Kristie Mansfield - 2007-06-20 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.
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anne dooley - 2013-01-21 I was told that you should give young igunas wax worms for it helps them fatten up when they are not feeling unwell.
anne dooley - 2013-01-21 I just got a lady green iguna I call her misty she is very quiet and easy going she is only 9 moths old they are funny and very intelligent animals.
michael justice - 2011-08-05 I just get my iugana yesterday and I would like to know how can you tell if it is sick and when the iugana become sexually mature.
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Charlie Roche - 2011-08-06 The attached Animal World article will give you the answers to the questions you have as well as providing information on care and handling etc. Here is the link also.http://animal-world.com/encyclo/reptiles/lizards_iguanid/GreenIguana.php
Kelly Parmer - 2012-11-01 I have had Izzy for 3 months got him at 2 months tried sneaking fruit,the vitamin,calcium d powder& spraywater on his romain lettice. he is slick... will not touch food just loves his romain.He's healthy goes to the bathroom looks great but he does eat the food pelets.Will he just change as he gets older?
Carrie - 2012-07-01 I have a male green iguana. Can anybody tell my why he leaves white spots on my desk. I can not figure this out.
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Charlie Roche - 2012-07-02 I am going to go on the assumption that it is not his footprints otherwise you wouldn't be concerned. It can be several things ut the two most common are a fungas or a mold. It looks sort of like large pieces or particles of a skin (as if you got sunburned and were peeling). I have no idea how you can tell the difference between the mold or the fungus but a vet can take a culture and provide you with treatment. Hope this helps.
Charlie Roche - 2012-07-02 I am sorry - I didn't think of the obvious. Iguanas molt but it is more like a peeling of dry skin. It usually isn't big patches but flakes with some patches. It would look like white flakes.
angelina - 2012-07-30 Hello I actually want to own a green iguana but I don't know if its a type of animal that can harm my other pets and family and I want it to be affectionate but I don't know if it is. I am 12 years old and I live in a apartament with three dogs and two turtles and I'm having a aquarium
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Charlie Roche - 2012-07-30 You might want to think about something that is just a little smaller. These guys will go 5 - 7 feet. That is large - not exactly a lap pet. Think as large as the sofa. In an apartment - if he wags his tail - there goes your dinner. I think you would need to have yard and accomadations for this fella.
maggie - 2012-06-21 I am fixing to get a green Iguana and I know how to care for them but my mom tells me that they carry diseases that will kill me and I need to know if this is true or not. thank you
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Charlie Roche - 2012-06-21 Your mom probably has very valid reasons to say this. Best to wait and let her do some research to see if it is OK for you.
Margaret - 2009-12-21 I rescued two young iguanas a few years ago, as they were cooped up in a small aquarium for their life. When I got them home, I didn't have a habitat ready, so I let them loose in my bathroom, putting branches everywhere for them to climb about. Oh they were so grateful. They loved the shower steam and would climb above the shower. And pardon me, but they did observe what the toilet was for, so, they began crawling behind the toilet tank to relieve themselves. I placed liners behind the toilet tank, and each day cleaned up. They were quite fastidiou about where they pooped, just as we are sure to use our toilets! I adore these iguanas, and am endlessly fascinated with them.
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casey - 2012-05-01 We had a beautiful female green iguana. we also had a small kitten at the time. My husband and I joked about how awsome it would be if we could train her to use the litter box. To our delight she crawled into it and relieved herself. She was amazing. Unfortunately we had gotten the wrong kind of lamp and she couldn't absorb the calcium in her diet,we lost her the night we had our second child. it is really hard to lose a pet after caring for them for so long.......... so please do your research they deserve it!
Anonymous - 2012-02-06 Hi, my science teacher is giving me her pacu and her 20 gallon long and I have a tank for the pacu but I was thinking I could turn the tank into a reptile hang out. It is to make up for my senegal bichir eating his bettam. Could I keep 1 or 2 of these in there and if not what other lizard( that I could find) can I put in there and maybe breed???thx
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Clarice Brough - 2012-02-16 A 20 gallon aquarium is really way to small for even a single Green Iguana. They get big! But if you want to try breeding lizards, a good choice for your 20 gallon tank would be a Leopard Gecko. You can keep one male with one or more females.
Ana Johnson - 2011-07-31 First of all, green igs are hard to care for. And second they can NOT have any animal protein what-so-ever. and by the way, my green igs crawling all over the top of my computor right now. Now he (assuming it's a he) just jumped and is crawling all on ME now.
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Charlie Roche - 2011-08-01 Gee my bird eats my computer keys.
Becca - 2011-04-29 First of all, Green Iguanas are not easy to care for. They require large, custom built enclosures, lighting, very high humidity (which is hard) and a very specialized diet of greens, fruits, and vegetables. A cage for an adult iguana should not be smaller than 5 feet High X 5 feet wide X 4 feet deep. Another thing to look at is where the closest vet that specializes in reptiles is located. Even if a vet says that they will see an iguana doesnt mean that they know what they are doing. Second of all, they can be hard to handle. They have very very sharp claws that can tear your skin just by walking on you. You can clip or file them to make them easier to handle but they must be tame to do it. During breeding season, males especially can become very agressive and attack. Don't get me wrong, if you are dedicated to them, they make great pets but they do take a LOT of work.
