Hello. I recently got a baby green iguana. Its about a month old according to the gentleman at "Snakes" and it seems he's having quite some trouble adjusting. He seems okay when I'm in and about its cage but the minute I try to go for it, He starts hopping all over the place! Once he's in my hand he relaxes but I hate having to go through the whole fight to get him out.

I got it about 4 days ago
I bought a screen cage I don't know exactly how big but spacious.There are plenty of branches and leaves to hide in and stuff and a humidity dropper.
As for food I feed him tiny pieces of
carrots
lettuce
zucchini/squash
As far as water, I placed the humidity dropper to drip water constantly on the food so that it forms like a little puddle on the bowl.
He has UV and heat lamps. The set up is perfect but I hate the crazy chases.
I'm trying to leave him alone for a few days and let him adjust.
I've been about its cage today replacing food and wetting the cage, but I don't know what to do about his frisky little attitude!

I forgot to mention its also been eating quite a lot and finds shelter behind the leaves. It also chills under the UV on branches
but it's terror of me worries me.

Congratulations on your new little guy! Baby iguanas are a creature all unto themselves!

First, his reaction is normal. Iguanas take a long time to adjust to changes. They hate change! Aside from giving him food and water and cleaning the cage, leave him alone for at least a week. When you do give him food or clean the cage, be calm, slow and quiet, and leave him alone again as soon as possible. After a week or two, slowly try holding him for short periods of quiet time. This will help him to get used to you and be less scared of you.

Second, please read our caresheet on iguanas. You need to majorly adjust his diet. Carrots and lettuce are not good to feed on a regular diet! You want to feed him dark leafy greens like collard greens or mustard greens, and supplement it with veggies like squash and green beans.

Make sure to read the caresheet carefully for habitat as well. These little guys take a lot of work! But they are worth it.

Here's the link: Green Iguana Care Guide (Iguana iguana) - Reptile Information - Caresheets Database

Sorry about that. My internet connection is running terribly slow tonight.

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"Let's eat, Grandpa!"
"Let's eat Grandpa!"

Punctuation. It saves lives.

Congrats on your new little guy.... What are you using for uv? A lot of people get mixed up about what kind of uv you need (UVB) and what bulbs actually produce it.

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"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~ Immanual Kant

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." ~ Anatole France

I meant UVB and I'm sure of it.
The thing about the diet is that I hear different things. The "snakes" owner feed their igs what I listed above and they seem just fine. They also recommended a calcium powder I believe it is that you sprinkle it twice a week on the food.

So basically I should leave him alone for a week or so? The guy told me to let him a adjust for a couple of days as well.

I also would like to know, this guy is a little small. I am terrified of hurting it, therefor I wish it was a little bigger, that way its easier for me to handle. Approximately how big will they get in about a few months generally?

Welcome to the neighborhood! Sounds like you have gotten some good advice so far, but also wanted to add that if your tank is all screened in, it might be difficult to keep humidity up.

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What kind of UVB bulb do you have? They are not all equal.

In reference to the diet, I would go with what's listed in the care sheet. It has been proven that lettuce has NO nutritional value for the animals.

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this is the enclosure
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...Picture187.jpg


meet baby dominator!
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...andy/dpmin.jpg

Welcome to the world of iguana servitude! You have taken on a very complicated animal.
Ok but what brand and what form. Is it a flourescent tube, an incandescent, a coil?Theres a reason that we ask the questions that we do. Not all bulbs will do the job!
What are your temperatures? Controlling heat and humidity in those screen cages is very difficult. Another thing is the substrate. That needs to go. Iguanas taste everything and anythig that they can get in their mouths is trouble!

Indeed, and what you are hearing here is that your diet needs an overhaul. What you are feeding is not sufficient. Look into our caresheet that was linked above. The diet should be 75-85% dark leafy greens. Mustard Collard and Turnip are your staples
The store owner is not keeping them for the rest of their lives. Petstores frequently feed just as little as they can get by with. Keeps their profits higher
Yes pure calcium without phosphorous or Vit D
Take your time and be patient. It can take up to a year to really get it comfortable with you. Start by trying to coax it to eat out of your hand
The rate of growth will depend on living conditions food etc. A healthy, well kept iguana will literally explode in growth. In a few moths that little green lizard can be 3ft or longer.
You also need to start planning for other housing now. That enclosure will only last him a couple of months.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Merlin said it, but I just want to re-emphasize this, because this is vital. The iguana's diet is the single most important thing to get right straight off the bat - and it's so easy! Instead of buying lettuce, buy collard greens, mustard greens, or escarole. In most cases, especially for the amount he needs right now, it's actually cheaper to buy him the good greens than lettuce.

No lettuce contains the nutrients that an iguana needs to stay healthy, even dark lettuces such as Romaine. While it's not harmful to feed him lettuce (except that he might gain a taste for it, and stubbornly reject healthier foods later), if that is what you feed him as his staple, he will eventually die of malnutrition.

Unfortunately, iguanas are greedy guts and will eat just about anything you give them when they are hungry. But a bad diet kills a lot of iguanas very early. It's not something that's easy to catch, because they *look* like they're doing fine for a long time. They may only show signs of the malnutrition by not growing as fast or as large, and by dying much earlier than they should. As a first time iguana owner, you have no basis for comparison, so it's easy to make the assumption that they're fine and happy. As a responsible owner, however, you'll definitely want to make sure that they have the best diet and care possible.

I wish pet store owners - and even some "breeders" - could be trusted to give out accurate information about these animals. Unfortunately so often it comes down to profit.

__________________
"Let's eat, Grandpa!"
"Let's eat Grandpa!"

Punctuation. It saves lives.

Our Freya is an example of bad diet. She is 8 years old and not very big. She was a rescue who had been thrown outside. She ate rocks and bark, and Michigan is a pretty cold state for an iguana to live outside in. She had surgery, and was put on a diet the vet gave us, which is pretty much the same as the one here in the iguana care section. She is doing excellent now, but has some incontinence issues from her past bad diet. When we rescued her most of her bones were broken, except the long bones in her legs. She has healed well, but is not allowed climbing space as she has no tail and may still refracture if she were to fall. She is precious and sweet and sometimes a mean attidudy little brat! We love her though. I recently spent a week living at the hospital while my Mom was hospitalized, and Freya still hasn't forgiven me for being away even though she was well fed. She didn't eat for the first 3 days though.

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Kat