since the weather is warmer,
I built the knock down PVC sunning cage with a nice ladder, three ledges, 1/2 in sun and 1/2 in shade and provide fresh water

Ignatious got overheated
he started to pant and change colors.

thank god I was just sitting near him and reading.
when I picked him up, he was sooo hot...

i don't know why he didn't move to the shade or drink water
he even fought me to stay in the cage


after a cool bath and drinking lots of water,
he is happily eating a snack next to me on the couch...
while i'm still trying to calm down from that scare...

How hot was the temperature outside?

__________________
Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

sunny 72 degrees and a cool breeze
North Cal
it was around 1pm

what was so terrifying was the speed and extent of the change.

Somethings not quite right. Thats a bit cool for an ig to overheat! Thats actually the low end of the accteptable temperature range.
Is he close to a brick/stone wall or the side of a dsark colored building? Can you post a picture of the enclosure?

__________________
Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

sure thing--i can take a picture and post it tomorrow morning.

to answer your questions now, no brick/stone wall; no dark colors
the only thing that I can think of is that I use black wire shelves.
but I place a light blue towel down for comfort.
and I use a light blue cloth for cover/shade.

but yeah--- 72 is low!
after it happened, i tried to search online for other explanations or perhaps learn if I did something wrong.

i found two interesting articles.

From Taking iguanas outside

"The cage should be set up to provide shade for your iguana because temperatures above 80 degrees on a sunny day can cause your iguana to overheat. Covering the top of the cage with fine lattice work, is an excellent way of breaking up the sunlight and minimizing overheating. Lattice comes in two different sizes, regular spacing and fine. What the difference is, the regular lattice has larger opening between the boards, which in turn, allows more sunlight to come direct through it. If the temperature gets above 90 degrees, we recommend that you move the cage under a shaded area. An iguana could possible die from being subject to full sunlight with a temperature over 95 degrees. How's that possible you may be thinking? Well, we all know that the require temperature indoors for our iguanas, should be 95 degrees during the day; but that type of heat source is radiated heat and mainly focused on one spot (the basking area). But with the sun's rays, heat is transferred onto your iguana's dark skin, capturing a large amount of the energy from those rays, which in turn produce heat. When your iguana has no way of getting under shade, his/her body starts to buildup it's body temperature and your iguana can not regulate it's temperature fast enough to keep cool. This problem can seriously injure or kill your iguana if you are not careful."

From Green Ig Society:

"Some people have reported that their iguanas chose to stay in the sun and pant rather than move to an available, shady spot. Your iguana may not always do what’s best for itself, so you have to keep an eye on it."


maybe in direct sunlight, the temp is actually hotter than 72
in any case, i'm gonna take him to the vet. (i live near UC Davis.)
and I also ordered one of those temp guns from reptile UV.

"i don't know why he didn't move to the shade or drink water
he even fought me to stay in the cage"

I had an iguana for 10 years and he couldn't seem to distinguish between extreme hot or cold temperatures. when he was 4 years old he actually froze to a pipe. Long story short, I'd let him roam in my room, he somehow crawled into a small hole in my wall that exposed a pipe while I was at work and my boyfriend found him. He was blue and literally frozen. We rushed him to the vet and it took some medication, lots of chicken boulion and TLC but after many months he was healthy again. Needless to say I didn't allow him to roam around anymore unless I was there.

He was social and friendly, but anytime I put him in the window to bask in the sunshine he would fight me to stay there. I think the articles you found make a good point. Iguanas don't always do what is best for yourself.

I can imagine how scary that was!

sorry...I meant: Iguanas don't always do what is best for themselves

You fed your iguana chicken bouillon? On what grounds is it okay to feed a herbivore a salty mixture of chicken fat and hydrolyzed plant proteins?

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“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

-Mahatma Gandhi

~Lacey~

My Photos

He was too weak to eat and my vet told me to feed him watered down chicken boulion through a syringe...which I did for a few months and he was fine.