Rhino iguana tried to eat his poop!!!!

[hangtown530]

Why in the world would he try to eat his own poop. I know most animals might do this for extra nutrition if they are not getting what they need but I feed him very well everyday. His diet consist of mustard, collard, endive, escarole, dandelion greens, butternut squash, yellow squash, rutabaga (occasional), snap peas, carrots (occasional), bell peppers, prickly pear, soaked adult iguana pellets (occasional), dry plan oat meal (occasional), mango, strawberry, banana, papaya, raspberry, all on occasion.

105 degrees in the basking area, 75-80 on the cool side

40-70 percent humidity

Megaray uvb

Anyways any input on the subject and anything else I didn't cover?

Plus calcium 3 times a week and Muti Vit 1 time a week both Repti-Cal and no D3

 

[reptastic]

You should add some protein to his diet, most people confuse cyclura and green iguanas when it comes to diet, although they are primarily herbivores they still need protein in their diet unlike green iguanas, also i would bump up the basking temps to 120* they prefer the higher basking temps.
some like it hotter, i have caught my rhino basking at 130*, not often but a few times

 

[hangtown530]

Thanks for the input...what types of protein are you feeding? And how often are you feeding the protein? I figures that the adult iguana pellets had enough protein content in it but your saying animal protein right. I've heard the occasional cricket and such is aright but I just haven't tried it yet...

 

[teguboy77]

As far as them eating there own poop there could be alot of reasons,i've read they'll eat adult poop to get nutrition but i dont think there's a scientific reasons to be honrst with you.And i think your temps are fine,also the food your giving him has enough protein in it and there's protein in the green i would add any this is just my opinion,this works for me and i've talked to rob ehrig about adding protein and he said stick with greens hes been working with them since the 70's he knows rhino's well.

 

[hangtown530]

Thanks bro...what took you so long to get to this message? lol I thought you had fed some crickets? It's such a mixed review...David Blair says to feed animal protein in small amounts and Ehrig says don't I think he's probably fine it was my girlfriend that was flipping out lol

 

[reptastic]

I have no idea who rob Ehrig is and not to doubt his knowledge but i talked about this with tom Crutchfield and a few other cyclura owners, 110 is ok but trust me your Rhino will fair much better with a higher basking temp, as far as animal protein i fed my Rhino super worms and mealies every other week and a pinky mouse 1x a month, of course he had his fruits and veggies daily, one other thing i noticed about my Rhino was he really enjoyed having dried grass added every once in a while, after only 4 mos my Rhino grew a total of 10" and was very active and ate at least 2 bowls a day, never had any shed issues or problems with mbd or any other ailments, after following toms advice after 4 mos i sent him pics to see how i was doing and he was very pleased

 

[james.w]

I wouldn't worry about him. I think your temps and diet are fine. I have fed mine 2 pinkies in the 6-7 months I have had him just for a little bit of animal protein. I use RepCal calcuim with D3 for my Rhino though.

 

[teguboy77]

Again i dont go high with my basking spot,mine is 107f, trust me it works for me,well rob ehrig is another huge breeder of rhino's i guess everybody has there own opinions,just with my rhino's i stay with my greens dust there foods and give them great temps and use good uvb bulbs and my rhino's do very well,there greens have protein's in them so they get enough there,ive threw a couple crickets in my rhino's cage and he ate one but i try to stay away from animal protein and stick with staple greens.If somebody has a rhino feed them whatever you want but that was just my opinion.

 

[james.w]

Again i dont go high with my basking spot trust me it works for me,well rob ehrig is another huge breeder of rhino's i guess everybody has there own opinions,just with my rhino's i stay with my greens dust there foods and give them great temps and use good uvb bulbs and my rhino's do very well,there greens have protein's in them so they get enough there,ive threw a couple crickets in my rhino's cage and he ate one but i try to stay away from animal protein and stick with staple greens.If somebody has a rhino feed them whatever you want but that was just my opinion.

Mine is a Rob ehrig baby. Do you use calcium with D3 or without??

 

[teguboy77]

I use both Miner-All Calcium and Rep-Cal Calcium with Vitamin D3 cause my russets rhino is inside,and for rep-cal HERPTIVITE Multivitamin.I use my calicum 5 days a week and multi vitamins 2 days.You got yours from rob?

 

[hangtown530]

Mine is without for sure they say that you iguana should produce plenty of d3 on there own. With the right lighting that is...

 

[james.w]

I use both Miner-All Calcium and Rep-Cal Calcium with Vitamin D3 cause my russets rhino is inside,and for rep-cal HERPTIVITE Multivitamin.I use my calicum 5 days a week and multi vitamins 2 days.You got yours from rob?

I got mine from Ben Siegel, but talked to Rob and he said that the ones Ben had were from him.

 

[teguboy77]

Thats cool,your rhino will be very nice i'm sure,mine i got from him and its a male russests rhino.Again i us the calcium with d3 being my rhino is kept inside and under mercury vapor bulb and a 10.0 36'' uvb.

---

You can see orange on the russest here's two pictures of mine.

 

[RobK.]

Mine eats his poop every now and then too . but only when i have given him Rep-Cal iguana food as a treat the day before . I think he smells it in his poop and just can't resist .

 

[reptastic]

I have never seen khaos do this, although it couldve been the fact that he ate so much he just didnt have room lol, i swear somedays that iguana would wolf down 2 bowls of food in a day

 

[hangtown530]

Mine eats his poop every now and then too . but only when i have given him Rep-Cal iguana food as a treat the day before . I think he smells it in his poop and just can't resist .

Hmm that's weird because it was right after I saw your post and went and bought him some to try out lol...

 

[teguboy77]

My russets rhino doest eat his poop,but i do clean his cage daily,not saying other people dont clean there cage daily as well.Also i gave my russets alittle mazuri tortoise chow moistened along with green he seemed to eat it see what happens,never tried it before.

 

[RobK.]

Mine eats his poop every now and then too . but only when i have given him Rep-Cal iguana food as a treat the day before . I think he smells it in his poop and just can't resist .

Hmm that's weird because it was right after I saw your post and went and bought him some to try out lol...

Yep, i bet he smells the rep-cal in his poop . It smells very very fruity . Mine NEVER ate his poop until a have him some . I give mine a little ( soaked in water ) every day now , after he's pigged out on his vegies . I now clean his poop up as soon as i see it , i use to let it dry then clean it up , until i saw him eat it .He will dive on the repCal pellets the minute i drop them through the screen . He likes red so he really notices those .

 

[teguboy77]

Yea i guess he could smell the repcal pellets,i never tried those with my rhino if i were to try them i guess i would add them on top off his greens,maybe i will try them.