Nutrition
Diversité!!!
Nous ne pouvons pas offrir à nos iguanes la même nourriture
que celle qu'ils ont dans leur milieur naturel, mais il faut choisir de
la varier au maximum.
Les différentes
valeurs nutritionelles des aliments se situent dans les tableaux
1 et 2, qui vous permettront
de choisir les aliments. Le Tableau 1 donne les
valeurs nutrutionnelles de dizaines de fruits et légumes, le Tableau
2 donne le taux de calcium de chaque aliment.
Calcium et Phosphore
Le régime alimentaire de l'iguane doit se composer de deux fois plus de calcium que de phosphore: ce ratio est important pour une bonne croissance osseuse de l'animal (voir le Tableau 2). De plus, la vitamine D3, joue un rôle crutial dans l'absorption du calcium: l'iguane n'est pas capable d'assimilier le calcium alimentaire sans vitamine D3. La vitamine D3 peut être fabriquée par l'animal grâce aux rayons UV.
Dangers!
L'iguane est sensible et ne supporte pas certains composants.
L'acide Oxalique
L'acide oxalique
se combine au calcium pour former un sel insoluble: l'oxalate de calcium!
Une trop grande absorption d'acide oxalique par l'iguane peut aboutir à
une carence en calcium. C'est pourquoi nous fournissons ici une liste de
plantes riches en acide oxalique, qui peuvent être considérées
comme des plantes toxiques.
Les brassicacées
goitrogéniques
Beucoup de légumes
du genre Brassica (broccoli, rutabaga, chou-fleur et chou de bruxelle)
peuvent causer des pathologies thyroïdiennes chez les iguanes (chez
les hommes aussi). La teneur élevée en iode de ces légumes
peut déclencher un hyperfonctionnement de la glande thyroïde
qui a besoin d'iode pour synthétiser les hormones T3 et T4.
Les tanins
Les tanins lient
les protéines, ralentissent la digestion en inhibant les enzymes,
et chélatent le fer et la vitamine B12, ce qui peut entrainer
des dommages hépatiques: la rubarbe contient un taux élevé
de tanins et doit être considérée comme toxique pour
l'iguane.
Les nourritures pour chiens et chats
Ces nourritures sont acceptées par les iguanes; il faut cependant rappeler qu'ils ont une teneur élevée en protéines animales et que les iguanes sont herbivores!
Les aliments spéciaux pour iguanes
Alors que ces aliments correspondent aux besoins nutritionnels des lésards, il a été constaté des carences alimentaires chez des iguanes nourris exclusivement avec cet aliment pendant un an, ce qui tent à prouver qu'il vaut mieux diversifier au maximum.
Pizza
Si vous laissez votre iguane en liberté prés de vos aliments, vous serez surpris de constater que ce dernier mange de tout: un morceau de pizza de la glace à la vanille ou du chocolat. N'abusez pas de ces aliments dont vous ne maîtrisez pas la composition.
Supplémentation en vitamine et Calcium
Malgré tous les soins que vous apporterez à l'alimentation de votre iguane, des carences en vitamines et calcium ne sont pas à exclure, surtout chez les jeunes en pleine croissance. Pour celà il existe des préparations spéciales à rajouter dans l'alimentation ou dans l'eau. Vous pouvez aussi utiliser des préparations multivitamines pour homme: si ça a été expérimenté sur l'homme, ce doit être bon pour l'animal...
Eau
L'eau de l'iguane doit toujours être propre: compte tenu du fait qu'une flaque d'eau à 25°C ou plus se transforme rapidement en bouillon bactérien, il est recommandé de changer cette eau tous les jours. L'alimentation de l'iguane est riche en eau (les feuilles contiennent 90% d'eau) mais ce dernier a quand même besoin de boire un peu d'eau pour ne pas se déshydrater (vous pouvez aussi pulvériser de l'eau).
Quand le nourrir
Mettre de la
nourriture à volonté dans le terrarium n'est pas la solution
idéale: l'iguane a une tendance naturelle à l'obésité
et mange beaucoup. Le nourrir ponctuellement à un moment de la journée
est donc la solution idéale. Comme sa digestion est meilleure à
température élevée, il vaut mieux le nourrir à
midi... tous les deux ou trois jours.
Most iguana owners like to know if their iguanas are male or female. When very young, it is virtually impossible to tell the difference through physical appearance. As they get older, however, there are some visual cues that can help you distinguish between the two sexes. One of the biggest physical differences between males and females is the size of their femoral pores, which line the undersides of their rear thighs. Males' pores are much larger than females' pores, especially in older specimens. Male femoral pores produce a thick waxy secretion, while female femoral pores remain tiny.
Other differences include body size. Females tend to be more heavy-bodied than males, but males generally grow larger, have broader jowls, and have more developed dorsal crests. These differences are much more difficult to see, as iguanas grow at different rates and it is usually not possible to make any really educated guesses until the animal is full grown, or at least sexually mature.
Finally, males develop a bulge behind their cloacal vent as they mature. This bulge is, of course, their hemipenes. (Male iguanas have two penises, together called the hemipenes.) Females do not have such a bulge in that area.
If your iguana's gender is very important to you, you may wish to contact a veterinarian who specializes in reptiles and discuss it with him or her. Experienced individuals can "probe" an iguana to determine its sex. This should only be done by those with experience, and should only be done if it is very important that the gender is known. If performed incorrectly, this procedure can result in injury.
If you have only one iguana that tends to get aggressive in the fall or winter, you probably have a male on your hands that is interested in mating. Some males get especially aggressive at this time and turn on their owners! Some iguanas actually attempt to mate with their owners. Many male iguanas simply act a little territorial during mating season, and exhibit head bobbing and act a little more defensive than usual. Others become violent and the best thing one can do is to stay away from the violent male iguana during mating season. This difficult behavior usually passes after a few weeks, however, and most iguanas turn back into their old, lovable selves after they're through thinking about mating. Lone female iguanas do not tend to change their behavior in this way during mating season.
If you have multiple iguanas and at least one is male, you might have some big problems to deal with during mating season. Your iguanas may exhibit male-male aggression, and male iguanas can certainly injure one another. Your male iguanas will also try to mate with your female iguanas. First, the male will bite down on the back of the female's neck. Then, once he has her under his control, he will wrap his body around hers so that their cloacas are next to one another. He will then evert his hemipenes and attempt to force them inside the female and deposit his sperm. Sometimes, especially if there is a great size difference, the male will not be at all successful. And as in humans, not all mating attempts result in fertilization of eggs. You will know if your female iguana becomes gravid (pregnant): her abdomen will become large and lumpy, and she will also go off feed for a few weeks prior to egg-laying. If your female iguana does become gravid, you must supply her with a little extra calcium in her diet, and you must supply her with a place to lay her eggs. In addition, female iguanas sometimes develop unfertilized eggs even when there are no males present. There is no way to predict which years female iguanas will produce unfertilized eggs, so you should always be on the lookout for a lumpy abdomen on your female iguanas.
