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Green Iguana

Family: Iguanidae

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Iguana iguanaPhoto © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough

     The Green Iguana is one one of the most popular pet lizards!

     They are an exotic attraction with their beautiful coloration, large size, and unusual dinosaur like appearance. Green Iguanas are readily available as a pet, easy to tame, and are inexpensive. Some other desirable traits of this lizard are that they are very hardy, long lived, and relatively odorless. They can easily fit into a wide variety of lifestyles and home environments.

     Because the Green Iguana can become quite tame and does not require constant attention, many consider them to be the ideal pet! They are, however, not affectionate and you should not choose them as a pet to share love and affection. They do not particularly like to be picked up!

For more Information on keeping Lizards see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Herptile

Distribution:      The Green Iguana is found in Central America and south all the way to the bottom of South America; Mexico to Southern Brazil, Paraguay and in the Lesser Antilles. They live around rivers and ponds, often in trees that overhang the water.

Description:      A full grown Green Iguana is probably the largest lizard in the Americas. They are generally 4 to 5 feet long(1.2m to 1.75m), though some can reach up to 7 feet (2.4m).      The tail makes up over half of this length and is sometimes up to 3 times the length of the body. They can drop their tail if need be and it will re-grow. They have strong legs and heavy claws on long toes. With the second and third toe much longer than the others, they can grip trees branches and climb.      They have a bright green coloration when they are hatched. This fades to a dull green with a tinge of blue on the head as they mature. Their coloration and patterning can change, similar to chameleons but slower, and this helps them hide from predators. They will shed approximately four times per year with their skin flaking off in bits and pieces.      They have a dewlap, a flap of skin under their chin, and a row of large flexible spines running down their back from the nape of their neck to the tip of their tail. Males have higher spines and longer dewlaps than females and develop larger jowls. Green iguanas tongues are short and thick, their eyes have round pupils, and they have eyelids.      Total size, length, color, patterning, and even head configuration will vary from one green iguana to another, this is dependent upon the geographical region from which the iguana came. Green iguanas will live about 10 years in the wild, and between 10 to 15 years in captivity.

Handling:      Always support your iguanas legs and abdomen when you pick it up. First hold it's head with the forefinger and index finger of one hand. Then hold its body underneath with your other hand palm up. Move the fingers of your second hand up, under and around the iguana's head. This will then free up your first hand to start gently rubbing the top of its head. The rubbing motion will cause your iguana to close its eyes.      Working with your pet in this manner for about an hour a day for a week or so will help make a pet you can handle. You can consider it a tame iguana when it ceases trying to bite and whip with its tail. It's a good idea to wear heavy clothing when you first start handling it.

Feeding:       A temperature of 88 ° F is necessary for these lizards for them to effectively digest their food. Each Green Iguana will need about three good meals per week. They are primarily herbivores when they reach adulthood and they have a microbial fermentation in their hind gut which allows them to digest and extract essential nutrients from their foods.      Being a creature of habit, they will eat in the same place every time and will eat out of a bowl. They need fresh water daily and their water dish needs to be about 1" deep (deeper as the iguana grows) and be large enough for the iguana to also bathe in.      A young iguana will eat fruits and vegetables as well as proteins: crickets, grasshoppers, mealworms, earthworms, pinkies, birds, reptiles, and snails. As they grow older, their diet will shift to an almost completely vegetarian diet.      Many bright green and yellow vegetables are very good. Offer lettuces sparingly as they don't have much nutritional value. and preferably offer Romaine. Spinach too should be used sparingly as it is known to bind up calcium. Other types of vegetables should make up the bulk of your offering. Monkey chow is a good supplement for young Iguanas, but must be limited to once a week for an adult as too much of it can cause other health problems.      Vitamin and mineral supplements are important in moderation. A two to one Calcium/Phosphorus supplement is a must for all Iguanas, though a fully developed adult will need less than a growing iguana. These supplements are readily available at your pet store.

