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fat, active ig not eating unless hand fed

21 15:03:04

Question
sasha is driving us nuts! she won't touch her bowl except for a piece or two. we have to hand feed her or she won't eat. this has been going on for almost 2 weeks. she's fat (she's always been our mae west of iggys), spicy, willfull, bathed daily, fresh food/water daily, potty trained in the tub, sleeps on a heating pad on a covered egg crate "mattress", her cage is 6x8x4, weighs about 8lbs, 10yrs old, gets both artificial & natural uv, her enclosure is cleaned weekly (unless has an accident), her "linens" washed 2x weekly, loves napping with me, picking on the boys, scaring the neighborhood cats through the window, etc. did i mention that hubby & i do rehab & rescue for our area? our vet is a senior member of the local herp society.  it's not like we're newbs, our vet calls us the iggy whisperers! we have 6 currently.  our biggest is 5", 23lbs, old, blind, and acts like walter matthau from "grumpy old men". he fights daily with rush (who is jack lemmon) through their enclosures, then they pal together. i'm almost waiting to catch them with fishing gear. anyway, we're not novices, but she is driving us nuts! she knows she's driving us nuts! fred thinks she may be gravid for the first time in her ig life. all the igs have their own enclosures. diet, environment, daily routine has not changed. any ideas? is she manipulating us with iggy jedi mind tricks?

Answer
Hi Vern,
Thanks to both of you for doing rescue!!   Its rewarding, isn't it?  Can also break your heart and drive you crazy.
I would not rule out the gravid w/o an x ray.  Tis the season for many of them.  I have one here now that is playing that game...is she or isn't she...only the ig knows for sure!!! Also have a very small 3 yr old male that thinks because there are two girls, he has to always be ready...just in case...and hasn't been eating..other than a few bites by hand or syringe.
She is falling into the "normal" (haha, is there a normal with igs?)
time to slow/stop eating for being gravid, right before laying eggs. If she is, you should start seeing lumps any time. General signs(as I am sure you have read) are soaking more, digging, scratching, more active...
She may have been gravid other years, just reabsorbs instead...which she still may do.  I have one here that's only been confirmed gravid one time, which she reabsorbed.  I'm not sure if she reabsorbs every year, or has really never been gravid again.  She shows no other signs that would lead me to an xray at any particular time...shes now 8 yrs old.
The other female, a 4.5 yr old, laid before she was two, then the following year, and then last yr went through all the motions.....pigging out, slowing on the eating, pooping all over, soaking, climbing. etc.... then would go back to eating normal, etc..then...back to no eating at all...but never got the "belly". Took her in for xrays even though I KNEW she wasn't gravid..needed that x ray for peace of mind... nope..no eggs..
She would not touch food...no matter what it was but would eat from hand.  NOT FUN!! The Vet felt(and I suggested) hormonal issues...she thought she should be gravid, body told her she should be..but..she wasn't. She had a vitamin B shot and in about 10 days started eating normally again...
I tell you these stories because it sounds like your girl can be doing one or the other...or actually doing eggs.  An Xray will tell all.
A few things that MAY help with the eating....
try offering some well soaked Rep Cal Adult Iguana pellets..the colored ones... these are a pretty decent food to use as a supplement or treat.  Try taking the collards,, turnip greens, etc and chopping them lots smaller(almost food processed).  Sometimes they will eat a bit that way since the fine chopped food takes up less room.  You can try mixing some fruit puree or babyfood fruit into that mix also. Try a nice pile of grated butternut squash. You can even try that on her regular sized foods.  Igs do get very spoiled, very fast with the hand feeding..it makes me really wonder if its due to the position in which we hand feed, basically up over them as what is natural to them.
I would take her in for the xray because if there are eggs there, all the tricks in the world won't give her more room in her belly. If no eggs, you might want to get the Vitamin B shot.  Its not proven to work in reptiles, but many ppl have had success with it.  Generally it can take two weeks to "kick in" and some need a 2nd shot. Have you had gravid igs before?  If not, you may want to look at my WEBSHOTS page..there are a few folders there  with the gravid girl...some of the changes in her belly over time being gravid.
Let me know how it goes with her and thank you again for rescuing...its always nice to hear from fellow rescuers...I'm in Pennsylvania...