The following
information has been supplied by Melissa Kaplan:
"Females need as much exercise (primarily climbing) as possible to ensure smooth laying. One of the most common problems with females in captivity is egg binding resulting in C-section and hysterectomy. Many vets actually recommend spaying females routinely to prevent the problem. It is, of course, less costly for you and less stressful for the ig if she can just get the exercise she needs. This is probably the best argument for keeping igs free roaming or housing them in very large (wide AND tall) enclosures with lots of branches and other climbing apparatus.The iguana does not begin to "show" until the last couple of weeks of the gestation period. (Which lasts a total of two months.) She will be getting fatter with the eggs as she is losing weight, so she won't look much different, albeit her belly and sides will be more taut. You will be able to feel some of the eggs along her sides before they are developed enough for you to be able to see them. Generally, a row of two eggs on each side will be felt.
Preparing the Egging Box
Females dig burrows underground and excavate a small cavern in which they lay their eggs. They then back out and back fill the cavern and burrow. Interestingly enough, many females reuse the same cavern year after year, and there are recorded instances of more than one female using the same cavern, digging separate burrows to get in....
You need to recreate the digging area by making an egging box, a place for her to dig a burrow and lay her eggs in a cavern. Depending upon the size of the iguana, two huge kitty-litter pans, placed rim-to-rim and duct taped together, with an access hole cut in one end of the upper pan, will do the trick for a smaller iguana (say 10-12" snout-to-vent length). Larger iguanas will require a larger area... one of those squarish outdoor garbage cans (made of plastic, with a lid) work well as they can be laid on their side and not roll around. Duct tape the lid to the can, and cut an access hole at the highest point (which will be in the side of the lid). Essentially, any large, water- or moisture-proof container which you can keep warm, provide an access hole for the iguana but keep it closed enough so that all the excavated dirt doesn't come flying out, and can easily get into yourself to later remove the eggs, will do.
Needless to say, you need to fill the egging box with the proper digging medium before taping it shut. What you need to achieve is soil which you can easily push but which will stay in place when you take your hand away. Too hard, and the iguana can't dig; too loose, and it falls back into the burrow or cavern. I have found the following proportions to work quite well:
14 parts sterile potting soil (from peat, available from nurseries)
1 part sterile sand (From nurseries, or playground sand from hardware stores)
9 cups of warm water
Mix thoroughly together, and test. If it falls back, add more water. If too damp/gloppy/heavy, add more soil or sand.
This can be quite heavy when you have almost-filled a garbage can with this mixture, so be prepared with a dolly or a hand-truck, or prepare it where you are going to be leaving it. If the iguana's enclosure is large enough, then place the egg box in side in a warm area. The box needs to be placed in a quiet warm area. A spare bedroom or closet works well. Place a heating pad under the egg-laying container or direct a basking light on it (making sure not to melt the plastic!). (To make as much privacy as possible to reduce stress, hang a cloth over that part of the enclosure so the iguana cannot see out.)
Introduce your iguana to the container. Hold her up to the opening, let her sniff/taste and look, and then put her down. When she is ready, and if you have prepared the soil/sand mixture properly and the area is quiet and warm, she will go to work. (If she is already going crazy trying to dig through the floor and other surfaces, she is ready.)
It can take 10 hours or so to lay all the eggs; number of eggs varies from 12-40+, with older/bigger ones laying more. First year layers can lay 18 or so, so don't be fooled by the size of the iguana.
Once she lays, she will drag herself out and collapse on her basking area (or set one up for her nearby, with a bowl of water, and introduce it to her at the same time as you do the egg box). Keep an eye/ear out to see when she is done, then be ready with some comfort food for her - she is going to look like a skeleton. I steam brussels sprouts for a couple of minutes until they are bright green, and slice them up and put in a shallow jar lid. I will hand feed her some, then leave her with the plate. Feed lots of high calcium foods, and be generous with the calcium supplements for the next couple of weeks. By the end of the month after laying, she should begin to look like her old self.
If your iguana shows signs of twitching, jerky gait or difficulty using her back legs at any time during the gestation or after she has laid, get her to a veterinarian for Calcitonin injections of Neo-Calglucon supplementation.
Incubating the Eggs
If your female has mated with a male, then there is a chance that the eggs are fertile; iguanas can produce eggs without being around males but, just like chicken eggs, they are not fertile.
If there is the possibility of fertile eggs, you can begin putting together an incubator to have it ready before the end of the gestation period.
Handling the Eggs
Our fingers, no matter how recently we washed our hands, are full of oils and bacteria (beneficial to us, but bacteria just the same) which can harm the eggs. Before handling them at any time during the transfer and incubation process, wear surgical gloves.
Iguana eggs, like most reptile eggs, are white, ovoid (elliptical rather than round) and slightly soft or leathery rather than hard and brittle like a bird egg. Pick up gently at the ends of the egg, and avoid squeezing.
Home-Made Incubator
One method of constructing a home-made incubator is to fill a plastic lidded container with a mixture of vermiculite (not perlite) and water, in equal volumes by weight (the vermiculite should be well saturated but there should be no puddles of water). Poke holes in the lid.
In an aquarium or other water-tight container equipped with an adjustable lid or cover, fill the bottom with several inches of warm water. Using a submersible water heater (as for aquariums), keep the temperature at 86-87 degrees fahrenheit or whatever temperature is required to keep the air temperature within the enclosure at 86-87F. Place two bricks or another container upside down to form a base on which to rest the vermiculite-filled box.
The tank and box together form the incubator. The box will hold the eggs, the water heat and humidify the environment, and the lid of the tank can be adjusted to let out excess humidity and to help regulate the internal temperature. Make sure your two thermometers (the one on the heater and the one monitoring air temperature at the same level as the box) are clearly visible to you.
Once your iguana has laid her eggs and is resting comfortably, you can carefully dig up her eggs and place them in small depressions (made with your thumb or the back of a spoon) in the surface of the vermiculite. Keep the eggs oriented in the same direction: the side of the egg that was facing up when you dug it up should still be facing up when placed in the vermiculite. You can gently mark the tops with a pen. Any eggs which are clumped together are best left together.
