green iguana in general

[DRACONODON]

the beginning of the care sheet on green iguanas is qouted from the beginners guide to owning a green iguana by John Coburn John coburn dedicated his time and efforts into the care of factual information on this thread.... also i am currently typing up a medical side of green iguana problems with the help of carley levison my local vetinary center to who is credited for the information established on the sheet.....

if any one has any information on green iguanas please feel free to add the information onto this thread and therefor we can remain a good knowledgible scource for new iguana keepers on this thrad

i will take no credit for what is in this care sheet as i am just the typer of the sheet

Best Regards Shaun

[DRACONODON]

The first order of business in selecting an iguana is to avoid being buffaloed by exotic names for what is essentially the same animal unless you are looking at an entirely different species such as a Desert iguana (genus Dipsosaurus) or a rhinoceros iguana (genus cyclura) a green iguana is a green iguana and is known in Latin as (iguana iguana) they can come from Mexico, central America or South America and the physical variations often exhibited from specimen to specimen and can sometimes be attributed to where each individual came from with the current increase in captive breeding the possibility exists that breeders will develop unique colour variations but for now in some instances the jazzy colours which can some times cost you twice or sometimes three times as much the fact is that the iguana will loose that colour as age passes by.

When selecting a juvenile iguana common sense would tell you to look for a calm attractable little guy one who will tolerate being picked up or held without making a fuss unfortunately in this instance common sense will prove you to be wrong?

They see themselves as meat everything wants to eat them and a good healthy specimen will do all in its power to escape you,
They will do anything to avoid you running scratching tail whipping

Look carefully and think carefully before you buy an iguana they may look cute and tiny in the store but will grow massively big within the next 2-3 years

The iguana should be ready and alert,
Try to avoid you when handling,
Its body should be plump and its outside appearance should be clean ( eyes no discharge or woo zing coming from the mouth)
It should carry no injuries and have a good clean environment clean water and such)
If you are thinking of getting a much older specimen try to find your local rescue centre and make enquiries or buy him/her of an experienced dealer who knows what they are doing and can advise you on what to do should a problem ever arise?

Rescuing iguanas is a long run your iggy may have been mistreated at some point and be aggressive or he may be calm and friendly, depending you can expect not to see the iguana in good nick!! It may have broken toes and flattened spikes but don’t let this put you off he will still make a good buddy

Think carefully before purchasing your iguana

However, in many cases rehabilitating an animal comes to practice common sense husbandry and one or two vet nary checkups
Plus you’ll have the added satisfaction of having saved a little or large green life

An important thing to remember is your iguanas stuff will always cost more than the iguana him/herself.
Luxuries they are vital and your iguana will not usually survive without them.
In the past iguanas used to be an investment grade purchase, and the people who bought them had already spent so much money that they didn’t mind in spending money on the rest of the necessities. These days however the animals are so cheap that they can be easily purchased but come on people face the facts before breeding iguanas rescue one as many people don’t realise how big they grow? (5-7ft) depending.
Iguanas are being sold routinely as a beginner’s lizard and THEY ARE NOT!!!! There dietary requirements are far more difficult to accommodate than that of the average carnivore
In other words if you are not prepared to do what you need to do
And spend what you need to spend don’t get an iguana.


Features of the body:


Shedding:
Iguanas shed there skins in patches and are essentially shedding all the time, they rarely encounter difficulties but there are a few things you will need to check on from time to time!!!
When an iguana is shedding the skin around his eyes it can be very irritating to him and you may see him attempt to dislodge the skin by clawing at it or rubbing his face against things in the cage? This peeling skin causes no health problems but you can make him more comfortable by gently peeling it off yourself.

One place where more serious difficulties can occur is in shedding the coverings of his spikes more to the point failing to shed them.
The spikes are the last thing to be shed during moulting pieces so don’t jump to the gun immediately and think the iguana is in trouble.
In many cases a gentle tug will remove them if you have any other worries about your iguana shed consult a vet.

