Sometimes you might face a problem when your pet iguana stopped eating. In this post, we will discuss the possible reasons why your iguana is not eating and what you can do to help your iguana eat again. We will discuss why your iguana stopped eating, and all of this information applies to green iguanas and red, blue, snow, albino morphs and other iguanas.
How long can an iguana go without food?
Iguanas should normally eat once or twice a day, depending on age and appetite. Sometimes, iguanas can stop eating for some time without a risk to their health. Iguana can go up to a week or two without eating, without any risk. But if it’s more than two weeks, there might be an issue.
Iguana that hasn’t eaten for two weeks will start losing weight and might need to be force fed. If your iguana is plump, it can go off food for even a month without losing too much weight – during breeding season for example.
Why does my iguana not eat?
There are few reasons why your iguana might not be eating. Reasons can include being scared of new environment, being sick, wrong tank temperatures leading to poor digestion, breeding season and more.
Why is my iguana not eating?
Reason number 1: Low temperatures in the cage.
Low temperatures in iguana’s cage will lead to poor digestion and appetite. Iguanas, like most other reptiles, need heat to digest the food properly. You will need to setup lighting in iguana’s terrarium for heating (UVB + basking light).
For proper digestion, make sure to feed most of iguana’s food in the morning, so it has time to digest it fully. If you want to give your iguana more snacks, do it at least 4 hours before you turn off the lights when iguana goes to sleep.
What are ideal temperatures for iguanas?
- Ideal temperatures in iguana’s tank are 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit (26.6-29.4 Celsius) for the air temperature during the day.
- The cool part of the tank should have the temperature of 78-80 degrees Fahrenheit (25.5-26.6) for your iguana to cool down if needed.
- In the basking spot (around 10-12 inches under UVB light) ideal temperatures are 96-100 degrees F (35.5-37.7 degrees Celsius).
- At night time, you need to drop the temperatures to 70-75 degrees F (21.1-23.8 Celsius) for adult iguanas and 73-75 F (22.7-23.8) for hatchlings and babies.
- Your iguana is likely to die quickly if temperatures fall below 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 Celsius), or over 113 Fahrenheit (45 Celsius).
If the temperatures in iguana’s cage are too low, make sure to get another heat bulb or get a higher wattage bulb to increase temperatures.
For heat, you can get a basking light, mercury vapor (UVB+heat), ceramic heat emitting bulb or even under tank heat pad for increasing air temperatures in the tank. But basking lights and UVB lights come before a heating pad because iguanas need to bask. Measure temperatures in the tank by placing two thermometers like this – one in a cool and one in hot spot.
Read all about lighting and temperatures in iguana’s tank in this post.
Reason number 2: Your iguana hasn’t acclimatized yet and is stressed.
After you get your new iguana and bring it home, it will be stressed and scared – including babies, juveniles and adults. As mentioned above, your new iguana will need to be left alone and given space to acclimatize in the new home. During this time, your iguana might refuse to eat.
During the acclimatization, your iguana can lose weight due to refusal to eat. But don’t worry if your iguana was of normal weight in the beginning – you will help it gain weight when it starts eating. During acclimation period you need to help your iguana relax, not touch or handle it, even if it starts eating.
This can take around a week or even two, and your iguana won’t be eating much or at all. If it has been more than two weeks, you will need to see the vet and probably start force feeding your iguana.
Reason number 3: Your iguana is sick.
Many health issues in iguanas can make them stop eating. Diseases that will make your iguana stop eating include internal parasites, impaction, gout, bladder stone, neurological disorders, mouth abscess, MBD and more.
Impaction will cause internal obstruction that will interfere with digestion and pooping. Neurological disorders such as encephalitis or head trauma will make hard for your iguana to move around, as well as eat or drink.
Mouth abscesses or stomatitis will lead to inflammation, making eating painful. MBD can cause soft bones and jaw (severe MBD), making eating difficult and painful. Internal parasites will interfere with digestion and will cause weight loss in iguanas. MBD progresses slowly and changes are often irreversible, so make sure to supplement the food and have the UVB lighting in the tank at all times.
If you suspect that your iguana is sick, take it to the vet immediately for an examination. Remember to quarantine your new iguana in a separate cage while you are getting results for its fecal examination. Place its poop in a Ziploc bag or plastic container, refrigerate and take it to the vet within 12-24 hours. Don’t freeze the poop.
You can read all about iguana diseases in this post.
