Ok I guess he's more settled in now into his new cage after 1 day of not pooping he just pooped ALL OVER THE CAGE!!! How can a tiny little lizard have so much poop ane pee in it!!?

When he was in his smaller enclosure, there were no shelves. There were only some branches, and he always went to the ground and pooped in the water bowl. He chose this by himself after two times. I didn't train it to do that.

I put the same water bowl into the new enclosure (along with a bigger soaking pool), and just now, while I wasn't in the room, he POOPED. I had put the bowl further into basking platform before, and I was worried it wouldn't see it and thus refuse to poop, as he's used to pooping in there. So I moved it closer to him this morning. But the basking plank is about a foot and a half wide, and where he stays under the light, there is a piece of drift wood which he likes to bask on (as well as decreasing the distance between the UV light and the skin) that takes up half the wooded plank. Therefore, the bowl was put on the outer side of the plank. I THINK (not sure as I wasn't in there) he AIMED at the bowl, perhaps with his tail dangling off the edge. And he either was trying to upset me, or he just accidentally missed. I went in there, and the brown poop was on the WOOD!!! It was right next to the water bowl in fact it stuck when I lifted the bowl!!!! That is why I believe it had perched its legs on the bowl as usual and tried but because of space limitations from the driftwood, missed (again I HOPE so but not sure!) as it didn't have enough space due to the driftwood to perch more forward. And there was that pile of white stuff there too.

I went "Oh no!" and I cleaned the wood. No problem. But then, I looked down, and 80% OF IT HAD BEEN SHOT RIGHT OFF THE EDGE OF THE PLATFORM!!!! The 6 foot fall made it spread ALL OVER THE FLOOR!!!! And to make things worse, some of the newspaper was edged under the metal shelves and I couldn't pull them out!!! I had to tear them out, pee dripping all over the place.

This can't continue. I've got to get it peeing and pooing in the water bowl like it did before!!!!

Do you think it has chosen to do it like that??? Or perhaps he tried to do the waterbowl but missed because it was close to the edge?? I guess I will find out tommorow!!!!

I placed newspapers on the spot where he pooped, and I moved the bowl further back in. Is there ANYTHING ELSE that I can do??? I'll move the water bowl further in way away from the ledge hopefully it will poop over there now instead!!!

How good is his vision? If I put the bowl like 3 feet away from the disaster area where he spends 90% of the time, will be be able to see it's over there???!

PLEASE HELP!!!!

Hello,

To put it bluntly, you got the stink eye.

Iguanas, unlike humans, are not capable of telling you off when they are annoyed. Instead, they do things to SHOW you they are annoyed or bothered. Your iguana pooping all over the tank was his way of showing his annoyance with the new enclosure. lol

I know a few ig owners here can confirm that if they leave for a few days and then come home, their iguanas will leave them a nice present somewhere in the enclosure that is out of character for them.

I believe that is just the igs way of making you annoyed. lol

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Godz always 'went' in his water bowl - that was until the Bearded Dragon arrived! Ater that he would go on the far side of his enclosure on the floor. This meant that I had to climb over one branch, under another and then twist myself around sort of upside down to get to the poop to clean it!! It was like doing a daily army assault course!

They do know how to make you think about there needs though and pooping everywhere is usually the best one of all

So what should I do? Dump him in a tiny enclosure to teach him a lesson? why would he be annoyed by a big enclosure? How would I go about handling this?

He seems quite stressed out the first day but now he's a little better. He's still really scared when I try to handle him since the move. However, if I stop handling him because he tries to dart off, he may think that's the way to go. Whereas, if I pick him up despite the whipping and clawing, that makes me a threat. What's the proper way to do this... He didn't behave like this in his old enclosure even when first moved in.

Put the pooping pan in the bottom of the cage and wait.

If he pooped in the pan before, he just might poop in it again.

Remember, every single time you move or change something, you are starting the relocation stress cycle all over again!

Move the pan to the final position and leave it! Iguanas have terrific eyesight. You really must stop changing things daily. You are re-stressing the iguana over and over again and as Rich suggested, he may be showing you his displeasure. LOL

__________________
Regards,
Dominick
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"Do you watch too much television? Did you do so as a toddler? Evidence tonight that it could be the cause of learning disorders, like attention deficit and hyperact-Ooooh, a kitty!" - Keith Olbermann

just wait until he learns that biting and clawing are very effective means of getting you to go away . Until then be happy with the poop

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-Adam

"Help Protect our Planet from Overcollection, Purchase Aquacultured Livestock and Captive Bred Herps"

Geckoguy that's not funny stop picking on the newb!