After your eggs are in place in the vermiculite, top with a layer sphagnum moss which has been dampened in warm water (this is available along with the vermiculite at nurseries and many hardware and large grocery stores). Place the lid loosely on the vermiculite box, and place on the base in the aquarium. Cover the aquarium leaving a slight opening to vent out excess humidity. Open completely every couple of days for a few minutes.
Commercial Incubators
There are several types of incubators made for the bird industry, both for poultry and pet birds. The Hova-Bator (R) is one type. It is a foam box with ventilation and troughs in the inside bottom into which water may be poured. One suggested use for Hova-bators is to fill several deli cups or margarine containers with the vermiculite-water mixture, and place several eggs in each one. The moss-topped containers are then placed on the screen, and the Hova-Bator cover put into place. The unit should be plugged and brought up to temperature several days before the anticipated date of laying.
Incubating
The incubation period is about 90 days. Check the eggs regularly (say, every several days). Generally speaking, eggs which collapse or turn moldy are not viable. But surprises can happen. If an egg is getting moldy and you want to take a chance on it, separate it from the other eggs by putting it into its own container; remember to wear gloves when doing this, and to avoid knocking the moldy egg against anything as you move it to its new container, and to take off and throw away the gloves, washing your hands and don fresh gloves if you are going to be handling any of the other eggs."
So you may
want to make a decision once your iguanas begin to act sexually mature
about whether you should separate them or not. If you have multiple males,
they can wound each other, sometimes very seriously. Males can also seriously
wound females during their mating attempts. You may also wish to decide
whether or not you want your male mating with your female, because you
might not be ready to deal with egg laying and incubation. If you ever
decide to own multiple iguanas, you must be prepared to separate them so
they don't injure one another.
Handling iguanas is relatively simple. You should not just use one hand and pick it up from above, around its middle. You should instead use two hands, each one supporting the underside of the iguana in different places. From behind, I place my right hand under the iguana's chest area, and my left hand around the vent area. I also use my left hand/arm to support the tail. This becomes much more important in large iguanas. You basically want to become a big, soft, warm branch for the iguana to climb on. It does not want to be held on to; rather, it wants to hold on to you.
You must be careful with the iguana's claws, however, when you are trying to pick it up. If it is holding on to a branch or especially fabric of some sort, it is probably digging in with its claws. You should not simply grab the iguana and pull straight up. You should instead use your fingers to gently unhook each claw from the material it is hooked into. This way, there is less chance of claws ripping out, legs becoming injured, or your upholstery tearing.
Your iguana will shed its skin throughout its entire lifetime. Juvenile iguanas shed their skin quite often because they grow so quickly. Adults do it as well. Unlike snakes and some other lizards, iguanas do not shed their skin in one large piece. Rather, it comes off in many small pieces. Also, they do not generally shed their skin within a short time. Some iguanas seem to shed constantly. You should not "help" your iguana with its shedding because you might accidentally pull off some skin that was not yet ready to shed. You may want to give your iguana a bath when it is apparent that it is about to shed, however, as it may ease the process.
Your iguana may exhibit a head bobbing display. This generally begins happening after the iguana is 1 or 1.5 years old. It can be a territorial display or it could be a mating ritual. If there are no other iguanas around, your iguana may bob its head at you to give you a signal. It may want you to leave it alone or to get away. Iguanas sometimes bob their heads when they see their reflection in mirrors. It is generally recommended that you keep your iguana away from mirrors. If there are other iguanas around, a head bobbing display could be territorial, meaning "get off my branch" or "get out of my way" or "get away from my mate". If you have a male and a female iguana, the male might bob its head at the female if it is interested in mating. All of these are normal displays and should not be worried about, unless your iguanas seem to be acting very territorial toward one another. If this is the case, they may have to be separated.
Your iguana may sneeze quite often. In most iguanas this is a normal behavior. Iguanas do not sweat as humans do, so they do not excrete salt through their skin. Instead, they do it by sneezing. There is no need to alter the salt content of your iguana's diet if it seems to be sneezing a lot or hardly at all. If you house your iguana in a glass enclosure, you will find white spots on the glass. This is simply what your iguana sneezes out. It cleans up relatively easily.
However, iguanas
can also contract respiratory infections. This can happen when your iguana
is not breathing clean air, such as air surrounding a dusty substrate,
and when it is kept in cool conditions. If your iguana breathes loudly,
possibly with its mouth open, it might have a respiratory ailment and you
should consult a veterinarian. Bubbles or liquid outside the nose and mouth
can also be indicative of a respiratory infection. If you ever suspect
your iguana to be ill, always keep it a little warmer than usual. (Still
provide a temperature gradient, however. See
Heating
and Lighting section.)
Health Care
Veterinarians tend to be a little-used resource among iguana owners. There are indeed a growing number of veterinarians who specialize in reptiles and amphibians, and their help can sometimes be invaluable. Virtually no illnesses that your iguana may contract are easily cured without the help of a veterinarian. There are medicines and recommended dosages for herps, and veterinarians can prescribe them for your iguana. I highly recommend finding a veterinarian in your area long before you have a problem with your iguana. I also recommend yearly check-ups, because sometimes a veterinarian can spot a problem that you may miss. You can also call your veterinarian if you need advice. Most will be happy to talk to you on the phone about your iguana if you have a question.
In addition, I do not recommend that you visit a veterinarian that does not specialize in herps. If you do not know if any of the veterinarians in your area are knowledgeable about herps, check the Yellow Pages and make some calls. Often times the person you talk to at one veterinarian's office can refer you to another veterinarian.
It is very important to quarantine new iguanas, as well as all other herps. If you purchase a new iguana, it is possible that it harbors either internal or external parasites, or even a virus or other disease of some kind. It is a good idea to keep new iguanas in their own, separate cages until it can be reasonably determined that they are healthy. They should be inspected daily for external parasites, and even if none are observed for a couple of weeks, it is always possible that eggs are present somewhere and that they may yet hatch. If no external parasites are observed for about four weeks, it is pretty safe to say that the lizard is mite-free. You should also take your new iguana in for an appointment at the vet, because veterinarians are very experienced in spotting problems with iguanas and he or she might notice a problem that you missed. You should definitely take a fecal sample with you, so your vet can check for internal parasites. If any exist, the iguana should be treated and re-checked before it is introduced to your other iguana(s).
In general, you should quarantine any new iguanas that you may purchase for at least six weeks before introducing them to your established iguanas. During this quarantine period, you should check for both internal and external parasites, and observe the iguana daily to make sure that he or she is acting normal. Do not introduce any new specimens to your established specimens unless you are pretty sure that the new ones are healthy.