Reason number 4: Your iguana isn’t eating due to breeding behaviors
Iguanas reach sexual maturity at around 2-3 years of age, and that’s when they will start displaying breeding behaviors. Breeding season for iguanas starts by November and can last up to February. During the first month especially, your iguana is likely to eat much less or stop eating at all. This is normal and should pass within 2-5 weeks.
During the breeding season, your iguana will be displaying breeding behaviors, especially if it’s a male. During the breeding season, males are very likely to become more aggressive (towards other iguanas and even owners), will be more active, head bobbing more often, trying to escape the tank and so on. You might also find sperm plugs.
Females will also display aggression, will be digging a lot, leaving some poop in various spots to mark the territory, acting somewhat aggressive and refusing to eat much or at all.
Reason number 5: Your iguana is gravid
A female iguana can become gravid even without mating with a male, resulting in infertile eggs. Iguanas often reach sexual maturity by the age of 2-3, and that’s when your iguana might become gravid.
If she is gravid, you will need to prepare a lay box – she will be digging and anxiously looking around the tank and her belly will be distended. She is likely not to eat, especially towards the end of the pregnancy as her belly becomes full with eggs.
Reason number 6: Your iguana ate too much the day before
If your iguana was gluttonous the day before, it is likely not to eat the next day or so.
Reason number 7: Your iguana is dehydrated.
Dehydrated iguana will develop digestive issues and a poor appetite. There must be a dish with fresh drinking water available to your iguana at all times. Sometimes, young iguanas have a problem drinking water from the dish and prefer licking the water droplets instead.
Make sure to give your iguana a bath once or few times a week, provide a bowl with water and mist your iguana and the tank 1-2 times a day, before the evening (5pm or so). This way, the water will evaporate by night time. Also, provide salads with a proper moisture content.
Find the list of the best vegetables, greens and fruits for your iguana in this post.
Reason number 8: You have changed the diet and your iguana doesn’t like it
Iguanas like routines and don’t like changes in their diet. This is why it is important to keep offering a variety or fresh greens, veggies and some fruits to your iguana from the beginning, to develop its taste.
But if you change its diet suddenly, it might refuse eating new foods, especially if it doesn’t like the taste. Incorporate new foods slowly and experiment – with time you will learn what your iguana does and doesn’t like.
But at the same time, if you have been offering only few types of greens, your iguana is likely to become bored and you will need to offer something new.
Reason number 9: The food in the tank has gone bad
This is less likely to happen if you regularly change iguana’s food. But sometimes, fresh veggies, greens and fruits might go bad very quickly inside the tank. This is especially true in humid and hot conditions (just like inside of your iguana’s tank). Your iguana is not likely to eat spoiled food, so make sure to throw away any uneaten food within few hours.
Reason number 10: Your iguana doesn’t feel safe to eat
The positioning of iguana’s food bowl can have an effect, too. Some iguanas won’t feel safe when their food bowl is in the open space, visible to others. In this case, try to place your iguana’s food bowl closer to the plants, branches, or somewhere else where it can be covered.
Reason number 11: Iguana’s cage is too big.
If you have just got a baby iguana it might be scared and stressed if you housed it in the tank that is too big. A big tank will make hard for your baby iguana to navigate, and it’s likely to freak out and refuse to eat. A 30 gallon terrarium is a perfect size for a baby-juvenile iguana of up to 12 months.
When your iguana turns 18 months, you will need to get a 55-60 gallon tank, but it might be a better idea to make a cage that is bigger than that.
“My iguana is not eating or drinking”
If your iguana is very lethargic and is mostly laying, not moving much, not eating or drinking, this is most probably malnutrition and MBD (Metabolic Bone Disease).
MBD is caused due to a lack of vitamin D3 and/or calcium in the diet, which slowly leads to wasting of an organism. If your iguana is lethargic, not moving or pooping properly, twitching and has soft bones (including a soft jaw), then it is MBD. Its legs might also look swollen.
You must provide UVA and UVB (10%) for your iguana in the tank. Your iguana should be able to lay around 10-12″ under it to bask. Don’t forget that you must change UVB lights every 6 months!
What is more, you need to supplement iguana’s food with calcium only, calcium + vitamin D3, and multivitamins, all on separate days. While you don’t want it to suffer from under-supplementation, oversupplementation is also an issue. If you suspect MBD in your iguana, take it to the vet immediately. Also, start administering supplements, and provide proper UVB lighting.
Read all about iguana lighting and heating in this post. What is more, you can find all about iguana’s diet on this page.