Green Poop

farmergirl · #1 (**permalink**) 01-16-2005, 02:41 AM

I acquired a 9 yr. old male iguana over a week ago. His owners were feeding him mainly store bought pellets, some lettuce, and calcisand. He goes to the bathroom regularly every morning but it always comes out green. I have always read that it should be brown. I have him on "iguana friendly" vegetables and a little bit of fruit with powdered calcium sprinkled on top. Plus I add a few pellets on top because he was so used to it and I didn't want to change his diet to drasticly at first. Any thoughts on why his poop is not the normal color? Food coloring in the pellets? Is it something I should even be concerned with? Thanks for any help.

NicoleRussell · #2 (**permalink**) 01-16-2005, 01:10 PM

Calcisand?
Most people do not use it as a substrate anymore much less a supplement. That can cause blockages and serious problems.
Take a teaspoon of calcisand and add a drop of water to it and see what happens---imagine this in your pet's digestive track.
And lettuce should never be fed to any animal...especially an iguana.
Is the stool loose or solid? Does it have a yellow section?
Have you considered bringing the animal in for a fecal and general exam? See the post on IGUANAS and VETERINARIANS in the article section---it's good info for you right now.
What pellets is he eating?
Using the pellets to supplement his diet is fine---I would recommend Monster Diet or Zoomed pellets. Some veggies like squash, brussel sprouts, carrots and others, mixed with greens like dandelion, collard, chard etc---topped with some iguana dust (shake and bake) should be fine. Just remember to vary the diet as much as possible. I buy different foods each week.
Keep fruit as a treat---blueberries, apricots, a small amount of bananna, raspberries, blackberries (a personal favorite of my little rhino) and so many others are great choices.
Lighting---very important.
What lighting are you using?

Quote:

Originally Posted by farmergirl

I acquired a 9 yr. old male iguana over a week ago. His owners were feeding him mainly store bought pellets, some lettuce, and calcisand. He goes to the bathroom regularly every morning but it always comes out green. I have always read that it should be brown. I have him on "iguana friendly" vegetables and a little bit of fruit with powdered calcium sprinkled on top. Plus I add a few pellets on top because he was so used to it and I didn't want to change his diet to drasticly at first. Any thoughts on why his poop is not the normal color? Food coloring in the pellets? Is it something I should even be concerned with? Thanks for any help.

farmergirl · #3 (**permalink**) 01-16-2005, 05:41 PM

Thanks for your reply! He has a 3 ft. UVA/UVB light that he sits under most of the day (I will be upgrading this to a 4 ft. double bulb next week). I also bought daytime and nightime basking lamps that he loves because his previous owners were using a hot rock (eeek!). I do not use the calcisand, I threw that away when we got home. I use Jurrasical, it is powdered calcium with NO phosphorus or D3 added. He is eating a very good diet now, I'm sure some of the veggies I give him he has never seen before in his life. I only give him about a tablespoon of the pellets which are RepCal Iguana Pellets (using them like crutons on a salad). It just breaks my heart to know that he had been unproperly cared for the first 9 years of his life. He will be going to the vet next week but I was just wondering about the color issue in the meantime.

farmergirl · #4 (**permalink**) 01-16-2005, 05:48 PM

Oh forgot to add, it is sometimes loose sometimes solid and always has the watery mucus with string normally found in iguana bms.

NicoleRussell · #5 (**permalink**) 01-16-2005, 09:45 PM

The way you are using the pellets (scattered in salad) is the way they use them at species head start facilities so that was smart thinking.
The only thing I would change is the lighting. I would use a MVB instead of an Ftube. For some great bulb info and upto the minute reports you can join the UVB METER OWNERS group at yahoo and reda through the file section.
To give you a supersummary of the findings though---MAC industry bulbs were rated #1 for output, decay and longevity--go to ReptileUV.com for more info about those bulbs. MVB's have proven superior to tubes--and even some of them (mvbs) are not so good. Trex, westron and Mac seem to be the top 3.
For iguanas and BD's it's really important to provide microwattage and heat that mimics the sun---and these bulbs are the only ones that do that 100%.
A stool sample will rule out parasites as far as his stool---and yes---those colored pellets can change fecal color.

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