I pray for the iguana

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

I've owned a female Iguana for 11 years now, got it when it was a hatchling and honestly, I don't find them that difficult to care for outside of creating an appropriately sized enclosure when they are full grown. Perhaps I just got really lucky and got an easy one? Because I've never seen what all the fuss is about.

I think most people live places where they can't live outside all the time. Plus, most people didn't know how HUGE they get to be in the first place. If you showed pictures of the size of your setup to someone who has only seen the cute little baby and they will probably have a heard time believing their little greenie will get that big.

I've known plenty people with iggies that bit, tail whipped and scratched a lot. Males can get aggressive depending on their temperment and whether it is iggy breeding season
http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/breedi...on.html#freddy
http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/season.html

Re read meekjz's post.. They didn't say anything about iguanas living outside... A comma between "for" and "outside" would probably help that confusion..

Anyway... I've never owned an iggy but I've had 2 family members who have and my best friend did years ago. I do not think they are a good pet for someone who has had so many other reptiles die in their care. They are usually not nice either. I don't see this turning out so well.

[mechnut450]

iggies are no joke I had 3 at once , one I owned and 2 that somehow endup up in my care that were so far gone they died with in a month (one had no use of the rear 1/3 of the body) the other was so neglated that it was only skin and bones ( no a drop of muscle on it and died in the first week ) My personal iggy lived 10 years and only passed on when she had what we though was a seizure and fell off her cage ( heard a bunch of threshing around and a thud ( as I cam down the hall) with a sicking cracking sound. The iguana was so spoiled that a plate had to be fixed for her at dinner or she be going and trying to get some from everyones else plate. ( her plate had mostly veggies a couple noodles and very little meat ( mostly was some gravy from the beef or chicken on the veggies ) They do take a lot of research and time to care for them.

[Redneck_Crow]

The biggest problem with iguanas is that most people who buy them are buying a cute cheap little green lizard that fits in a 20 gallon long. They have an image in their mind of a mini dinosaur pet and no concept of what it takes to maintain an adult.

They aren't willing to spend the money to provide an appropriately sized cage for an adult iguana. They aren't willing to spend the money to provide the heat and UVB lighting the iguana needs. They aren't willing to buy and prepare the kinds of leafy greens and vegetables that the iguana needs to thrive. They aren't willing to invest the time to work with an adult iguana that is becoming aggressive.

They see a pretty little green guy and figure that he's going to have a cute little disposition when he's an adult. When Iggy starts exhibiting normal adult iguana behaviors he's suddenly not cute, he's being deliberately hateful.

If I had a buck for every iguana that got dumped with MBD or that got dumped because of normal adult behaviors, I wouldn't be going into work again, ever. I almost wish that the things cost $5000 rather than less than $50. But because they're cheap, they're like Niles--magnificent animals that people ditch when they become difficult; they aren't worth the cost of providing for adequately because after all, they're so cheap to replace that it's not worth the price of a vet visit or a decent set up to some.

I've seen a few beginners take excellent care of iggies and Niles but they are in the minority. Most of the time these animals fall victim to the casual herp owner--they guy who wants something exotic and that is about all that he wants. The casual guy isn't overly motivated to provide the very best husbandry for his animal, he wants something cool to show off to his friends. He's not about to spend many times more than he paid for the animal to care for it properly.

My guess is that the green iguana is overall the most neglected and most dumped and passed around reptile there is. That really pisses me off. Like tegus, these animals are intelligent and responsive to owners who really take the time to work with them. Yet so many of them are discarded after they have suffered the consequences of ignorance and indifferent husbandry.

[Jay_Bunny]

She claims to have had iguanas before and she knows what she's doing. Ugh! Then where are those lizards now. Probably dead or dumped on someone else.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

She claims to have had iguanas before and she knows what she's doing. Ugh! Then where are those lizards now. Probably dead or dumped on someone else.

So what happened to the ones she had before??

[iHAZreptiles]

Since you won't be able to stop her, at least try to educate her. Make sure she knows they will get to be 5-6 ft and they don't eat bugs like the pet store says. Try to get her to come to this site or an iguana site, and tell her to go on it to post pics of it and who knows she might actually read some stuff and the iggy might live.