iguana care

important: Iguanas are very demanding pets to keep; they doesn't need only lettuce and in a little cage doesn't stay small. Most iguanas are killed by wrong care: this is only a brief guide, I reccomend to consult the Giant Green Iguana by Melissa Kaplan, there you'll find ALL about keeping this wonderful lizard.

common name:

giant green iguana

size:

males can exceed 6 feet, females are generally smaller

males have femoral pores bigger than females

females have smaller pores

cage:

Iguanas reachs big size, so they need a proportionate cage: must be 2xstl ( snout tail long) in length, 1xstl in width and 1xstl in heights. Iguanas need about 70/80% of humidity, so it would be better to have a big heated water bowl and to hand spray 1/2 times a day

substrat:

Is better to avoid sands, gravel and barks because could be deadly if ingested, rabbit pellets get mouldy for high humidity, are advised newspapers or syntethic turfs (to change or wash often)

lighting and heating:

Iguanas to synthetize vit D3 needs UVB (click here for other informationsi), so is advisable use of fluorescent as Zoomed Reptisun 5.0, also if there is a debate about real effectiveness of fluorescent UVB tubes, and have lizards out in the sun in big mesh cages (plastic and glass filter UVB). Lights on for 10/12 hours a day and don't have any visible light on at night. For heating you can use normal lamps, infrareds, ceramic heat lamps.. is very important to have the heat source connected to a thermostat and to have 2 thermometers (1 in warm side and 1 in cold side) to always check temperature. Hot rocks are to avoid because cause burns. Day temps must be 75F in cold side, 85F in warm side and a basking area of 90/95F. Nighttemp never drop down 75F

feeding:

Iguanas are exclusively herbivores: autopsy showed that iguanas in the wild have very little quantity of insects, probably caused by accidental ingestions.Iggy's diet is formed by 95% of greens and vegetables and 5% of fruits and flowers.

dry pellets:	alfaalfa pellets for proteins
greens:	rocket, chicory and big chicory, romane lattuce, turnip greens,indivia endive, escarole, red salad, insalata rossa, mustards
vegetables:	zucchini, peas, string beans, peppers, carrots, asparagus
flowers and fruits:	hibiscus, zucchini or dandelion's flowers, apples, pears, bananas, grapes, stawberries, kiwi

NOTES: greens as kale or spinach have a lot of oxalates harmful for loins and thyroid, so they can be offered only occasionally and cannot to be included in the basic diet

supplements:

youngs need calcium+vit D3 every day and vitamins 1/2 times a week; adults need calcium+vit D3 every 2/3 feeds, vitamins 2 time a week.