maugee.com

ABOUT MAUGEE MAUGEE'S JOURNAL MAUGEE'S SALAD AND THE JOURNEY TO HEALTH PLAYTIME & TAMENESS MAUGEE'S "HOUSE" EVERYTHING ELSE WHAT ABOUT MY IG? MAUGEE'S LIBRARY E-MAIL US	DATE: DECEMBER 7TH, 2000	JOURNAL ENTRY: Today Maugee was very laid back and sweet, though she was still quite tense when I would walk by her cage. I sat next to her and talked to her for a while, and she relaxed. She still has a lot of built-up skin on her nuchal and dorsal crests (the spikes down her neck and back), so I've been spraying her with warm water a few times a day. She closes her eyes and stands up tall, as if it was raining on her. She's very cute when she does that. I fed her a mixture of escarole, dandelion greens, green beans, parsnips, and cucumbers today, with a pinch of multivitamin and calcium as usual. She's still hooked on the escarole and won't eat unless it's in her food. For years my mother fed her a mixture of escarole, parsley, and commercial Iguana pellet food, which was recommended by our vet. After doing a lot of research, I realized that the commercial food was not beneficial, the parsley is detrimental (see the food section for more information), and the escarole is marginal. I'd like the phase the escarole out of her daily food and only offer it occasionally, but for now it's a must, though I'm decreasing the amount every day. She isn't eating enough, but she's picking at it, and I think she'll learn to like it eventually. I can tell Maugee is still too cold, though she's got a nice basking spot -- I need to get her an incandescent light for heat. I'm frustrated with that dog cage we have her in... she gets around OK in it but it's got to feel like a prison cell to her. I've been planning the new cage, using the instructions from "Green Iguana: The Ultimate Owner's Manual" by James W. Hatfield III for the "Ultimate Iguana Habitat." I recommend to anybody reading this that they take the time and money to construct it for their ig. It really does seem to be the ultimate, and despite the beautiful appearance and high-tech system, it's relatively inexpensive. I'd rather spend my $200-$500 on a wonderful enclosure like that than on another dog cage, which is about the same price. I'm in the process of cleaning out the garage and getting it ready to build the habitat... will update you on my progress. Well, enough writing for tonight. :)
	DECEMBER 13TH, 2000	I haven't written in a little while, but I've continued to take good care of Maugee. I found out that my grandmother has breast cancer, so I've been spending lots of time with her, and haven't had much time to actually write down what's going on with Maugee. However, I am happy to tell you that Maugee is no longer being picky with her food -- I don't put escarole or parsley into her food anymore, and she doesn't mind. I probably will include those occasionally as a hand-fed treat or maybe even mixed in with her usual salad, but for now I'd rather keep it out of there, until she's 100% used to eating a great variety of foods, and not dependent upon those two that she loves so much. Today she had some strawberries. She always loved them when she was little -- she'd get them all over her face, she loved them so much. I guess she's gotten a lot neater since then, because even though she devoured the whole bowl of chopped berries, there was no tell-tale evidence on her mouth. ;) Maugee always flipped out whenever we'd change the towels in her cage, because we didn't do it every day -- we'd pick up her poop with paper towels and then maybe change the towel every three days or so. It wasn't exactly what I'd call sanitary, and I'm not proud of that, but I'm telling you about it because that was Maugee's reality for many years. I'm sure she wasn't very happy about that. Since December 1st, I have been using paper towels taped to newspaper, which she LOVES. She's able to wipe her vent better, and I change them immediately after she defecates -- iguanas are very clean animals, and if you don't keep their cages immaculate, they won't be very happy. Anyway, Maugee is almost completely used to me changing the newspapers every day now. She lifts up her tail so I have more room to remove them, and she doesn't get too nervous about it. She even watches me taping more paper towels to the newspapers, so she knows that I'm doing that just for her, and it seems to really interest her. She really seems to understand. :) The other day I was able to reach through the top of her cage and pet the top of her head a couple of times. She got scared and went to the other side of the cage (or shall I say FLEW to the other side of the cage -- it took her .1 seconds to do so). But she seems to be getting the idea that when I pet her, nothing bad happens to her. I've even been trying to eat in the same room, so that she can watch me, and see that I'm NOT eating iguanas. :) It might sound funny, but just like when she watches me making her newspaper substrate, she looks at me with wonder when I'm eating. I hope she's making the connection. That's about it lately -- I hope I have more to update you on very soon!
	DECEMBER 14TH, 2000	Today we had to take my grandmother to the doctor's office for an all-day appointment at 7AM, and I knew that I had to get up good and early if I wanted to make Maugee her salad and quietly slip it into her cage without waking her up. She's currently on a 10am-11pm schedule, which is actually much better than before -- I am slowly working her schedule to an 8am-9pm schedule, which I think will be much better. Many books recommend 6am-6pm, and if you can do that, I recommend it too. But in my case it's an individual thing -- Maugee is used to an erratic sleep schedule from the years that I did not take care of her, so 8am-9pm is actually going to seem just about perfect to her. :) Anyway, I showered the night before, and set my alarm for 5am. I got up, had breakfast, and then prepared Maugee's salad. I slipped it into her cage, and she slowly opened one eye to see just what in the world I thought I was doing in her cage at 6am. :) She's getting more and more used to me though -- she closed her eye and went back to sleep almost immediately. So today was pretty much uneventful for Maugee and I, but she probably liked it that way. :)
	DECEMBER 15, 2000	I'm very pleased with the way today went. It's actually the most positive day we've had together since I started taking care of her again. When I took out Maugee's soiled substrate this morning and replaced it with clean newspapers/paper towels, she didn't move -- usually she tries to get as far away from me as possible. She just watched me, as if to say, "Oh yeah, it's you. It's about time..." :) She has NEVER acted so calm and sweet when I do that -- as I said in previous journal entries, she seems to understand what I'm doing, but fear it at the same time. Today, there was no fear. "No worries," as they say in Australia. :) Later in the day, I reached into the cage and pet Maugee's tail. For those who think that's an odd place to start, click here to find out what I think. I've been doing this almost every day since December 1st, but Maugee has reacted with a mixture of confusion and mild fear. Today she looked at me with that look (you iguana keepers know what I'm talking about) that says, "WHAT do you think you're doing, touching the Iguana Goddess's tail???" ;) But it was much less fearful, and she didn't move an inch. She slowly relaxed and just watched me pet her tail, and I could see her realizing that I wasn't going to hurt her. If you've never kept an iguana, and you're reading this, you're thinking that I am nuts, and that iguanas can't possibly convey that much emotion with a simple look. Well, believe me, you are wrong. Ask any iguana keeper. :) Moving on... So today was a great day. Have any of you read "Green Iguana: The Ultimate Owner's Manual" by James W. Hatfield III? If you have, you'll know what I mean when I say that Maugee went from a 45 to a 35 on the tameness scale today. I hope she is the same tomorrow, but with these wonderfully tempramental lizards, you never know. :) Wish me luck.
	DECEMBER 16, 2000	I wasn't home much today, so I didn't get to have any "playtime" with Maug, but I did set up a two-lightbulb incandescent fixture on her cage today. I ordered two 100-watt blue bulbs from BigAppleHerp.com yesterday, but all I had to put in it for today were two 60-watt bulbs. Needless to say, they aren't providing much warmth, but it's not so bad for now. No matter what I do, it's pretty much impossible to maintain the proper heat gradient in that cage, so all I can do for now is maintain it as well as I can. Maugee wasn't very friendly this morning, and I think it made her mad that I kept messing with the lighting while I was setting up the new fixture. I hope to have a more eventful update for you tomorrow. :)

