Best suggestion for the situation at hand.

Question
Hello, I have a female ig that is a little over 16 months in age. She is eating normally, getting plenty of water, has a good basking light. There are however a few things that I fear. 1 being that she is not getting the proper temperatures to properly digest her food as with her light on she reaches a temp of approx 84 degrees. 2 being that she is barely over 6 inches SVL.

I have recently moved to the bay area in California, this house is up on the side of a mountain and therefore stays colder than the normal temperatures outside. I also have a space heater that I try to keep on as long as possible but the landlord does not like it on... Any suggestions as to alternatives that I can use to keep her body temp in the 92-95 degree range? Thanks in advance.

Answer
Jason,

Just an F.Y.I., iguanas need an internal temperature of 87 degress BEFORE DIGESTION CAN BEGIN. Now, lets consider a few things to try and figure out what could be keeping her too cool:

1) What kind of enclosure is she in? Does she have a wire cage or a glass tank? A glass tank is going to act to keep the heat in much better and insulate...a wire cage is just the opposite, heat escapes so easily.

2) This is the most important: What kind of bulb do you have on her? Really look at that box and see if it is just an infrared, a UVA or a UVB or both a UVA and UVB.
Here is some background info on all these types:

Infrared is not a substitute for UVA & UVB, which NEED to be on the iguana for 10-12 hours everyday. Infrared is meant as a nighttime heat source and should be on at night to keep the iguana warm.
UVA is an excellent heat source, but is not sufficient for your iguana's overall health. UVA is the most common type of reptile basking bulb in stores but NEEDS to be supplemented with UVB during daytime hours.
UVB is the most crucial of all things you can do for your iguana. An iguana's body actually NEEDS UVB to digest calcium. If your iguana is not getting UVB, this could explain why she is so small for her age. Without UVB, an iguana cannot digest calcium and their growth gets stunted, their bones become brittle and they can and will eventually become paralyzed and/or die. Research "Metabolic Bone Disease" and you will see what lack of UVB will do to an iguana.

Ok, so knowing this, you may need to make adjustments to your overhead lighting. A good bulb that will provide heat, UVA, and UVB ALL IN ONE is "Exo Terra Solar Glo Sun Simulating Lamp 125w or 160w" You can buy them online for roughly 35.00-40.00. Each of my iguanas gets one of these bulbs and they are awesome for keeping them warm and healthy, plus they have a 6 month warranty included.

Now, if you are looking for other ways to supplement the heat she gets on top of getting a top-quality bulb like the one I just mentioned, you can get under-tank heating pads and those work well too or you can just get her more than one bulb, but be careful not to over-do it because she will need one side of the tank to be cooler than the other, there should be a basking spot that she can get up on a branch or something and have a light shining down onto that branch where temperatures reach 95 degrees or so.

It is very important to make sure she is at least getting up to 87 degrees so she can digest but also, since she is small for her age, you need to assess this UVB situation and also give some thought to her diet. I recommend collard greens, shredded butternut squash or pumpkin, sweet peas, green beans, and some small amounts of fruit all spritzed with water. Commercial iguana foods are no substitute for a fresh-food diet. Lettuce is virtually useless to an iguana, all it is is water in a solid form with no nutrients. Stay away from spinach, kale, broccoli and carrots in large quantities because their phosphate content is high and it blocks the calcium intake into their bones.

Please let me know if you have any more questions about any of the things I discussed or if I failed to discuss something that concerns you.

P.S. Heat rocks are not recommended because they have a tendency to short out and can burn your iguana badly.

Thank you,

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