Parietal eye:
In addition to the two standard eyes at the front of the head iguanas have a third eye known as the median or parietal eye, this eye has some primitive structures that correspond to those of main eyeballs, but they are buried so deeply beneath the skin that this eye can do little more than distinguish light from darkness
The median eye is an extension of specialized brain tissue known as the parietal organ and a perforation in the cranial bone allows this nerve tissue to extend from the brain to a light sensitive spot on the top of the head? Many other lizards have this too?

Salt Glands


Salt glands are specialized structures found in some lizards most notably the marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus)
And our friend the green iguana. These glands allow the lizard to minimize water loss and make the most of whats available in his environment. If the metal salts such as potassium and Sodium that these animals ingest were to be processed through normal digestive means the osmotic pressure exerted by the salts would quickly lead to dehydration and death.
To prevent this, the salt gland accumulates fluid containing the salts to be excreted within the pocket just inside the opening of the nasal passage. The water component of this fluid evaporates as inhaled air passes over it which serves to both concentrate the salts.

This is truly magnificent.. The way an iguana’s body works


HOUSING YOUR IGUANA!!!!!
Your new iguana will need a new home of course and its tempting to buy an aquarium for him and just slap a screen on top of it.
There are drawbacks to this however. Little iguanas will hang from the screen top either tearing it and escaping or falling from it Sometimes they catch there tiny claws in it!!!
Another bad thing is, no matter what size you get your iguana will outgrow each enclosure over time.

Buy a long lasting enclosure to start off with it will save many problems.

Your iguana’s cage should have some areas of privacy particularly if you are housing more than one iguana in the same cage. Iguanas generally are not mean lizards but have rigid ideas on sharing the same branch as another iguana two males
Will dominate over one another sometimes resulting in a fight which could severely injure your iguana or both of them.


If you build your iguana cage out of wire be sure that the gaps do not allow your iguana to get there head and limbs stuck
Apart from young iguanas housing adults together can be a risky business. If you have dominance contests such as one isn’t being allowed to use the basking area or feed it is time to separate
A lone iguana may try to dominate yourself as there aren’t any other iguanas to bully but hey just head bob right back and get your hands dirty and let them know who’s boss?

Providing things for your iguana will not only give him/her a great deal of entertainment but you can enjoy yourself watching him. It is also a necessity of his mental well being as they aren’t as stupid as many people make them out to be.

Jungle gyms
Rope Balls
Toys
Even rabbit toys so long as they can’t fit it into there mouth.
You can decorate with artificial plants your iguana will taste them but not eat them lol

HEAT
Like any tropical reptile iguanas need substantial heat. First of all heat needs to be supplied in gradient so that one end of the cage provides maximum warmth while the other end allows the minimum allowable temperature.

In full a smaller high temperature area should be provided for basking. During the day the cool end of the cage should be in the mid 70s the warm end should be in the mid 80s. And the basking area should be 90 degrees (F)

At night the cool side should be in the low 70s and the warm side should be in the low 80s. In the case of juveniles temperatures at the cool end of the cage or at night should not be allowed to drop past 75 (F)
Iguanas can cope with occasional drops into the low 60s but frequent exposure to such low temperatures can lead to illness.

You may place a heat mat under the iguanas enclosure to help take the chill away from the floor or even flexible heat tape can accomplish this if done properly.

Light
You must provide light of two different types for your iguana: Regular light so that he knows that it is daytime and full
spectrum light so that can function his metabolic process properly.

Normal periods of dark and light must be established for your iguana’s physical and mental well being.

Full spectrum lighting should be placed on your iguana for 12 14 hours of the day and during the winter months 8 hours a day
To save the hassle of controlling the lights yourself you can set them on timers.

When its bed time it should be dark even if he sleeps in a hide visible light will place unnecessary stress upon him interfering in his circadian or daily rhythms.

U.V tubes and bulbs can be bought at owner’s expense in your local pet shop or reptile specialist.
Allowing your iguana to roam in the garden supervised in the summer is proven to be really good for them.

[DRACONODON]

Substrate
In short newspaper reptile bark is used for the green iguana as it helps humidify the environment, newspaper is cheap and easy to clean out.
The reptile bark is washable also following the bags instructions (the right way)

Substrate such as sand and saw dust is toxic to your iguana rodent bedding contains oils which are toxic to reptiles.
There are many things you can use from your garden center
Consult your pet shop for further details.

