Hi! Made some progress today, and my Ig is now eating the various foods that I am giving it (except for the alfalfa pellets which it won't touch) instead of just greens' leaves as it was eating before.

I've only had my Ig since this past weekend, and he seems to have a problem pooping on its own. The first two days it was here, he didn't poop at all, and I figured he was settling in. The third day, I was worried. I thought he may have had an intestinal impaction from bad care at the pet shop. I did the warm water immersion thing. He tried to scurry out of the sink and I had to keep him in, but once he settled down, I massaged his belly from bottom of chest downwards, and I notice he lifted his hind legs so they were floating and whitish fluid started coming out. Then, he pooped a HUGE load of crap. I could see his stomach squeezing it out, one single huge turd, not many small ones. (Can I rule out impaction?) It gave me a big sigh of relief. He looked visibly smaller. It has pooped in the warm water a couple times but it won't poop by itself in the cage.

Today, I was really busy and didn't get home from work until very late, and the Iguana was already sleeping. I see that he has eaten a lot so I woke him and did the warm water emersion thing anyway. He became wide awake fast and was scurrying around, but he didn't poop this time.

1) Is it perhaps that he was sleeping? Should I only try the warm water emersion thing when he is wide awake during normal waking hours?
2) Is it possible that he has just had a big meal and hasn't digested it all yet, thus don't want to poop?
3) How can I get him to poop in his cage by itself? I have been told by a fellow Ig owner here in Hong Kong that this happens a lot during the winter, because it is warm most of the year then for like 2 - 3 months it gets freezing cold. He said that the cold is what causes it. I don't know though because I have temperature guages in the cage and the proper heating and gradient. The humidity is less controlled and perhaps it is also a little bit too dry? It gets really nasty here weatherwise in the end of the year.
4) Sine he has pooped a couple times, and in very thick, large turds instead of little strings, can I rule out an intestinal impaction being present?

I would say that impaction was not a problem. Igs poop in one big lump not in several little peices like some animals. The pooping in the water is normal. in fact many iguana owners use this to cut down on cage cleaning. The stress of being in a new environment can cause the ig to not be on schdule. In fact my female has been known to "hold it" for 2-3 days if I am gone and when I get home I get a BIG present. Usually just before I take her to the tub!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I'd rather it poop all over the cage and I have to clean it instead of him holding it. I'm worried it will affect its health. What can I do?

Also, he DIDN'T poop today when I woke him up and did the warm water. It did before when done during the day. Can this mean that igs don't tend to poop during the sleeping hours even when awaken?

Thank GOD its not an impaction. I was so worried because the pet store didn't really keep them right. They were using the wrong substrates, no UV at all, supplemented with D3 meant for Chameleons etc. The one I got was slightly older than the other ones there as it was left over from the previous shipment. He says from 3 months ago.

Greetings Replover-

You are inadvertently training your ig to poop in warm water. Most think this is a good thing, as Merlin mentioned, it cuts down on cage cleaning. Decide to do it one way or the other and stick to it.

Igs follow a regualr pattern: Wake up, warm up, eat, bask (and digest), cool down and sleep. Somewhere in there is a pooping stage, but you'll need to watch for a few days to figure that out. Usually just before or after eating.

Igs are creatures of habit. If you water-poop it must be done around the same time everyday. A very regular schedule of feeding and pooping is best.

Doesn't seem to be impaction if you got several good volume poops. Good news there! Warm water stimulates poop response, so that soak helped him to expel what he had, indicating no real serious impaction.

If you want it to poop in the cage, fill a shallow pan with warm water an leave it in the cage. Most iguanas will choose to poop in/over water. Makes clean up easier.

If you do not want to train him to water-poop, stop doing it! LOL They get used to things and don't react well to change.

Expect him not to poop for a few days as you now have changed things by not soaking him in the sink. Never fear, what goes in MUST come out!

Good luck and keep up the great work.

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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

Dominick. I definitely want him to poop himself rather than water poop, but all the care sheets I read says that if he doesn't poop once or twice daily that's serious matter and he would die and need to get a vet to do surgery right away. I am SCARED. He looks different in the stomach.

I only water pooped him twice. I tried two more times after that and he didn't poop at all, just tried to run away almost constantly.

I would take your advice but his stomach looks more distended and different than when he came home. After he pooped the first time he looked smaller. Then in a few hours he ate like a horse and it swelled back up. It could just be because he was hungry and starving at the pet store, I don't know. I do see that they leave a whole plate of leaves there for them but it is shared by like 20 igs.

I'm SCARED guys! I don't want him to die! Should I really let him not poop for a few days? Will he build up toxic wastes and suffer?

YAY!!!!! HE POOPED ON ITS OWN!!!!! HURRAH!!!!!!!! Nice fluffy white pile next to a brown pile. Hehe...
Sometimes to be a good parent, you just have to let go. That's what I always told my parents while I was growing up. Now it's my turn!

He was eating his own poop though. I guess that means he don't got enough bacteria in his stomach? I'm going to go looking for Nurtribac here in the pet shops but if they don't stock it, should I feed a small amount of yogurt with live cultures?

YAY YAY YAY AYA YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry if I'm posting too much I'm just really really happy.

Hello,

Your local petstore won't be carrying the nutribac df. To my knowledge, that is an online only product at this time. (Unless Bob and Dom left me out of the loop on something. lol)

Eating his own poop is not a typical ig behavior in my experience. I haven't read all of your posts, so I am not up to par on how you have the ig setup.

What type of lighting are you using and how close to it can the iguana get? Are you using any supplements? (Calcium or vitamin supplements)

How often are you feeding him? How much are you feeding him?

I am asking these questions because my first thoughts when you said he was eating his own defecation was that he was hungry or trying to aquire something his body is in need of.

BTW, I have nutribac available if you want to get some. If you are looking to buy some, shoot me a PM.

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I dont know how big your iggys cage is, but one idea is to put a very shallow pan of water at the bottom so the iggy can climb in it and poop if it prefers water. My baby Gandhi gets pooped every morning in the tub.....I had been taking him at about 9 am daily (about an hour and a half from when he usually begins to show signs of life) and this morning I was met with a suprize: At 8:30ish he crawled over to the tub and pooped himself (no water in it, but he knew where to go). I found him in the (messy) tub a few minutes later, much to my suprize and delight! Now there is a shallow pan of water in the tub (a small cooking pan will do) and he will hopefully learn to use it so that it can eventually just stay in his cage.

YAY Gandhi!

The thing about iggys is they seem to be really grossed out by pooping in their environment (wouldn't you be??). Gandhi always seeks out poop spots that are really far from his preferred basking or sleeping spots. Something to keep in mind.

Gandhi poop update: He did indeed crawl right into the pan of water to go potty this morning. What a gooooood lizard!