Dominik, I'll try two more days I'll move the dish into the platform so it's no where near the edge it should not be a problem. I prefer it there because it is much easier for me to reach it and take it out than when it's on the floor. If tommorow he still does that same **** I'll put it on the floor and keep it there. I don't know if this will be a problem when the ig gets bigger though and takes up the whole basking platform. Well, then I'll be letting him free roam the room anyway I guess and its gonna be years away.

He's started exploring his cage now. He has climbed down to the second level (Three levels down) but never went all the way down to the floor. Dunno if I should put the food down there or not.

Can anyone comment on my furniture arrangement? I thought it was pretty clever, having him climb up, accross, up two levels, accross and up to the platform in a spiral path. Gives him lots of places to climb. Until I saw some commercial cages like by CBD of the same size but seems so much more spacious. Then again, its spacious for humans but for the ig I guess the more shelves the better as more places to climb. it does make me difficult to catch him when he's hiding in certain areas way back against the back though as I'm a big guy and it's hard to get through/behind the shelves.

I'll try not to change anything but its my first enclosure and I noticed problems which I didn't forsee before that I'd have to change. For example, I didn't know that it couldn't grip the plastic mesh bridges (it can "palm" them, but not nail onto the wire), so I had to replace the diagonal one with something else today. It kept trying to climb down, but it couldn't and was falling. I also didn't realize that he would have a problem with his feet going through the holes in the platforms, so I will have to lay something solid there.

They DO have ways of expressing their annoyance with us don't they! I'm one of the people that Rich referred to! if I go away for a few days Zok will hold it! She has gone 4 days without going. Its as if she waits to see or hear me come home and then she lets it rip! Then WHOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!!!
If you think your little one has a lot just wait!;P

I would put the poopy pan in the bottom of the cage away from the basking area. Iguanas have excellant vision and will have no trouble seeing it. As Dominick said stop changing things around. Arrange the cage and then leave it alone. Iguanas are creatures of habit and do not like change. In their minds something different equals something wrong and to be on the alert for danger!
Its all just a matter of learning to see things through their eyes.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I'm sorry that I'm changing things around. It's just that this is my first enclosure building experience and I'm not getting it right straight off the bat. I'll try to minimize the changes but there are some things that I didn't forsee.

OK, here's the levels of an iguana cage:

Top Level (highest point): Basking spot, UVB lights and heat, maybe a soft towel for the iguana to lay on. Nothing else.

Mid Level: Feeding spot. Food dish and water bowl. Also a reprieve from the hot basking platform area, necessary for thermoregulation.

Bottom Level (cage bottom): Pooping pan and nothing else.

Iguanas are arboreal, they like to bask in the highest spot they can. It's where they chillout, warm up and digest their food while taking in the sun's rays. This is the "safest" spot for them.

Iguanas forage for food, the iguana needs to climb around and down to "find" food. Keeps them physically fit and mentally satisfied. Try hanging some collard or turnip leaves from clips on the sides of the cages, away from the basking spot. This mimics natural feeding behaviors.

Iguanas poop as far away from their food and basking spot as they can, hence the bottom of the cage. In a tree an iguana will straddle a branch and poop, letting it fall to the ground. You know the old saying, never poop where you eat. LOL

These three "zones" are essential to a healthy, happy iguana. This allows them to feel relatively secure.

Once you set them up, leave them be. Changing even one thing will wreak havoc on the psyche of the iguana.

Moving around the cage is good! Shows that the iguana is becoming more familiar with its surroundings. Definitely becoming more comfortable.

Pooping is a difficult thing with iguanas. It takes time for them to settle and figure out where they want to poop. Once THEY figure it out, then YOU can figure it out. It's not a thing you can dictate. This is why so many owners prefer to tub-poop the iguana. Takes care of the "business" for the day and they don't have to clean the cage daily.

Don't get discouraged, it takes a lot of time to get it all correct for both you AND the iguana. You are doing a fine job of working it all out. Just try to arrange things and then leave them for a while.

__________________
Regards,
Dominick
_____________________________________________
"Do you watch too much television? Did you do so as a toddler? Evidence tonight that it could be the cause of learning disorders, like attention deficit and hyperact-Ooooh, a kitty!" - Keith Olbermann