Sweet potatoes are fine as is raw pumpkin. My ig LOVES halloween!
What is the brand of your UV light?
Not all of them are what they are cracked up to be!

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

Please remember these guys are going to need HUGE enclosures when they get older. Your current tank for your pair is TOO SMALL already. Its too small for one, much less two. How tall is it? If its a standard aquarium, its not tall enough. Iguana's are arboreal and need height. And what is that for substrate?



Here is an example of the housing you should be providing.
(Mostly) Finished Iguana Enclosure

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

I have heard that the heat emitter are not good to use for them as they can get burned. I feel so foolish for not giving them the proper care! I wish I knew about this site long ago. I love my Babies. Spunky even lets me pet him now and curls up to your hand and I DONT want to lose them. For so long they have been ok and even grown but I was ignorant but not anymore Thanks to all of you. Spunky isn't really mine but my son's pet and he wants what is best for him, I was going to turn him over to the aspca to get help but I want to try to get him help first. I will do everything in my power to get him better. I know it might take some time and def money but I am willing to do it. Thanks again to allof you who helped me out.

Don't feel foolish. It's often hard to figure out what the proper care even is. It's great that now that you are learning, you're willing to make the changes! A lot of people decide that their iguana "likes it that way" and refuse to change the care.

Mostly it's a matter of getting your cage, lighting and diet right. These will be the most expensive changes initially, but once they're made, you'll almost always have a happy, healthy ig from then on.

If you have two in the same cage, you'll probably want to plan for two cages and separate them. The reason for this is because iguanas are firmly territorial. They don't like to share, and they'll often bully each other into not eating, or becoming nervous and agitated. Sometimes they will fight. All of this is bad for their health, though.

Each cage needs to be pretty big. 6 foot tall, by 4 feet wide and long is a good place to start. Bigger is always better, though. Most people choose to build these cages, so they're actually not *that* expensive depending on your materials. But you definitely want something that will hold humidity and will enable your iguana to climb.

After you've got the cages built, you'll need a strong UVB for each, and then heat lamps or a heat source strong enough to maintain high temperatures. You'll have to get a temperature and humidity gauge to help see where you're at. That's all a matter of playing with your set up until you've got the right temperature and humidity - and after that you're just maintaining.

By the way, it's probably the heat rocks that you've heard burn the iguanas. That's completely true and should not be used. The Ceramic heat emitters are bulbs that specifically produce heat and not light. They definitely CAN burn if your iguana touches them, but the should be well out of reach of your iguana.

I think you'll do fine with these iguanas. But you definitely will have to search out a good reptile vet and start the Metabolic Bone Disease treatment. With that and the environmental changes, you'll have a couple of healthy igs for years to come.

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

Punctuation. It saves lives.

What Typh said. All you need is to learn a little more and make some changes. Proper diet and lighting will make a world of difference. We all were learners at one point so don't stress yourself out over it. We have all made husbandry mistakes we learn from them, and that's what's important.

There is a book out there about iguana care you should get. I can't remember the name. Merlin will chime in, he always suggests it. Its VERY good.

You sound pretty overwhelmed and I don't blame you. Stop, take a deep breath and start educating your self. Thats where you need to begin. We will all be here to help you make your iguanas happy and healthy.

And about the ceramic heat emitters, they can cause burns, but putting a simple wire cage around them will keep your iguana safe.

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

The book is Green Iguana, The Ultimate Owners Manual by James Hatfield. Best ig book available! It is a large book at 600+ pages but is a very easy and entertaining read. Lots of insights into our scaley buddies!
And a ceramic heat emitter is fine to use. I have several on my enclosures. You do have to make sure that the animals cannot get against it as they do get very hot.
However this rule applies to just about any heating device.
If it gets hot it can burn.

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

Thanks to all of you, I am not really overwhelmed just upset that I could have done better. I was not informed properly but Thanks to all of you I can make all the changes necesary to their health. I just needed the starting point & I think we will be fine, Spunky is going to the vet this week, a reptile specialist so I will update everyone then ok.

got 2 zoo med slimline 120v 60hz as well as the basking lamp, I plan on changing it as I read about the lamps you wrote about but since I just got the info I can only work so fast lol

Hey liz it is pine shavings, I know not good but I just found that out also, so I am changing it. I stopped using wood chips when they got bugs on them pine was recommended, I always thought newspaper was bad as it had ink on it. what about recycled paper in the home? Is that good to use?

Pine shavings are dangerous! Whomever told you to use them has no clue! Pine shavings, as well as cedar, pose serious health risk to reptiles. Unfortunately there is no particulate bedding that is safe for iguanas. Since igs taste everything they all pose a risk of impaction.
Most people use tiles or linoleum as a bottom on the cage with sheets of newspaper on top to facilitate cleaning. I use tiles with a layer of sheets of newspaper on top.
Newspaper is fine to use. The black and white ink is soy based. Stay away from the slick color ads.
If you are talking about the shredded paper bedding, still not good. They need something that they can't swallow.
Or they will.

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