You should check your iguana daily for any strange physical appearance. One thing you should check for are external parasites. Iguanas do not have keeled, or "spiky", scales so they do not usually harbor many external parasites. (Also called mites.) But around the spines and head they sometimes do pop up. These mites will simply look like little bugs. They can be black or red. They must be removed as soon as you notice them. You can remove the ones you see by squashing them, but that is a very slow process as there may be hundreds of mites present, all laying hundreds of eggs.
If you do find mites on your iguana you must buckle down with your cleaning duties. Your iguana's enclosure should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. You may use a bleach solution (one part bleach to ten parts water) for disinfection, and you must rinse those areas thoroughly after cleaning. You must clean all branches, rocks, substrates, bowls and dishes. I then recommend first bathing your iguana to drown as many mites as you can right away. It will be impossible to get them all that way, as you cannot submerge your iguana for any length of time. But it is a start. You can then purchase a Pest Strip from your hardware store, home and garden store, or variety store. It will look like a yellow block of plastic. You should avoid direct contact with this substance. You can place it either inside or outside the iguana's enclosure, but make sure that, wherever you put it, the iguana cannot come into contact with it. If your iguana lives in a small cage, you might want to cut off a very small strip of it and place it in a margarine tub with holes in the top. You need not leave the strip in or around the cage at all times; rather, you could use it for a few days, then remove it, and then repeat the treatment each week for about a month. There is some speculation that even if your iguana can not contact the strip, the fumes it gives off are water soluble and could contaminate your iguana's water supply. Change your iguana's water frequently when using a Pest Strip, use as little of the strip as is necessary, and do not leave it in the cage at all times.
Another messy, but effective way to eradicate mites on iguanas is to douse them with olive oil. I use a kitchen brush type baster to coat their bodies with the oil. It is like a prolonged bath because it drowns the mites. If you use this method, be very careful not to get any oil into the nostrils. I stop using the olive oil when I get right behind the eyes. Because you are not coating the entire body, it is not 100% effective, but it has proven to kill large numbers of mites. I like to coat my lizards in the evening, and then bathe them in the morning.
Your local reptile veterinarian can diagnose internal parasites with a fecal sample. If your iguana is acting peculiar, typically not eating or acting lazier than normal, it could be due to internal parasites. They can take control inside your iguana's alimentary canal and steal away the essential nutrients that your iguana eats. If your veterinarian finds parasite eggs in your iguana's feces, he or she can prescribe medicine that will easily take care of the problem. If you have multiple iguanas and only one of them is diagnosed as having internal parasites, you should keep that one away from the others until the parasites are eradicated. Usually, if one iguana is diagnosed with internal parasites and it has been living in the same quarters as another iguana, both will be given the medicine. This is one good reason for yearly check-ups: sometimes you will not know if your iguana has contracted an internal parasite, but a quick fecal analysis will reveal it right away and treatment is rather easy.
Your iguana may sneeze quite often. In most iguanas this is a normal behavior. Iguanas do not sweat as humans do, so they do not excrete salt through their skin. Instead, they do it by sneezing. There is no need to alter the salt content of your iguana's diet if it seems to be sneezing a lot or hardly at all. If you house your iguana in a glass enclosure, you will find white spots on the glass. This is simply what your iguana sneezes out. It cleans up relatively easily.
However, iguanas can also contract respiratory infections. This can happen when your iguana is not breathing clean air, such as air surrounding a dusty substrate, and when it is kept in cool conditions. If your iguana breathes loudly, possibly with its mouth open, it might have a respiratory ailment and you should consult a veterinarian. Bubbles or liquid outside the nose and mouth can also be indicative of a respiratory infection. If you ever suspect your iguana to be ill, always keep it a little warmer than usual. (Still provide a temperature gradient, however. See Heating and Lighting section.)
Your iguana might at some time in its life lose part of its tail. In the wild, this serves as a defense mechanism against predators. If a bird or other animal grabs the iguana's tail, the tail can actually drop off and even wiggle for several seconds to distract the predator while the iguana gets away. In captivity, iguanas lose their tails only by accident. You should never grab your iguana by the tail because it will break off. Tails usually do grow back but they do not look like the original tail. In most cases it is a dull brown, has different-looking scales than the rest of the tail, and it never grows back quite as long as the original tail. If your iguana's tail does break off, you may try to keep the area clean but you should not have to do anything other than that. It should grow back on its own. But if you suspect that your iguana is having problems following tail loss, consult a veterinarian.
Thermal burns are relatively frequent for iguanas in captivity, mainly due to the use of "hot rocks". As is discussed in the Heating and Lighting section, "hot rocks"; are no longer considered by most herpetoculturists to be safe ways of heating your iguana's enclosure. Iguanas can also burn themselves on lights that are used for heating. Lights should not be placed inside the cage; rather, they should be positioned outside the cage so they can shine into the cage. Most burns are relatively minor and can be treated with a triple antibiotic ointment. If the burn seems to be very bad, you may wish to consult your veterinarian. In general, if your iguana is still acting normally (eating, pooping, etc.) the only thing you should concern yourself with is applying ointment to the burn. If you think the burn might be serious, if your iguana is still acting normally, it will probably be just fine. Never hesitate to contact a veterinarian, however, if you are in doubt.
Nose wounds are common in many lizards that are housed in cages that have wire or screen on the sides. If your iguana is unhappy with its cage, it may spend much of its time rubbing its nose against the sides, trying to escape. Some lizards rub their noses against the cage so often that their flesh is rubbed away clear to the bone. If your iguana is exhibiting this behavior, you might want to consider making some changes with its cage. Often times, this behavior is indicative of a cage that is too small, or one that is not tall enough and does not have ample climbing space. You must try to make your iguana as happy as possible, and if it is cutting its nose on the sides of its cage, you must make changes. As with general wounds, (discussed next) all you can really do to help your iguana's nose to heal is to keep it clean. If the abrasion seems to be very bad, you may wish to consult your veterinarian.
Iguanas sometimes wound themselves with their acrobatic antics. Iguanas frequently break their toes and pull out claws when they leap through the air, and those injuries are not considered to be very serious. Iguanas can also break legs, however, and if your iguana begins to limp or begins to move strangely in some other way, it needs medical attention.
Iguanas can also get scratches. Usually, scratches are the result of contact with other iguanas, but they can also happen accidentally in other ways. If your iguana has a scratch, all you can do is keep the wound clean. You can use Betadine scrub, hydrogen peroxide or alcohol. These do not need to be used at their full strengths, so you may dilute them with water. If the wound is very deep, you may wish to consult your veterinarian to see if stitches are in order. But generally, for minor wounds and burns, by keeping the area clean you can fend off infection and the wounds will heal fine.
