He's a little hard to manage sometimes too, because he so big. Almost 4 ft and around 15 pounds.
I posted earlier in the Introduction forum asking if anyone knew anything about golden igs or how to get one to go potty.

I was told to give all the info I could so I can get more help, so here it is:

Right now he's in a large rabbit cage (with cork board that we often switch out) until we build his new one. I feel so bad for keeping him in that.. We have the cage by the side of the house, but move it to the back porch when it rains. We let him out to roam in the backyard often. I live midway down the east coast of Florida. The temp varies from 70 to 90, humidity is around the mid 80's..

It gets pretty hot outside sometimes, but we put a sheet of wood on top of half the cage so he has shade and it's always at least a little breezy. He does lay there with his mouth open sometimes, and in the morning he stretches out his dewlap and raises himself up.. It hasn't been getting cold at night. I want to get a plastic kiddie pool to let him bathe in.

We're thinking about making his new cage 5ft wide, 4 ft tall, and 2.5ish ft in depth. I know a longer depth would be better, but we want to be able to fit it through a doorway so he can be outside when it's nice. We're going to put a large shelf and branches for him to climb on in it, and something so he can soak when he wants I think.

He's been eating lots of collard greens, green leaf lettuce, watercress, carrots, little bit of celery, little bit of spinach, and apples.


Concerns of mine:
His face seems dry around his nostrils and chin, but not like it's going to peel necessarily... He also has a few bumps on his body, about the size of the tip of a finger and raised with hard, dead looking scales. He likes to eat weeds that grow in the yard, including spanish needle leaves.

Breeze really doesn't help to cool down a reptile. It cools us down because we sweat and the water evaporates from our bodies. Reptiles lack this feature.
Make sure that the ig can get completely out of the sun. It is often not realized that even in the 90's an iguanas body temperature can rise dangerously high if directly exposed to the sun for long perods with no escape available. If it hits 115 he will die.
This is the iguana version of a dog's panting, attempting to cool off. He's a little too warm
This is the opposite. He is exposing more of his body t the sun in order to warm up.
Your diet needs an overhaul. Collards and watercress are good but you should add mustard greens and turnip greens as well.
Lettuce is basically worthless, as is celery. Spinach should be used occassionally if at all. Same for apples.

He may be getting ready to shed that area.

Those should be looked at. It could be abscesses from earlier injuries or even something else. A vet is the only way to tell.

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

Llisten to Merlin, he knows!

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

At 105 the possibility of permanent brain damage is possible. You can also add one of the colored bell peppers for added hydration and appeal. It seems the igs go more for the red, so I use it most. Offer a summer squash, too, such as acorn, butternut, spaghetti, delicata, etc. Clean out the strings and seeds and run them through a cheese grater - skin and all.

If you're worried about the cage not fitting through the doors...make it into two halves you can connect once inside. This is what I did with my first enclosure many moons ago. You really want a taller enclosure. 4'T is not really tall enough. You can get away with the 5' length since she gets out for exercise...but try to plan for a 6'T enclosure.

__________________
Veronica
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Exotic Animal Rescue of Henry Co.
~~Rescue - Rehab - Rehome~~

Thank you Merlin! I didn't know that a breeze wouldn't cool him off.
Prismwolf too, I didn't know what kind of squash to get at all..

When his new cage is done should I put something in there to keep him warm at night? what could I use for an outdoor cage?

Do you have wild igs around there? If so I would mostly just worry about someplace for your ig to get out of the weather. A large "dog house" type ig hide. The wild igs do well the farther south you go...so follow their lead, but don't leave him out if it goes below 70. You need to make sure the outdoor enclosure can withstand any wildlife or roaming dogs that might think him an easy snack.

Zair's outdoor enclosure made from PVC and extruded mesh.


There are TONS of ideas out there on outdoor enclosures. Here's a couple of links to get you some more ideas:
darry/Cages-various - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
Habitat Examples

And the housing section on this network has even more!!

__________________
Veronica
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...\\\_#_#_#_//_#_#_#_#_#_£_£_&_&_
..._//......_\\
Exotic Animal Rescue of Henry Co.
~~Rescue - Rehab - Rehome~~

Merlin has done well with the answers he has given you! I would definitely follow up on those.

As far as the outside enclosure, I use the huge 4 story ferett cages on wheels, it is easy to to move to the porch where I can observe, it is also easy to roll off the porch to clean. One thing you have to remember though is that I live in Washington, so for about 10 and a half months they sit there and collect dust outside, lol. It is too cold most of the time for mine.

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I have sucker tattood on my forehead

I've never seen any wild igs around here but there are a ton in miami, which is a few hours south..
We're thinking we're going to make a heavy duty cage out of wood and expand it when he gets bigger.

I think an expansion enclosure would be wonderful for a small ig. Yours, however, is 6 yrs old and 4' long. There's not going to be but another years growth in length for him and it won't be that substantial. He may go about another 6", but he's going to be on the smaller side for sure. Just plan now for the full-size and it will be the only one you need....

__________________
Veronica
,,
/_^.)///////////,,,,,
...\\\_#_#_#_//_#_#_#_#_#_£_£_&_&_
..._//......_\\
Exotic Animal Rescue of Henry Co.
~~Rescue - Rehab - Rehome~~

Should I be feeding him 1/3 collards, 1/3 mustard, and 1/3 turnip greens each time I feed him? Or is it ok to feed him collards until the small bag runs out, then mustard, then turnip and feed him the same one for few days or so?

How much do they usually eat a day too? I feed Jack about a big handful of greens in the morning and the afternoon. With the collards I've been ripping off the thick veins of the leaves and tearing them into smaller pieces before I give it to him. Should it be chopped? When he finishes his bowl really quick I'll give him seconds and thirds sometimes, but I haven't read how much they eat.

And should I try to cover him with a towel at night to keep him warm?


-We got supplies for his new cage today too, I'm excited!