The Snake Guru
08-22-2008, 11:53 PM
Submitted by "burmlover16"
Green Iguana (Iguana Iguana)
Intoduction - Green Iguanas are the largest out of the iguana famlily. Both males and females can reach up to 6ft in length, although females tend to be smaller. Green Iguanas can live 15 years or more in captivity if properly cared for.
Housing - Green Iguanas need very large enclosures. Baby Green Iguanas should start out in nothing smaller than a 55 gallon aquarium. They need a lot of room to move and regulate their body temperatures. The 55 gallon aquarium will only last about 6 months. In that time you should be planning on building and adult enclosure. The adult enclosure should me a minimum of 6ft tall 5 ft long 3 ft deep but always keep in mind the bigger the better. Never use pine or cedar when building your Green Iguanas cage! The oils from the wood is toxic to your Green Iguana. The cage should be at least 3 sides wood to help hold humidity. You can use hardware cloth or plexi glass for the front of your enclosure but the hardware cloth will be a little more challenging to get you humidity levels up. Make sure to give your iguana plenty of places to climb ans hide. Shelves and pvc work great just make sure that you put indoor/outdoor carpet over them so your iguana can have something to hold onto and not fall. For lighting you can cut out circular spots on the top of the cage with mesh covering the wholes or you can mount the lights inside the cage just make sure you put mesh around the fixture so your Iguana cannot get burned.
Lighting - Lighting and UVB for your Green Iguana is essential!!! Without UVA/UVB lights Iguanas can develope Metabolic Bone disease(MBD) which is a calcium deficiency that can be easily prevented with the right lighting, although MBD is not always caused by lighting. I recomend Reptisun 10.0 tube lights. The UVB light should not have any screen or mesh between the light and the Iguana so they get the full rays from the light. Also the light should only be 12 inches from your Iguana. A good place to put the light is next to the basking light. UVB lights have to be changed every 5-6 months. They need to be on 12 hours a day. For the normal basking light and heat lights you can use regular house bulbs but i don't recomend useing anything over 100 watt to prevent burns. Also Cermamic Heat Amitters(CHE) work great they just get super hot so you have to be careful with them. All Green Iguanas need a photo period of 12/12. Which is 12 hours with the lights on and 12 hours with the lights off. You can vary how long you want the photo period. For example you can do 11/13 or 13/11.
Temps and Humidity - Green Iguanas need a basking spot of 100* to 120* degrees F. with a cool side of 75* degrees F. The humdity needs to be 75% you really don't want to go any higher because you may start having problems with mold.
Food and Water - Green Iguanas need a variety of vegetables and fruit daily. Greens to feed are Collard greens, Mustard greens, Watercress and Dandelion greens. They don't have to be fed all at the same time but alternating greens is good. Vegetables to feed daily are Acorn squash, Butternut squash, Parsnip, Kabocha squash, Green beans. All the vegetables need to be peeled and shredded. Food processors work great for this! Fruit to feed daily is Mango and Papaya. Other food such as Grapes, Bannanas, Watermelon, Cantelope, Honeydew melon can be fed on occasion or as treats. Keep in mind all Iguanas do not like the same foods so some will be picky and not eat everything which is ok. Never give Iguanas dog food, cat food, any kind of meat or insects. The protein is too high and can cause liver and kidney problems. Green Iguanas need fresh water daily. They love to soak in their bowls an often times deficate in them so you may have to change the water more than once a day. They need a bowl large enough to fit their whole body in, cat litter pans work great!
Substrate - Butcher paper, paper towles, or newspaper works great for Iguanas. It may not look the greatest but it is the most effective. Never use beddings such as wood chips or something that has large chunks of dirt or rocks in them. Iguanas are kinda like little kids they love to put everything in their mouths. If they swallow a wood chip or rock it can cause impaction which can cause alot of problems or lead to death.
Handling - All young Green Iguanas are gonna be very terrified of you at first. You need to be very patient with them. First before handling gain their trust by feeding them and talking to them daily. Then move up to hand feeding them and maybe petting them but don't try and grab them because this will scare them even more. Eventually work up to holding them inside the enclosure. Once they are used to this try bringing them outside the enclosure for short periods and work up to maybe a half an hour or however long you would like to have them out. Keep in mind not all Iguanas are nice some never like being held. Also males during breeding season can be very mean.
Sexing - Green Iguanas cannot be sexed until they are 18 months to 2 years old. Male Iguanas have large femoral pores on the bottom of their hind legs which are used to rub and mark their territory. Males also have larger bulges by the base of their tails for their hemipenes. Males also normally have a larger dewlap. Females tend to have a smaller head compared to their body and their famoral pores are very small or barley visible.
Green Iguanas make wonderful pets but require a lot of time and patience. Also remeber that cute little baby at the pet store may only cost $15 but to set them up properly with lights, cage, etc...will soon turn into $400.00 - $600.00.