Sometimes, what started out as a minor cut or puncture can turn into an abscess. Basically, this is just a pus filled, infected lump. If you ever find any lumps on your iguana, you must seek medical attention. In the case of abscesses, the lump should be drained and antibiotics should be administered. The sooner attention is given to abscesses, the better.
Most iguanas generally defecate every day or every other day. Others do so twice daily, and still others regularly skip two days. If it seems as though your iguana has not been pooping as often as it should, your first response can be to soak it in a bathtub with lukewarm water. (See Bathing section.) This action will sometimes stimulate iguanas to defecate within a few minutes or up to a half an hour or more. Another option is manual palpation. The abdomen of the iguana can be gently squeezed which can cause defacation. This should be done gently, and if you are unsure about performing this option, it is best if you consult an experienced iguana owner or a veterinarian. If your iguana refuses to defecate for prolonged periods of time, and definitely if it is not acting as it normally would, please consult a veterinarian. There may be a blockage within the iguana's digestive tract that needs to be removed.
There are a myriad of reasons why your iguana may be refusing to eat. It could be a psychological problem, physiological problem, or even both. One common solution to the problem is raising the temperature of the iguana's enclosure. Many people tend to keep their iguanas at temperatures that are too cool for them, and consequently, abnormal behavior ensues. Refer to the Heating and Lighting section of this booklet to find out if perhaps you are aiming for the wrong highs or lows, or if maybe your heating technique is not generally accepted. Many times, correcting the temperature will motivate an iguana to start feeding. In addition, most iguanas will eat voraciously in the summer months, and then slow down considerably during the winter months. If the weather outside is cooling off, your iguana might just be entering its own version of hibernation, where it cuts down on food intake until spring. (See Appetite section.)
If those things are not the problem, stress could be the culprit. Is your iguana's enclosure in a heavily trafficked area? Sometimes iguanas do not respond well to much human activity around their cages. You might try moving the enclosure to the corner of a room, or simply away from the most highly trafficked areas. This may reduce your iguana's stress levels. An improper photoperiod can also bother iguanas. (See Photoperiod section.) Do you keep the overhead light on in your iguana's room 24 hours a day? Iguanas need darkness at night in order to get enough rest and relaxation, just as most people do. Try to work the room that your iguana is in around your iguana. If something in the room bothers him, you must change it if you want a healthy and happy iguana.
Finally, your iguana might be ill. Internal parasites, external parasites, any kind of bacterial or fungal infection, as well as most other illnesses will cause your iguana to go off feed. As an iguana owner, you must begin to realize that commonly, the only symptom your sick iguana will present to you is food refusal. Once an iguana, or any reptile or amphibian, stops eating, there is definitely a problem at hand. Remember, anorexia (food refusal) is not a disease, it is a symptom of some other problem. If your iguana stops eating, you must immediately make some changes. If you suspect your iguana is physically ill, a veterinarian's assistance is usually all that can help. Please do not hesitate to contact one in your area. Sometimes, just a quick fecal analysis can pinpoint the problem and just two doses of medicine can get your iguana up and running again.
Similar to anorexia, lethargy in iguanas is a symptom of a larger problem. It usually accompanies disease. If your iguana seems listless, please review the nutrition and general care sections of this booklet. First, adjust temperature, lighting and diet, and if your iguana does not perk up, I recommend an immediate trip to the vet. He or she can almost immediately determine if your iguana is suffering from a disease related to hypocalcemia (calcium deficiency - see Metabolic Bone Disease section), and a quick blood test can tell very much about your iguana's health. Please act quickly with both anorexia and lethargy, as iguanas are very good at masking their problems. When a symptom becomes visible to you, any disease your iguana suffers from is probably in its more advanced stages. Luckily, most diseases can be completely reversed if caught in time and if a proper course of action is taken, and large doses of TLC (Tender Loving Care) and perseverance can help bring your iguana back to good health.
The most common nutritional ailment among iguanas in captivity is metabolic bone disease (MBD), or fibrous osteodystrophy. If you follow the diet and temperature guidelines in this booklet, your iguana should not suffer from this sickness. However, I would like to give you a rundown of what the symptoms of MBD are, so that you can spot them quickly.
When an iguana has MBD, it does not have enough calcium in the blood due to a calcium poor diet. When the iguana's blood cannot get enough calcium from the food it eats, it starts to take calcium from the bones. This results in the bones becoming soft. If your iguana starts breaking its bones easily, it could be indicative of MBD. However, there are other signs that usually develop before broken bones. One sign is a "crooked" back. If your iguana's spine seems to be bent, no matter what position it is in, it might be curving due to MBD. Another symptom is lack of toe use. If your iguana's toes twitch frequently (this is called tetany) or don't seem to be very strong, it could also be indicative of MBD. Perhaps the two most common symptoms are the swelling of the limbs and the jaw. If your iguana is appearing "muscle-bound"; in its limbs but it hasn't changed its exercise routine, it could be due to the body's attempt to strengthen the weak bones by surrounding them with a fibrous tissue. Iguanas' lower jaws can also become swollen or appear to be "caved in" when they get very weak. If the mouth does not close all the way, it could be indicative of MBD. Also, sometimes the jaw will appear to be normal, but be soft. A very gentle squeezing of the jaw can be done to tell if the jaw does not seem to be well calcified.
MBD is a reversible disease, especially when caught early. Your veterinarian will easily be able to tell if your iguana is suffering from MBD, and can help you nurse it back to health. The most common "cure" is simply a change to a better diet, more exposure to unfiltered sunlight, and calcium injections are sometimes administered.
Salmonella is a bacteria that is present in the gut of about 90% of reptiles. It usually lives there happily and harmlessly, just as its cousin E. coli lives in the gut of humans. As a matter of fact, many humans harbor small amounts of salmonella as well. However, salmonella in larger amounts, especially in the young and the elderly, can be extremely dangerous, even deadly. Therefore, it is important that you practice good hygiene when there are reptiles present in your household. After handling your iguana or items from your iguana's cage, you should always wash your hands (preferably with an anti-bacterial soap, but regular soap seems to work just as well) to prevent further spread of the bacteria. In addition, you should keep your iguana's cage clean and bathe your iguana on a regular basis to keep its skin free of debris such as feces which spreads the bacteria. Salmonella is not comonly transmitted from iguanas to humans, but it does happen occasionally. Many adults can fight off the bacteria without treatment, as many people generally think that they have a 24-hour flu. But young children and the elderly are particularly prone to becoming sick from the bacteria, and it can be fata. Therefore, it is extremely important that you make sure guests wash their hands after handling your iguana, and that you do the same, to avoid transmittance of the bacteria.
