This care sheet is only a basic guide to introduce you to the wonderfull world of iguanas you will still need to do alot of research into these beutifull lizards before even considering owning one
Green iguana care
How to aproach a green iguana:
.slowly
.carefully
.flat hand
.with caution.
.keepin wits about you
Tempatures:
.Basking 90-95F
.Ambient 80-85F
.Night time 75F (room temp if in warm house)
Diet:
A Iguanas diet should be made up of roughly 90%-95% leefy greens I.E lettuce
(NOT ICEBERG THIS HAS NO NUTRITIONAL VALUE MAINLY JUST WATER)cucumber ect ect. MAKE SURE YOU DO MORE RESEARCH INTO A IGGYS DIET IT IS QUITE COMPLEX.
and bout 5% fruit do not feed any fruits with a high phosphorus level I.E banana
as its is very dangerous to your iguana i find mine likes apple & strawberies
Handling:
When handling a green iggy allways keep your wits about you as no matter how tame
it is its still a wild animal and can be very dangerous ive seen pictures of bites
from a adult iggy thats needed 16 stitches so be carefull allways be firm but gentle
and alow the iggy to use you as a tree i also recomend wearing a glove and long sleeves
as these beast have seriously long claws and never move fast as you will startle your iguana.
The Setup:
The most importants factor is height is needed big style as these lizards are completely
arboreal i suggest a minmum of 5x7x3 (LxHxD) and bigger would be better,
i also suggest you provide two basking sites for your iguana to choose from for some variety provided
by two 150 watt basking bulbs on a dimmer stat MAKE SURE THERE GUARDED and also provide plenty
of foliage and branches for your iggy to climb on make sure the ranches have been cleaned properly
if collected from the outdoors,i suggest boiling water over them then scrub in a weak bleach
soloution then boiling water again then let dry then use this will make sure all bugs and bacteria are dead
and no longer harmfull for your iguana and just for reasurance i use this method and have never had problems.
your aim is to also provide a vertical thermo gradient which you create by only heating the top section of the vivarium
what i suggest is two 150 watt baskers at each end at the top of teh viv both with a basking branch underneath or i
find iggys like a shelf unerneath one so they can spread out and soake up the heat the idea of a vertical thermo gradient
is to stimulate like a tree the hottest point is at the top then the lower the iggy goes the cooler it is.
Lighting:
as stated above i suggest two 150 watt baskers for the basking and for the uv i recomend a appropriately size tube for
the size of the vivarium say a 6 ft viv then a 4-5ft tube and i recomend a 10% uv make sure this placed up on the top
of the viv so the iggys is directly underneath it,i have mine running over both basking sites so she can bask and get uv
like in the wild also you will need a 12 hour on and 12 hour off period as iggys are diurnal which means active by
day & sleep at night just like us so the photoperiod is very important.
Conclusion:
What you are taking on is a massive commitment this iguana if cared for rite may live upto 15 years + and will reach a massive 6 ft
very very fast and will need a very large enclosure and alot of up keep and alot of food and will take up most of your spare time
this is a huge commitment think alot before you purchase a green iguana
please let me know what you think
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