Animal Care
Associates, Inc
840 Oakwood Road
Charleston, WV 25314
304-344-2244
Hygiene
Next to adequate nutrition, no other aspect of husbandry for captive
reptiles is more important than sanitation and hygiene. Many bacterial and
fungal diseases of captive reptiles result from their daily exposure to fecal
contamination and damp, filthy environment. In the wild, reptiles have acres of
land and water over which their feces and uneaten food can be scattered. They
rarely, if ever, come in contact with this material. This is not the case with
captive reptiles. Owners of captive reptiles engage in a continual struggle to
prevent bacterial build-up caused by continual deposition of waste products and
un eaten food.
An iguana's cage floor or aquarium bottom can be covered
with clean newspaper (unprinted preferably) or butcher paper. The next best
material is indoor - outdoor carpeting. Paper towel squares can also be placed
end to end to cover the entree bottom of the enclosure. When one of the squares
becomes soiled, it can be easily removed and replaced without disturbing the
entire floor of the enclosure. Under no circumstances should pea gravel,
corncob material, wood shavings, sand, kitty litter or sawdust be used.
None of these items promotes adequate cleanliness, and they may be eaten
while the iguana is feeding, resulting in intestinal impaction.
Iguanas
are frequently displayed on moss. Even though this is visually attractive, it
is a poor husbandry practice because this material remains continually damp,
promoting serious skin infections.
A captive iguana's environment must
be kept fastidiously clean and dry. Any object that becomes soiled with feces
or urine should be removed and cleaned or replaced as soon as possible. The
enclosure should be set up so that it can be easily cleaned. Human nature
dictates that the more time it takes to clean the cage and the more complicated
the task, the less often it will be done. Make the enclosure functional rather
than beautiful.
Reptiles are highly susceptible to poisoning from pine
oil cleaners, such as PineSol and Lysol. These household cleaners must be
avoided.
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