It is not usually necessary to treat iguanas for salmonella. Actually, unless there is a problem (salmonella in excess is simply an internal parasite; see Internal Parasites section) iguanas should not be treated for salmonella. It is best to leave the small amount of bacteria inside the iguana and simply practice good hygiene.
You must inspect
your iguana every day for changes in its appearance or behavior. If it
starts acting lethargic or stops eating, there is almost definitely a medical
problem that must be addressed. Nutritional problems are reversible through
change in diet. It is extremely important that you offer your iguana a
varied diet to avoid nutritional problems. Physical injuries usually heal
just fine as long as they are attended to. Overall, do not neglect your
iguana. Even if you are extremely busy with work or school, you must take
a few minutes every day to look your iguana over. It will help you spot
problems, and it will also work to keep your iguana tame. Healthy, friendly
iguanas can be great pets, so let's keep them that way!!!
Housing
Many iguana owners like to allow their lizards to roam free throughout the entire house or apartment, or at least one or two rooms. These are viable situations, but many important precautions must first be taken into consideration. As I will discuss shortly, iguanas need to live in very high temperatures if effective digestion is to take place. You will need to heat the areas that the iguana will occupy. In addition, it is not always particularly easy to potty-train iguanas, who generally defecate daily. Some iguanas will choose a particular spot (or maybe two or three particular spots) and use it faithfully. In that case, you can place a litter box or newspaper in that spot for easy cleaning. Other iguanas may use a certain area sometimes, but frequently stray from it. Still others will return to a particular spot thanks only to sheer coincidence. You must be prepared to deal with these daily clean-ups. Iguanas' stools can stain and many iguana owners already know that some of their lizards' favorite spots to relieve themselves are on beds and stacks of clean clothes. In addition to the problem of staining, general hygeine is extremely important. It is easy to put off cleaning an iguana mess if it's in the corner of a room, but that corner will soon become a breeding ground for harmful bacteria.
Another important consideration is iguana-proofing the rooms. Iguanas can be even more curious than cats, but unfortunately, tend to be much less graceful. If you have fragile objects on shelves, they are likely to be knocked over and possibly damaged by your iguana. Climbing is facilitated by your iguana's use of its claws. If much of your furniture is slippery (wood, as opposed to upholstery) your iguana will likely slip off and possibly injure itself. Electrical outlets can also be hazardous. Iguanas can get caught in between radiators and walls, get tangled in stereo wires, burn themselves on lightbulbs, or even decide to hang out underneath heavy furniture for several days at a time, thus missing meals and cooling down. You must also consider the iguana's general happiness: iguanas are arboreal, which means that they are tree-dwelling in the wild. They will want to climb the furniture, which may be impossible for them if their claws don't have anything to grab onto. Alternately, their claws might tear holes in your upholstery if too much wanton climbing takes place.
Despite all of the above warnings, there are indeed many iguanas that do share their living space with their owners. A suitable environment can be created if you carefully consider the above precautions. You might even consider adding some large branches to your decor for your iguanas to climb. You might also section off one corner of the room for use as an open cage. If you heat that area, supply branches and feed them there, they may spend much of their time in that area, only leaving for temporary changes of scenery and for exercise. One option is to hang a heat lamp from the ceiling, above your iguana's basking area. Iguanas like to bask in hot light (like the sun) and generally prefer to do that over merely sitting in a heated room. Some iguana owners are able to devote an entire room to their free-roaming lizards which can be completely iguana-proofed and decorated iguana-style. The air temperature in that room may be raised using a heater, but you should still provide basking sites. If you do choose to let your iguana free-roam, please read the rest of this section so you can learn about their light and temperature requirements.
Generally, owners of juvenile iguanas choose to house their lizards in aquariums or other types of cages. Small lizards are likely to get lost when released into large areas, so an enclosure of some kind is recommended. Aquariums tend to be the most popular choice, probably due to their availability. Glass surfaces are also easy to clean, and allow for high visibility. Some iguana owners opt to build cages for their lizards. A common type of custom cage is one with a wooden frame, with the sides made of cage wire or plexiglass. Glass can also be used, as it won't scratch or bend, but it is much heavier when coupled with the wooden frame and is more fragile during construction and when moving. Glass and plexiglass are popular because they tend to look nicer than cage wire, allow for optimum visibility of the lizard inside, and they also keep the heat in the cage. Cage wire, however, may be favored by the iguana because it will provide a climbing material, and also because it allows for ventilation. (It is also much less expensive.) It is crucial to keep the cage warm, but it is also important to allow the animal inside to breathe. In general, when constructing your iguana's cage, you must take many factors into consideration, which are discussed below. If you find that you cannot meet the requirements that are given, it would be a good idea to try to find your iguana a different home. Many people buy iguanas not realizing how much time and money they will need to invest in their new pets, and it is always best to find a better home for the iguana than put a half-hearted effort into caring for it.
Cage Size
As a general
rule, you should offer your iguana the largest enclosure that you can possibly
afford and have room for. Adult iguanas are arboreal, which means that
they spend most of their time in trees in the wild. As juveniles, iguanas
spend much more time on the ground, so smaller, shorter cages are acceptable
for a while. But as iguanas grow, they want to climb. This means that you
must provide an enclosure that has very much vertical space. If faced with
the choice of one or the other, it would be better for you to provide a
cage that is 7 feet tall than 7 feet wide or long. You may find that this
sort of cage structure is advantageous to you as well, as you can then
devote less floor space to your iguana's enclosure. If you are not sure
if the cage you have in mind is large enough for an iguana, there are some
general guidelines that can be followed: the cage should be at least as
tall as the iguana is long. (Including tail.) Preferably taller. It should
be about 1 1/2 times the total length of the animal in length, and 2/3
the total length of the animal in width. The iguana should have ample room
to walk, turn around, and climb. These guidelines should be considered
minimum standards. Your iguana will probably become quite depressed if
it has less room than this in an enclosure that it will be spending much
of its time in. (As a side note: I house my four iguanas in a cage that
is six feet tall, eight feet long, and three feet wide, and I let them
out frequently for exercise.)
Cage Toys
Your iguana
will not be happy if it doesn't have anything to do besides sitting on
the floor of its cage. You must provide branches for climbing in the cage.
The branches should be a little larger in diameter than your iguana at
its largest point. Alternately, you could provide a different kind of climbing
material such as a 2"x4" covered with carpet or with grooves cut into it.
