My juvenile iguana wont eat, is losing weight and is aggressive

Question
I got a baby iguana about a week ago and when i got him he was actually kinda fat but cute. We got two at the time so they were  housed together at first and we saw he was the aggressor by attacking the other, bobbing his head at the other one etc. so we gave the other one away. the iguana i have now was eating basking with his head stuck up and even letting me picki him up and wouldnt try to run away when he was not being held but jus resting on my arm or something. now he is looking like he is losing weight skin has gotten droppy from wha t looks like weight loss. hes not eating and when i grab for him he whips alot. and when he is on his basking area he is just laying there looking sad or closing his eyes alot. in the beginning i even saw him bulge his eyes out twice which i know is healthy and he was rubbing them against the basking branch. but not anymore. i feed him romaine, yellow squash, and reptile vitamins soft pellets. be has two water dishes. and i have two uvb bulbs reptiglo 5.0 in a compact top. and a 65 watt uva light in a cone clamp hanger for basking and the area reads 95-100 degrees. and i use a c.h.e. at night wight a red nightlight. please help

Answer
Mr. Lewis,

Well, my initial thought after reading your question is the very first sentence: you "got a baby iguana about a week ago". To me, this says it all.

I like to describe baby iguanas as very paranoid creatures. They are very easily riled up and are very certain that people want to eat them for lunch. You say your baby iguana is running away, whipping, etc. This is very GOOD, HEALTHY behavior for a young iguana. If he were docile and calm, then that is a sign something is wrong.

Now, baby iguanas are known not to eat for up to a week after being placed in a new home and a new environment. They are too busy being nervous and trying to make sense out of all of it. It sounds to me like he hasn't been given a chance to adjust because he got introduced to another iguana, then the other iguana was removed, then he keeps getting picked up by people and being watched in his cage.
I always recommend to people not to start handling the iguana until it begins eating on his/her own.

When he sits in his cage and closes his eyes a lot, he is pretending you are not there. Sounds like he just needs to be left alone for awhile. I would highly suggest that you have his cage in a place where there is not a lot of noise/activity from people, kids, other animals, etc. so he can feel some sense of privacy and security.

I would then suggest only reaching into the cage to place the food and water there once per day, then leaving him alone. He will not eat a lot, he is still young and very small. Some people only feed their hatchlings three times per week for this reason. Start monitoring how much food you put down and when you can tell that he is eating, then you can start to try and interact with him again.

Remember to cut the food into pieces smaller than the size of his head or he may not be able to eat comfortably.

Thank you for listing your diet and lighting choices. Sounds like you know your lighting good and have him under the proper lamps. I would strongly suggest substituting the lettuce for either collard greens, turnip greens or mustard greens and getting an orange squash over yellow.

Anyhow, please let me know how he adjusts.

Sincerely,

Sara J. Gwerder
President
Raptor Rescue Iguana Sanctuary
Shreveport, LA