Cleaning the cage is mainly just using your common sense if it looks or smells dirty it is
Every 2-3 weeks an iguana enclosure should be cleaned out thoroughly.


Every day place your iguana in a bath they will love this?
It’s good for them physically and mentally it is GREAT FUN.
Iguanas are smarter than they are given credit for and those of us fortunate enough will say that they are as they know our scent and faces.

What not to feed!!!!

Providing a good diet for your iguana is the best thing you can do for it.
As is the case with human vegetarians greater care must go into providing greater nutrition than is nessacery for omnivores. Part of this preparation includes understanding how your iguana sees his foods. As befits browsing leaf eater his colour vision is strongest at the red orange yellow and green end of the spectrum.
Which is why he will be more tempted by tomatoes and leafy greens than boiled white beans.

As a guide line adult iguanas should be fed one cup full of finely chopped vedgetibles a day and one cup full of leafy greens.
For smaller iguanas adjust the amount downward unlike some of the greedier carnivorous reptiles iguanas almost never over eat with the exception of mine which are green pigs.

The diet problems which iguanas experience and they are numerous are caused by feeding the wrong foods not by overeating.

Planning an iguana diet is not simply picking up whatever looks interesting t your fruit and veg shop.

Citric acid foods should be avoided entirely.
Many people make the mistake of feeding there iguana rhubarb this is a toxic combination.

Spinach
Tomatoes
And other watery items are non nutritional foods to your iguana and should only be fed in little bits.
Sparingly

[DRACONODON]

for your iguana dietary needs this website igden should prove effective
The Iguana Den - Iguana Diet - The IgDen Diet

i am also not typing up on breeding green iguanas as although the problems are beginning to lighten on neglected iggs there is still a majour problem with them with in the U.K

[DRACONODON]

iguana woman monthlies

from my personal expiriences green iguanas particularly the males may become more aggresive around females on the monthlies it is also a possibility of pregnaant woman being around this must be treat serisouly as an iguana can deliver a painful bite and a painful lash with the tail......

if you have any questions i have found this website usually has the answeres particularly under this category

Male Iguanas In Breeding Season and Human Females - VeterinaryPartner.com - a VIN company!

hope it is useful......

[DRACONODON]

i am personally not a fan of beginners getting a green iguana but there are times when it cant be helped such as benny and Jay there are exceptions eventually i hope they will post there story on this thread with regards to there green iguana if you find your self in a situaton where u have an iguana which wasnt planned there are many people who will help and support you on this forum please pm me and il find someone for you to talk to and help you with the correct information as there are only a few iguana keepers on here and we will help you....


Best wishes

[DRACONODON]

with regards to health problems when i eventually getting around to typing up i hope this website may be able to help you understand the problems which can arise and what can be done about it
http://www.animalcareassociates.com/iguanahealth.htm

as for now you are welcome to post what you like and please share your knowledge on iguanas with us any stories you may have what happned at the vets even the sad stories we would like to here as it will help us learn and what we should avoid

i would like this to stay friendly unlike my other thread many thanks to gaz benny and jay and all the other iggy keepers jonny boy and tango the corn snake and everyones help and support on my previouse thread it was really appreciated but i was advised by hadesdragons moderator to just start a new thread
also for rehoming and rescuing iguanas please vist this website and make contact for general enqiries http://www.animalcareassociates.com/iguanahealth.htm also http://www.greenigsociety.org/
in which NEBBZ recommended a owner to and checked it out i found it to be quite a good scorce of information

try the



BEST REGARDS shaun i would prefer you to call me shaun as a few people think im an expert once again i am not just really good lmao

thanks guys

[DRACONODON]

FORUM IS NOW OPEN FOR DISCUSSION

[DRACONODON]

Please post some pics of your green iguanas

give people a general idea how small or big they can be state there names e.t.c

[tommyjacobs]

well done m8 must of took u ages to do all this AGAIN just thought id let myself be known as an iguana keeper so any would be keepers can if they wish contact me for help and advice im in no ways an expert but i have 6 years expirience and it might be good keeping or just luck but ive had very few problems feel free to contact me but any advice would be based on my expirience and my research and not to be classed as fact unless i otherwise state cheers tommy