive and cause a lot of harm.

So please of you have multiple iguanas as companion pets please house them separately and if they like each other let them roam out of the enclosure together under a watchful eye. Even if the previous owner had of split it up there still would have been sever damage to this guy.

Always watch your iguana(s) body language.

Robin

IMPORTANTCE OF PROPER CLIMBING MATERIALS

Iguanas are built to be in the trees and to be agile and strong. Providing your companion with the good quality climbing is important to their health (which is why tanks are not a good fit for iguanas but I'll get into that another time).

Its nice to have big shelves and flat ramps for your iguana to easily climb up and down on but it doesn't give the iguana the natural exercise they need to keep them as strong and healthy as they could be. Providing your iguana with natural limbs, multiple shelves and different ways to get the same place will allow your ig to climb naturally and keep their legs as well as the rest of their body strong. This is extremely important when it comes to breeding age females. Females who don't have the chance to climb and build strength aren't as strong as those who do. This means when they become gravid they need to be strong enough to last through and actually lay they eggs when the time comes. Dystocia (Egg binding) is a huge reason many females die in captivity each year.


So give your iguana some good climbing materials and if you can't inside the enclosure build something they can explore on when they are out. Its very important that your iguana use the muscles they have for what they were intended for to be healthy and strong.


Robin

OWNING MULTIPLE IGUANAS

When you own more than one iguana it can become an issue or it can go smoothly you never really know until they meet, even then it can change when the seasons do. The most important thing is to never house multiple iguanas together.
When iguanas as hatchlings they naturally like to stick together, this is for their love for each other this is because there is safety in numbers. So people buy two babies and house them together and thing they love each other.
Everything could go fine for a couple months, but as they grow small changes become apparent. One isn't growing as fast, isn't eating as much or isn't betting good basking spots. This is because they start to become more territorial, they want their own space, so the bigger and stronger one takes over the cage and controls the food and basking spots. This causes a lot of stress not only on the smaller one but also on the other one. When iguanas have high stress levels it causes their body to release more adrenaline, this causes the body to slow its growth rate.
Also with babies you could come home to one or both with injuries from a fight breaking out. Its safer and healthier to keep your iguanas in separate enclosures.

Adults can have larger issues and bigger more sever injuries as they are stronger and more powerful. Adults require a lot of space for themselves and some are very strict about maintaining that territory clear. Housing two males together is a complete no no, even if they get a long outside the enclosure (mutual territory) doesn't mean you house them together. Come breeding season you will have very aggressive fights break out and they can be fatal. Two females can be similar but normally not as aggressive. A male and a female is better however when breeding season comes the males will want to constantly breed and the female will tolerate it for a bit but then will fight back and become aggressive which can cause serious injuries.


I get it a lot where people say "they have been together since they were babies and never had a fight"
You may not notice small things that happen or that one isn't getting enough heat or food. Or they could be getting along fine but they change as they age. It only takes one of them to do something the other one doesn't like to start a fight and personally I do not recommend taking that risk as juvenile and adult iguana fights can be very sever or fata. Its not worth risking the life of your iguana, just get a second enclosure and let them roam around together.

For the safety and wellbeing of your iguanas PLEASE HOUSE THEM SEPERATLY they can spend supervised time together outside the enclosure but not in an enclosure. Some pairings may be fine to spend time together like my Molly and Billy. They love being together but I will never leave them unattended for long periods. So allow your iguanas to interact (if they like each other) but give them separate enclosures. Once you become familiar with their unique body language you can read them better and understand their moods and what they are thinking and planning on doing.

Hope this helps clear up some confusion when it comes to owning multiple iguanas.


Robin

this is a photo of Billy and Lola (an iguana I rescued worked with and rehomed back in 2012. They were housed together for the time being and got a long fine but would have small disputes about the favourite spots. I wouldn't have ever housed them together but she was a rescue and I didn't have another enclosure and it was for s short period of time. I had to remove Billy from the enclosure during breeding season as he became to much for her. This is a perfect example for knowing what signs to look for and when its time to remove one.