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Charlie Roche - 2011-04-30 People do not realize how large these fellas get. I am amazed at how they feel.
The Green Iguana is one of the most popular pet lizards, but it grows big... very big!
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.
I was told that you should give young igunas wax worms for it helps them fatten up when they are not feeling unwell.
I just got a lady green iguna I call her misty she is very quiet and easy going she is only 9 moths old they are funny and very intelligent animals.
I just get my iugana yesterday and I would like to know how can you tell if it is sick and when the iugana become sexually mature.
The attached Animal World article will give you the answers to the questions you have as well as providing information on care and handling etc.
Here is the link also.http://animal-world.com/encyclo/reptiles/lizards_iguanid/GreenIguana.php
I have had Izzy for 3 months got him at 2 months tried sneaking fruit,the vitamin,calcium d powder& spraywater on his romain lettice. he is slick... will not touch food just loves his romain.He's healthy goes to the bathroom looks great but he does eat the food pelets.Will he just change as he gets older?
I have a male green iguana. Can anybody tell my why he leaves white spots on my desk. I can not figure this out.
I am going to go on the assumption that it is not his footprints otherwise you wouldn't be concerned. It can be several things ut the two most common are a fungas or a mold. It looks sort of like large pieces or particles of a skin (as if you got sunburned and were peeling). I have no idea how you can tell the difference between the mold or the fungus but a vet can take a culture and provide you with treatment. Hope this helps.
I am sorry - I didn't think of the obvious. Iguanas molt but it is more like a peeling of dry skin. It usually isn't big patches but flakes with some patches. It would look like white flakes.
Hello I actually want to own a green iguana but I don't know if its a type of animal that can harm my other pets and family and I want it to be affectionate but I don't know if it is. I am 12 years old and I live in a apartament with three dogs and two turtles and I'm having a aquarium
You might want to think about something that is just a little smaller. These guys will go 5 - 7 feet. That is large - not exactly a lap pet. Think as large as the sofa. In an apartment - if he wags his tail - there goes your dinner. I think you would need to have yard and accomadations for this fella.
I am fixing to get a green Iguana and I know how to care for them but my mom tells me that they carry diseases that will kill me and I need to know if this is true or not. thank you
Your mom probably has very valid reasons to say this. Best to wait and let her do some research to see if it is OK for you.
I rescued two young iguanas a few years ago, as they were cooped up in a small aquarium for their life. When I got them home, I didn't have a habitat ready, so I let them loose in my bathroom, putting branches everywhere for them to climb about. Oh they were so grateful. They loved the shower steam and would climb above the shower. And pardon me, but they did observe what the toilet was for, so, they began crawling behind the toilet tank to relieve themselves. I placed liners behind the toilet tank, and each day cleaned up. They were quite fastidiou about where they pooped, just as we are sure to use our toilets! I adore these iguanas, and am endlessly fascinated with them.
We had a beautiful female green iguana. we also had a small kitten at the time. My husband and I joked about how awsome it would be if we could train her to use the litter box. To our delight she crawled into it and relieved herself. She was amazing. Unfortunately we had gotten the wrong kind of lamp and she couldn't absorb the calcium in her diet,we lost her the night we had our second child. it is really hard to lose a pet after caring for them for so long.......... so please do your research they deserve it!
Hi, my science teacher is giving me her pacu and her 20 gallon long and I have a tank for the pacu but I was thinking I could turn the tank into a reptile hang out. It is to make up for my senegal bichir eating his bettam. Could I keep 1 or 2 of these in there and if not what other lizard( that I could find) can I put in there and maybe breed???thx
A 20 gallon aquarium is really way to small for even a single Green Iguana. They get big! But if you want to try breeding lizards, a good choice for your 20 gallon tank would be a Leopard Gecko. You can keep one male with one or more females.
See the Leopard Gecko page for more info.
First of all, green igs are hard to care for. And second they can NOT have any animal protein what-so-ever. and by the way, my green igs crawling all over the top of my computor right now. Now he (assuming it's a he) just jumped and is crawling all on ME now.
Gee my bird eats my computer keys.
First of all, Green Iguanas are not easy to care for. They require large, custom built enclosures, lighting, very high humidity (which is hard) and a very specialized diet of greens, fruits, and vegetables. A cage for an adult iguana should not be smaller than 5 feet High X 5 feet wide X 4 feet deep. Another thing to look at is where the closest vet that specializes in reptiles is located. Even if a vet says that they will see an iguana doesnt mean that they know what they are doing.
Second of all, they can be hard to handle. They have very very sharp claws that can tear your skin just by walking on you. You can clip or file them to make them easier to handle but they must be tame to do it. During breeding season, males especially can become very agressive and attack.
Don't get me wrong, if you are dedicated to them, they make great pets but they do take a LOT of work.
People do not realize how large these fellas get. I am amazed at how they feel.