help on iguinas

[diamond1]

lol i think i spelled that right..my son is 16 he has a iguina it is 2 1/2 feet long.first off if its this long about how old is it?2nd.can i get a caresheet for it.

[Shelby]

Do a google search and you're sure to come up with lots of care sheets.

Do you know your iguana can grow to be 4-6' long and they are often aggressive when they reach maturity? Not typically a good pet for a young person (for most people actually)

How long have you had it?

[rabernet]

They also require rather large housing as adults (can we say walk in closet size at least?)


My boyfriend purchased a "cute" baby one a couple of years ago without researching them. I knocked him upside the head for that one. Unfortunately, due to it's being ill in the first place and our lack of knowledge on proper care, despite frantic research on my part, he didn't survive. It was at that point that I began researching different herps and their care requirements before deciding on a ball python, disinfected the enclosure, made sure everything was set up before bringing home Kashmire.

The potential size and aggressive nature of iguanas are one reason I know they would never be a good choice for me.

Good luck with him!

[diamond1]

oh yea we know it will get big.my husband brought one back from florida once and it got BIG.Ryan our 16 almost 17 year old is very responsible.so far he is really doing good.right now he has it in a 20 gal. but he knows he will have to get a bigger encloser.he can afford it he has been working ever since he turned 15 and now 16 almost 17 and he dont have anything else to do with his money except pay for his ins on his car.which he has already paid it off.(very responsible young man)

[rabernet]

OK, I'm certainly no expert on Iggys, but shouldn't a 2 1/2 foot long one need to be in a larger enclosure than a 20 gallon?

[diamond1]

humm no i dont think so its has alot of room.if anybody knows differ please let me know

[Shelby]

A 20 gallon tank is barely over 2' long. If I'm not mistaken iggys do better in wire cages anyway. You should look into getting a bigger cage I think.

[elevatethis]

humm no i dont think so its has alot of room.if anybody knows differ please let me know

Thats pretty ambiguous...I work at a pet store and trust me, people have an EXTREME wide range of what is considered to be "a lot" of room.

Anyways, if you are ready to take on keeping this animal (and mistake #1 was when you got the animal w/o reading a caresheet FIRST) you'll want to go ahead and ditch the 20 gallon and get a wire cage, similar to what you'd keep a large bird or sugar glider.

Iguanas require full-spectrum lighting. Zoo-med makes a few full-spectrum bulbs. Heating will also be necessary, a regular incandescent bulb will work. Without the lighting part of the setup (most important part), your iguana will eventually become ill and die.

Sorry if I'm coming off "direct", I just mean to help. A lot of people aquire these animals without doing their homework first and usually get in WAY over their head. I see it happen over and over and over again.

[frankykeno]

I don't know about all of you, but where we live in northern Michigan they sell iggy's for $20.00 or less as babies. Seems nuts to sell something so cheap (meaning lots of sales) that will get so big, has such strict care requirements, needs big housing and can become potentially dangerous. I know Mid-Michigan Reptile Rescue has had to start charging a fee to take in iggy's as they get so many of them every year.

A friend of mine let her teenager get one. They learned fast these are NOT easy lizards...granted they spent a lot of money, time and research to find this out the hard way...now they do Iggy rescue when they can but she says it's like have a high needs human baby in the house for the rest of the lizard's natural life.


~~Jo~~

[Jeanne]

My brother has an ig, and has actually raised several successfully. I can tell you this, a 20 gallon tank is not big enough for yours, currently, my brother is housing a 27 inch ig in a HUGE custom wire cage (they do better in them) 3 foot from side to side and 3 foot from front to back, and stands 6 foot tall. Yes it may be a bit big, but at least he has plenty of room to move around. The more space the better. And the more climbing branches and stuff for climbing the better. They should have plenty of different heights from the basking light to choose from.

Also, out of curiosity, what happened to the other one you had that got big? Do you still have it?