Climbing is a favorite pastime of green iguanas, and you must not deny
them this option. The branches should sit diagonally within the cage. Most
iguanas seem to like to sit atop high horizontal surfaces such as shelves,
so you may wish to install a shelf near the high end of the branch. You
may wish to make a place like this into your iguana's "basking spot", which
will be discussed next. In addition to branches and shelves, some choose
to add ropes or rope ladders. These are usually used for juvenile iguanas
only. You must be careful with large iguanas because due to their weight,
if they get tangled in a rope they can injure themselves. Make sure all
the items in the cage are safe and secure to avoid any accidents!
Heating and lighting the iguanaís enclosure are two problems that many people choose to solve at the same time. Incandescent (regular bulbs that screw into regular light sockets) spotlights, available from your hardware or lighting store in a wide variety of wattages, can keep your iguana's cage both warm and bright. This is my heating method of choice. By placing a spot light at one end of the cage, you can create a nice temperature gradient for your iguana, which is essential to its well being. The area directly under the light would be the basking spot, where your iguana will go to warm up early in the day. The basking spot should be in the mid-nineties. (Degrees Fahrenheit.) You might want to invest in an aquarium thermometer so that you may test the temperature at all parts of the cage. As the iguana gets farther away from the basking spot, the ambient temperature decreases. The coolest part of the cage should be around 80 degrees. As a general rule, iguanas need to maintain an internal temperature of 88 degrees for about 10 hours a day if effective digestion is to take place. My favorite way to mount the spot light is to screw it into a shop-light fixture, and set it right on the screen or wire top of the cage. Lights should never be placed inside the cage because iguanas will climb on them and burn themselves. If you do not have a screen or wire top to your cage, you could shine the light through a screen or wire side. (Some part of the cage must usually be screen or wire, or else there will not be enough ventilation! See Ventilation section.) If your cage has no screen or wire sides but still has effective ventilation, you could place a light bulb or ceramic heat emitter (which screws into a regular light bulb socket but emits no light) in the cage, but make sure to put wire or screen around it. You must use a thermometer, however, to make sure the inside of the cage is at the correct temperature.
There are also under tank heaters made to be placed under aquariums to warm the floor, which is suitable for young specimens that spend much of their time sitting on the floor of their cages. They are not very effective at warming up the air temperature inside aquariums so if you have an iguana that spends its time on branches or rocks that do not come into contact with the floor of the aquarium, an under tank heater will not do you much good. If you do invest in a floor heater, human heating pads are much less expensive and easier to control than the ones marketed for reptiles in pet stores. In addition, I recommend against using "hot rocks", as they are notorious for over-heating and burning reptiles on their ventral sides. Also, wild iguanas obtain their heat from the sun above, not rocks below. Hot rocks are kind of neat ideas in themselves in that the manufacturers have given you a mini heater in the shape of a rock, which might seem perfect for a reptile cage. But remember - the rock is just a heater, and in the author's experience, an unstable one at that. All of my hot rocks have "burned out" and are now useless except for decoration - probably because it is impossible to keep them from getting wet. I know several other people whose hot rocks have overheated, thus resulting in burns on their iguanas. In conclusion, the only really suitable methods I have found for heating iguana enclosures has been incandescent spot lights and regular space or room heaters. If you use a heater, make sure that the iguana cannot come into contact with it and knock it over or burn itself. Iguanas seem to be the happiest when they have a basking spot, so you may use a space heater to help heat the iguanaís area, but the iguana should really have a basking spot as well.
Vegetable matter contains a large amount of cellulose (which is the main component of plant cell walls) which most animals cannot digest on their own. Iguanas have microorganisms living in their hindgut which break down the cellulose for them. These microorganisms need hot temperatures in order to do their work, so if you keep your iguana too cool, one of the effects will be poor digestion, which will lead to problems stemming from malnutrition.
It is absolutely essential that your iguana be provided exposure to wide ranges of ultraviolet light. Natural sunlight is best. Iguanas' bodies synthesize vitamin D3 with exposure to UV-B light, and vitamin D3 is essential for calcium absorption. It is also speculated that there are many other physical and psychological benefits of UV light. If you can, you should take your iguana outside on sunny days, even if it not particularly hot. If your iguana does not usually live outside, you must purchase "full spectrum" fluorescent bulbs. There are many different brands on the market, and your local pet store can probably order whatever brand you want. (Lighting stores are generally useless for full spectrum bulbs.) You need a full spectrum, not broad spectrum, light, and if possible, you should buy a few bulbs, all different brands. None of the bulbs radiate exactly the same wavelengths, and like with diet, the widest range you can offer is the best thing you can do for your iguana.
These full spectrum bulbs can be inserted into any fluorescent "tube" light fixture. You can leave these bulbs on all day, for the same amount of time that you offer light. You must, however, offer UV light unfiltered through glass or plastic. If the light fixture you have has a plastic "shield", it must be removed. In addition, if your cage has a glass or plastic top, adjustments must be made so that your iguana can be exposed to unfiltered UV light.
It has been shown that incandescent "full spectrum" lights are nothing of the sort, and you should stick to the fluorescent (tube) variety.
The photoperiod is simply the length of time your iguana is exposed to light each day. The recommended photoperiod for iguanas is pretty simple: plug your heating lights and ultraviolet lights into a timer so that they turn on for about fourteen hours each day. As the seasons change, I alter my timer so that their lights turn on when the sun comes up, and turn off fourteen hours later. In addition to providing your iguana with its own lights for fourteen hours a day, it is essential that you do not keep lights near your iguana's enclosure on all night. The photoperiod is an important part of your iguana's life. It can become stressed if it never has periods of darkness. So if you are a nightowl and tend to stay up all night with lights and televisions on, please place your iguana's cage in a room that you would not spend time in.
For use as a substrate (ground material) you should choose whichever one is easiest for you to keep clean and dry. Many people successfully keep their reptiles on newspaper or paper bags. When soiled, the paper can be pulled right out and replaced. Another option is astroturf or some other kind of carpet. This is a little nicer to look at than paper, but is slightly more difficult to keep clean. If you have multiple pieces of carpet, you can simply replace the soiled carpet with the clean carpet. The soiled carpet can then be rinsed and cleaned with a bleach solution. (One part bleach to ten parts water will do.) You should always rinse items thoroughly that have been cleaned with bleach or any detergent.
I do not usually recommend using a partiuclate substrate. That is, sand, gravel, wood chips, or anything similar that your iguana can ingest. Sand, gravel, and wood used as substrate has led to impaction, and the dust from wood chips/mulch can lead to respiratory problems. The problem is that the iguana is enclosed in a very small space with this particulate matter, and due simply to cramped quarters or boredom, iguanas frequently end up eating quite a bit of their substrate (or inhaling it).
