How to care for a Green Iguana

If you own an iguana, or are thinking of getting one, consider the book, The Guide to Owning and Caring For Green Iguanas. This comprehensive guide to keeping green iguanas contains valuable information about feeding, housing, and health of green iguanas

As with all animals, your green iguana may get sick. Most diseases can be prevented, or treated if the proper steps are followed.

If you plan on buying, or already have green iguanas, find a vet in your area that specializes in, or at least has experience with iguanas. Find out in advance their policies and experience.

Buy only captive bred iguanas. This reduces the risk of iguanas dying from stress and disease.  Never put a newly aquired iguana with one you already own, or parasites may be spread from one to the other. A vet will be able to tell if your pet does have any parasites. Most can be successfully treated with medication.

Iguanas can suffer from a various disease conditions. The most common of which is Metabolic Bone Disease. This occurs when the reptile cannot properly absorb calcium, either through improper diet or inadequate lighting. Symptoms include loss of weight, swelling and a listless animal. If you observe this, have it treated immediately. If caught in time, it can be corrected by a change in diet or lighting, or in severe cases calcium and vitamin injections will be needed.

Weigh your pet on a kitchen type scale regularly, so that you will quickly notice any weight loss.

Where should I buy?
First of all, shop around. Look for a vendor that you feel comfortable with. They should be willing to spend time to answer all your questions, and not ruch you into making your purchase. If possible, avoid stores that specialize in dogs & cats with only one or two lizards on display. Don't just look for the lowest price – the 5 or 10 dollars you save will not mean much if you get an unhealthy animal.

Make sure you are buying a captive bred iguana, otherwise the risk of getting one with parasites is higher. Make sure that it has spent at least a few weeks with it's mother – young iguanas get antibodies to fight disease through the stools of adult iguanas. If they are seperated too early, your iguana may not have the immunities required.

Make sure that it has been kept only with other captive bred iguanas. Ask the vendor if they have been checked for parasites, and when. If you are biuying an older (and more expensive) iguana, it may be worth your while to obtain a stool sample and have it checked by a vet before making your purchase. While have the sample analyzed, ask the store to keep it seperate from any other animals. If you are buying one in the 100 dollar price range, they should be willing to do this for you.

The iguana you choose should be bright, lively, and alert. It should move quickly,and have clear eyes and skin. Check to make sure that there are no missing or broken toes.

At a young age, the sex of the iguana is usually unknown. If they are older, you may have a choice. Male iguanas are generally more aggressive that females, but they are also somewhat less likely to develop health problems as their anatomy is less complicated.

The final, and most difficult thing to evaluate is the iguanas personality. Choose one that stays reasonably calm when reaching into the cage (but not one that just sits there!) Try to avoid any that snap at your fingers – this will probably just get worse as it gets older. Some are very easily panicked, and will continue to run around frantically. Others get so stressed that they go into a “frozen” state with their eyes closed

How should they live?
The green iguana habitat can be as simple or as elaborate as you choose to make it. As long as the key elements, space, light, heat, and security are taken into account, you can make it an expression of your own creativity.

Space is important. Make sure that one dimension is at least twice as long as your iguana, as measured from head to tail. If it is an iguana of six inches or less, remember that it should grown to twice it's size within a year. It's better to start off with an oversized terrarium than to have to change it every six months.

Lighting is critical to your green iguanas health. It requires a source of UVB light to properly metabolize calcium. Without this, it will develop bone disease and eventually die. This light must be direct, not through glass or plastic. For this reason, it is important that the top of the terrarium is of wire mesh.

Your iguana likes it warm. Remember, reptiles have no internal mechanism for controlling body temperature. They need an external heat source to keep warm, and to keep their digestive enzymes functioning. Do NOT use “hot rocks” or similar direct heating devices. These provide heating that is too hot, and too localized to be useful. Incandescent heat lamps, ceramic radiant heaters and/or under-cage heating pads or tapes work well. Make sure you have at least one, preferably two thermometers in the terrarium. Don't guess, or go by what feels warm to you. The temperature should be about 85F in the hot area during the day, with a minimum of 75F at night.

Security has two aspects to it – making sure your pet doesn't escape, and making sure it cannot hurt itself. When making your habitat escape proof, assume that your iguana is ten times stronger than you think it is, has had an apprenticeship with Houdini, and can levitate. 

Making sure your pet can't hurt itself is more difficult. Make sure there is no place that a toe can get stuck and broken. Make sure there is nothing sharp inside. Keep all heat sources outside the terrarium, or the iguana will burn itself. Use a safe, non toxic substrate. Never use sand (which can be ingested), or carpet (loops can tangle toes, cutting off circulation).