Green Iguana (Iguana Iguana)
Intoduction - Green Iguanas are the largest out of the iguana famlily. Both males and females can reach up to 6ft in length, although females tend to be smaller. Green Iguanas can live 15 years or more in captivity if properly cared for.
Housing - Green Iguanas need very large enclosures. Baby Green Iguanas should start out in nothing smaller than a 55 gallon aquarium. They need a lot of room to move and regulate their body temperatures. The 55 gallon aquarium will only last about 6 months. In that time you should be planning on building and adult enclosure. The adult enclosure should me a minimum of 6ft tall 5 ft long 3 ft deep but always keep in mind the bigger the better. Never use pine or cedar when building your Green Iguanas cage! The oils from the wood is toxic to your Green Iguana. The cage should be at least 3 sides wood to help hold humidity. You can use hardware cloth or plexi glass for the front of your enclosure but the hardware cloth will be a little more challenging to get you humidity levels up. Make sure to give your iguana plenty of places to climb ans hide. Shelves and pvc work great just make sure that you put indoor/outdoor carpet over them so your iguana can have something to hold onto and not fall. For lighting you can cut out circular spots on the top of the cage with mesh covering the wholes or you can mount the lights inside the cage just make sure you put mesh around the fixture so your Iguana cannot get burned.
Lighting - Lighting and UVB for your Green Iguana is essential!!! Without UVA/UVB lights Iguanas can develope Metabolic Bone disease(MBD) which is a calcium deficiency that can be easily prevented with the right lighting, although MBD is not always caused by lighting. I recomend Reptisun 10.0 tube lights. The UVB light should not have any screen or mesh between the light and the Iguana so they get the full rays from the light. Also the light should only be 12 inches from your Iguana. A good place to put the light is next to the basking light. UVB lights have to be changed every 5-6 months. They need to be on 12 hours a day. For the normal basking light and heat lights you can use regular house bulbs but i don't recomend useing anything over 100 watt to prevent burns. Also Cermamic Heat Amitters(CHE) work great they just get super hot so you have to be careful with them. All Green Iguanas need a photo period of 12/12. Which is 12 hours with the lights on and 12 hours with the lights off. You can vary how long you want the photo period. For example you can do 11/13 or 13/11.
Temps and Humidity - Green Iguanas need a basking spot of 100* to 120* degrees F. with a cool side of 75* degrees F. The humdity needs to be 75% you really don't want to go any higher because you may start having problems with mold.
Food and Water - Green Iguanas need a variety of vegetables and fruit daily. Greens to feed are Collard greens, Mustard greens, Watercress and Dandelion greens. They don't have to be fed all at the same time but alternating greens is good. Vegetables to feed daily are Acorn squash, Butternut squash, Parsnip, Kabocha squash, Green beans. All the vegetables need to be peeled and shredded. Food processors work great for this! Fruit to feed daily is Mango and Papaya. Other food such as Grapes, Bannanas, Watermelon, Cantelope, Honeydew melon can be fed on occasion or as treats. Keep in mind all Iguanas do not like the same foods so some will be picky and not eat everything which is ok. Never give Iguanas dog food, cat food, any kind of meat or insects. The protein is too high and can cause liver and kidney problems. Green Iguanas need fresh water daily. They love to soak in their bowls an often times deficate in them so you may have to change the water more than once a day. They need a bowl large enough to fit their whole body in, cat litter pans work great!
Substrate - Butcher paper, paper towles, or newspaper works great for Iguanas. It may not look the greatest but it is the most effective. Never use beddings such as wood chips or something that has large chunks of dirt or rocks in them. Iguanas are kinda like little kids they love to put everything in their mouths. If they swallow a wood chip or rock it can cause impaction which can cause alot of problems or lead to death.
Handling - All young Green Iguanas are gonna be very terrified of you at first. You need to be very patient with them. First before handling gain their trust by feeding them and talking to them daily. Then move up to hand feeding them and maybe petting them but don't try and grab them because this will scare them even more. Eventually work up to holding them inside the enclosure. Once they are used to this try bringing them outside the enclosure for short periods and work up to maybe a half an hour or however long you would like to have them out. Keep in mind not all Iguanas are nice some never like being held. Also males during breeding season can be very mean.
Sexing - Green Iguanas cannot be sexed until they are 18 months to 2 years old. Male Iguanas have large femoral pores on the bottom of their hind legs which are used to rub and mark their territory. Males also have larger bulges by the base of their tails for their hemipenes. Males also normally have a larger dewlap. Females tend to have a smaller head compared to their body and their famoral pores are very small or barley visible.
Green Iguanas make wonderful pets but require a lot of time and patience. Also remeber that cute little baby at the pet store may only cost $15 but to set them up properly with lights, cage, etc...will soon turn into $400.00 - $600.00.