Improper Care of Iguanas- at the Zoo!?

Thursday, May 20, 2010
I will be the first to admit, sometimes I go a little crazy when I see animals in captivity. It pains me, especially with birds and African animals like giraffes, in small areas. The same goes for our dear friend the iguana. I visited our local zoo today and found that they added 3 rhino iguanas to their reptile and amphibian house. Upon first walking into the reptile house, I was shocked and appalled. Maybe I'm missing something, maybe they know what they are doing...but here's what I saw:

-A sick and sad looking male iguana, laying on a very small ledge about 2 feet off the ground. There was no higher basking area for this guy. Maybe he was really old and couldn't climb anymore, so they didn't add anything, maybe?

-A large quantity of shredded wood chips. It was frightening how much there was.

-No obvious source of humidity.

-No fresh food and just one bowl of water on the ground.

-Two ZooMed 5.0 UVB lights, FOUR-FIVE FEET AWAY! There is no way he was getting what he needed from those bulbs.

I took some pictures but they are sort of hard to make out. Without the flash the camera gets sort of funky next to glass.

The other two were kept in a VERY large enclosure...well, not much of an enclosure like you or I would have, but a large room with was shared with a variety of tortoises. The same was going on with these two, except they looked to be in much better health. However, their UVB was even farther away and the lighting in this room was terrible. You can see in the picture all they wanted was some sun!

I wanted to reach in and pet that little iguana leg, like I do to Iggy all the time! haha

Tortoise friends + wood chips

I am considering giving the zoo a call. I tried to find some contact information online but seems like there is just a number. I don't want to come off as some high horse riding nutso iguana maniac but something just seems off and I am concerned! The other animals are pretty well taken care of with clean tanks, food, etc. I will do some research on rhino iggs and see how they differ from green iguanas, in case I am making a mistake in my presumptions. 

2 comments:

  1. I would encourage them to contact Bob at ReptileUV. They sell a bulb designed for zoo enclosures and I'm sure he would be able to offer advice in other areas of their setup as well (i.e., proper substrate, diet, etc.). Here is a link to the SB zoo bulb: http://www.reptileuv.com/megaray-sb-160-watt-self-ballasted-flood-zoo-lamp.php. They sell an EB zoo bulb kit as well. ReptileUV actually won't sell this particular bulb unless they speak with the person purchasing it to confirm the environment it will be used in.

    Mindy

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  2. I will definitely include this information in the letter. I am sending it out Monday! I can't believe the amount of zoos with ill-equipped enclosures for these sensitive animals.

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