Exceptions to the particulate substrate rule:
I only recommend substrate such as cypress bark or mulch (never ever use cedar or pine chips) in very large enclosures. If the iguana spends 99% of its time basking on shelves or branches, and only retreats to the floor to poop, bark/mulch substrate can be satisfactory.
A popular particulate substrate for small cages is rabbit food (essentially alfalfa pellets). These pellets are not harmful to ingest (as long as they are clean!) and some people find them more aesthetically pleasing than carpet or paper. If you use this as substrate, you must be dedicated to scooping out soiled rabbit pellets immediately.
Above all, you must choose a substrate that you are willing and able to keep clean and that is not harmful to your iguana if ingested. Minor cuts or scrapes can become infected if your iguana is living in dirty conditions. Also, the cleaner you keep your iguana cage, the less chance that mites will decide to move in. (See External Parasites section.) If you find that you cannot keep a more exotic substrate such as wood chips clean, you must change your substrate to something easier like carpet or paper.
Iguanas come from hot, humid areas of Mexico, Central and South America. Many places north of Mexico are relatively cool and arid. The high relative humidity is good for your iguana's skin, but it has proven difficult to effectively maintain high-humidity environments for captive iguanas. Not only can it be tricky to raise the humidity to the proper level (iguanas feel right at home when the humidity level reaches 85-95%) but it is difficult to keep such enclosures clean. Hot, humid areas are succeptible to bacterial growth, and with food and feces in such close quarters, the humidity can prove to be dangerous. Subsequently, most iguanas are kept in environments that have low relative humidity, and seem to suffer no adverse effects except perhaps dry skin. This condition may be evident by the appearance and feel of the spines along your iguana's back. When the humidity is high, shedding is accomplished easily, and the dead layer of skin on the spines can be pulled right off without any problem. When the skin is dry, the spines often appear white (due to the dead skin) for long periods of time, and the skin on the scales sometimes comes off in part rather than in whole. Still, this does not seem to be detrimental to iguanas in captivity, and the dry skin condition is preferable to bacterial growth!
If you do wish to try to raise the relative humidity in your iguana's enclosure, there are a couple ways of doing so. If your iguana has a large enclosure, you can simply purchase a humidifier to add moisture to the air. If your iguana lives in a smaller cage, you can add humidity in a few different ways. You can either use a spray bottle to mist the iguana and the cage once or twice a day, or you can place a large bowl full of water in the cage which will evaporate and raise the humidity level. If you choose the water bowl method, you may wish to place a heat lamp above it to speed up evaporation, or placing an under-tank heater underneath that area will create the same effect. To help your iguana with its shedding, you may also soak it in warm water. You can gently rub your iguana's skin to help remove dead skin, but never pull off any skin that is still "stuck" on.
A factor in iguana cage design that is frequently overlooked is ventilation. If your iguana lives in an "open-air" cage that is made out of wire or screen on the sides, ventilation surely will not be a problem for you. Even aquariums with screen lids usually have enough ventilation. Do not, however, use an aquarium with a full hood, such as is used for fish. These will not permit air flow in and out of the aquarium. We have all been in overcrowded subways or buses that were so stuffy that we thought we might suffocate. Now imagine the subway at a temperature of about 90 degrees fahrenheit, probably with food or feces at your feet. Your iguana would not like this scenario any more than you would! So make sure there is an air source in your iguana's enclosure. There are some aquarium-like iguana cages on the market that are glass on the sides and the top, with vents spaced around the sides. These cages seem to have satisfacory ventilation. However, if you have a glass top on your iguana's cage, ultraviolet light will be filtered as it passes through the glass. (See Ultraviolet Light section.) You need to have a cage that is well-ventilated and that is able to pass UV light through its top or sides.
The addition of plants to lizard habitats can be quite aesthetically pleasing. In addition, one might hypothesize that captive iguanas would enjoy the presence of plants, as they live among lush vegetation in their natural environment. But you must remember that plant leaves serve as food for wild iguanas, and iguanas will relish plants as food in captivity as well. In the wild, the consumption of plant life by iguanas is not a problem, as there is well enough of it to go around and one of its purposes is to serve as food for herbivorous animals. Similarly, when plants are added to a cage or when iguanas are exposed to plants in the home, chances are that your iguana will decide to taste-test the local fauna. If the taste is agreeable, your iguana may return to it each day for a snack, leaving the fate of the plant as questionable. Many times, iguanas will chew on plants enough to kill them. They also tend to damage plants when climbing them.
In addition to the chance that the plant might suffer, your iguana's health may suffer as well. The plant leaves might throw off your iguana's nutritional intake if it eats too much of a plant that contains, say, too much phosphorus. (See Calcium and Phosphorus section.) There is also the chance that you may unwittingly offer a plant that is toxic to reptiles. If you choose to expose your iguana to a plant, please refer to Table 3: Toxic Plants. The plants listed are known to be toxic to reptiles. Please keep the plants in the table in mind when decorating your own living space, even if your iguana lives in a cage. It is likely that you will let your iguana out of the cage on occasion, and escape is always a possibility. Always keep an eye on your iguana if you let it out of its cage into a non-iguana-proofed area.
In light of the above information, you may wish to consider purchasing fake plants for iguana cage decoration. If you let your iguana out of its cage or if it shares your living space with you, make sure that any live plants you may have are out of reach, or make sure that your iguana seems to be uninterested in them. In many cases, an occasional bite won't hurt either the plant or animal. But the long term effects can be unfavorable.
The short answer
to the question of whether or not you may house multiple iguanas in the
same cage or living space is "no". The longer answer is that all iguanas
have different personalities and some will get along well and some will
not. As juveniles, most iguanas tend to live in harmony amongst one another.
Do keep this in mind when you are considering adding another iguana to
your pet collection. An apparent "friendship" between juvenile iguanas
may turn sour within just a few months as they both mature. Males tend
to be the most aggressive and territorial. Adult males frequently quarrel,
and male/female groups can also get quite rowdy if the male is interested
in mating. Groups of females tend to get along better than groups that
contain even one male, but females can be territorial as well and problems
might arise. Sometimes iguanas can hurt each other quite badly, so if you
are thinking of purchasing more than one iguana you must be prepared to
separate them if their situation calls for it. This means being prepared
to have two separate cages for them, two separate heating and lighting
systems, and two food bowls. If your time, space, or resources will not
allow this, I suggest keeping only one iguana. You never know, without
experimentation, how your particular iguana will react to another iguana.
(See
Reproduction section for
additional information.)