BACK TO TOP

DISCLAIMER: THE CONTENT ON THIS SITE AND THE
OPINIONS EXPRESSED HEREIN ARE GLEANED FROM
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, AND YOU SHOULD NOT
FOLLOW ANY RECOMMENDATIONS OR INSTRUCTIONS
ON THIS SITE WITHOUT FIRST DOING EXTENSIVE
RESEARCH YOURSELF. JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING
WORKED WITH MAUGEE DOES NOT MEAN IT WILL
WORK FOR YOUR IGUANA, AND AS A RESPONSIBLE
"PARENT" IT'S SMART TO USE ALL
THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO YOU.

Psend kept free because of these great sponsors.a..

Other Sponsors

electrical connectors, Mangosteen Juice, real estate short sale, Jupiter FL real estate,

Furniture Markdown

Great Deals on furniture - Free Shipping!
Discount Furniture
Daybeds
Metal Beds
Platform Beds
Futons

Y-Net Wireless Internet

Denver area high speed wireless privider.
Colorado High Speed Internet, Wireless Internet Denver, VOIP Denver CO, T1 provider Denver, Denver Wireless ISP , Denver Internet Access,

Dog House Technologies

Doghouse Techonologies is located in Tampa Bay FL and offer professional web design, ecommerce development and custom application design for the internet.
Tampa Bay Web Design, E-Commerce Web Design, Tampa Bay Search Engine Marketing, Tampa Web Hosting, Florida Web Design, Custom Application Development, Search Engine Optimization,