Environment:      An Iguana is preferably housed alone accept to breed, but they can be housed with another Iguana if there is a plenty of room and they are of similar size. Sometimes larger Iguanas will dominate the food supply and you should always watch for overly aggressive behavior.      Get as large a home to start with as you can. Though a young Iguana can be started in a 10 gallon glass terrarium they will grow but soon need a much larger home. A 20 to 30 gallon glass terrarium works up through the 2nd year and a 40 to 100 gallon glass terrarium up to adulthood.      A full grown Green Iguana would need a minimum size home that is 5' x 5' x 3'. They must not feel cramped or closed in or they may stop eating. They are arboreal ( tree climbing), so a heavy limb is good for climbing on. They need a hiding place to feel secure. Use only artificial plants as they will eat real ones.      Iguanas should be fed from a bowl so they don't ingest any ground material, and a good size water dish will provide a place for soaking and drinking. See the terrarium set-ups described under Basic Reptile and Amphibian Care for more information on housing.

Temperature and Lighting requirements:      They do well at 85 °- 90 °F (29.4 °- 32.2 °C) in the daytime and 70 °-75 °F (21.1 °-26.7 °C) at night. Fluorescent full spectrum reptile lighting or direct unfiltered sunlight is absolutely necessary for your iguanas well being and its long-term maintenance (glass windows filter out necessary rays so putting your iguana in the window does not work to get the required full spectrum lighting).      You will need a basic heat source which can be provided by number of different methods and sources. Additional heat can also be provided for nighttime heating. See Reptile Care:Heating. for a description of heating/lighting. Be sure you use a thermometer so you don't let the terrarium become overheated or under heated!

Social Behavior/Activities:      One wonderful benefit of a Green Iguana as a pet is that it can be house trained to a newspaper!      Iguanas do have a natural fear of dogs and other "dog" type animals. Their main defense when they are feeling threatened is to whip with their tail, and they can drop there tail (autotomy) if they need to.      Other natural defenses are to remain completely motionless or they can extend their dewlap to increase there apparent size to ward off enemies. Males and females have similar temperaments in terms of being pets, though a male will extend its dewlap when establishing its territory or to show off to a female. Generally Iguanas become more docile the longer they are in captivity.      A healthy Iguana needs about a half an hour of supervised activity each day. They are tree climbers as well as excellent runners, swimmers, and divers.

Breeding/Reproduction:      Green Iguanas become sexually mature between the ages of 2 and 3. In February, a pregnant female will lay up to 30 eggs in a nest of wet sand, burying the eggs 2 to 6 feet deep.      Each egg is about 1 1/2 inches long and 3/4 of an inch in diameter. The eggs hatch in April or May, about 16 1/2 weeks later, and the baby Iguanas dig their way up to the surface. The hatchlings are only about 8"(20.3 cm) in length.

Ailments:      The most common problems encountered with Green Iguanas are: parasites such as ticks and mites, mouth rot, respiratory disease, injuries, vitamin deficiencies, cool temperatures and drafts. All of these can be avoided with proper care and a good, clean environment.

Availability:      Green Iguanas are readily available. At one point, they were becoming scarce in the wild due to over harvesting, so most iguanas in the pet industry today are imported from farms and Iguana ranches in their native countries.

Other Iguana Varieties:

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Latest Comments
Iguanas are awesome! Mine is named beard! billy 2008-12-28
You should never use heat rocks, they can cause serious burns for iguanas. Need to look up temps... UVB tubes 5.0, 8.0, 10.0, compacts can cause eye damage. Iguanas should NEVER be put in a 10 gallon tank. Anonymous 2008-08-10
Hi my name is Krissy. I have an iguana named Grover. I have had him now for about 13 years. He is so pretty, has the most beautiful colors you have ever seen in an iguana, and he has never dropped his tail(it's as strong as a brick, guess I've taken good care of him). Grover is my pride in joy and he is a great pet. A little mean, but we deal with that... haha krissy 2007-10-21
We have a huge iguana called 'Bob'. He has lived with us for 14 years, from being of a size that fitted into a small plastic tub. He has had many homes, including a shed in my dining room (!) to his present home, the whole end of my dining room. Whilst being a softie at times (with my husband, who is able to judge his moods and knows when to stay away / put his hand in and stroke the top of his head). For myself, I tend to keep away, as Bob knows when my hormones are on the go and reacts more aggressively. Bob tends to eat Brocoli, cat biscuits, oranges, grapes. In the past he's eaten sausages (watch those fingers!) and a finch (which we thought would be safe in there! Big mistake! Lasted three days, kept landing on Bob, he learned the flight path and one swallow later.... He is cute though- he likes you to blow through the gaps of his home onto his face, bob your head, and talk to him. Denise 2007-07-28
Hello, well my green iguana Littlefoot loves it when i sleep with him. Hes been around my family for 12 years and hes living la vida loca. He enjoys being out in the sun and taking baths lol! Emelly Cruz 2007-07-26
Some of the coolest comments:
I like your site and find valuable information here, but would like to update some information concerning the green iguana that could be harmful. Iguanas are 100% foliavores throughout their whole lives. The only protien that they ever eat is an occasional insect ingested by mistake. Contrary to out-dated information, juvenile diets are not different than the adult diet. Iguanas require a specialized diet when kept in captivity. The most common illness of the captive iguana is Metabolic Bone Disease (MDB) caused by an improper diet and/or lack of UVB and Vitamin D3. Calcium cannot be metabolized without it. The food that you give your iguana, on average, should contain about twice as much calcium as phosphorus. This ratio is very important for bone growth and maintenance, as well as for muscle contraction and many other important bodily functions. Metabolic bone disease, as well as many other health problems can be caused simply by ignoring this ratio for a short length of time. Another danger is feeding your iguana foods that are high in oxalic acid (such as spinach, beets, beet greens, banannas, celery stalk or swiss chard). Oxalic acid binds with the calcium in these vegetables, rendering it unusable. Rhubard is deadly. Most captive iguanas die in their first year because of calcium deficiencies. Please educate yourselves extensively before getting an iguana, and please adopt unwanted pets, rather than getting a juvenile. Kristie Mansfield 2007-06-20
Comments Dr Jungle REALLY Likes to Hear!
I want to thank you for this site. We just bought an Iguana an hour ago so ago. I am doing my research to keep it happy and healthy. He is a big one, more than I expected(about the length of my arm). So beautiful! I will be taking him to the vet tomorrow to give him a check up and learn anything else that I should know. Again I thank you for such a wealth of information! Ina Solenberg 2009-03-03
I'm posting this because I hate going into a pet store and seeing the iguanas eating calcium covered lettuce. A store clerk saying "Yes they are easy pets" and there's always a kid there thinking they can get an iguana and just feed it lettuce with a calcium supplement sprinkled on it. Iguanas are a high maintenance pet due to their diet. As a kid, my first iguana died shortly after bringing it home from the pet store, probably due to a poor diet (Yes, I was told they just eat lettuce with the calcium supplement). After doing a lot of research, I bought two more. Even after feeding one of my girls a variety of fresh fruit and veggies and the calcium supplement, I still had to take her to the vet and found out she was calcium deficient. I ended up having to give her calcium shots daily, and then making changes to her diet. She turned out to be a healthy sweet girl who I enjoyed owning. Another false statement that I hear in a lot of pet stores is that iguanas only grow as big as their cage or aquarium. That's another lie. I started off with a decent sized aquarium, which my girls quickly got too big for. So I bought a bigger aquarium, which they quickly out grew. I ended up having to build a giant cage that was the size of a walk-in closet. I still think they are beautiful animals, but a little high maintenance. Valencia 2009-01-18
Very informative site! Keep up the good work! I just purchased a 4 foot female iguana we named "Dizzy Lizzy". She is sweet but came to us in a very small aquarium considering her size, so we built a new temporary enclosure that is 7 feet 7 inches tall, 39 inches wide and 21 inches deep. I know it's not quite the size she needs but it's beats what she has now and we will build her something much bigger just as soon as we get our home remodeling projects completed and figure out where the next enclosure will go. She is not my first large iggy but it has been sometime since I have had iggy's, so I am relearning all I can to make sure she has the best care we can give her. It's a new experience for my hubby & my 2 young sons. Mary in Camden, MI. Mary 2008-11-01

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