Iguana care, how to be a good Iguana Keeper

Furnishing your Iguana's new house

2005-11-22T10:25:00.000-05:00

As your Iguana and his/her cage grows you will also need to update their furnishings. While your Iggy is still small you can purchase various things from pet stores. I have found that both of my Iguanas enjoy sleeping in hammocks. I bought the small little green mesh one from the pet store and now have to make their own out of cloth and zip ties. You can also buy caves and logs for your Iguana to hide under. I recommend buying lots of vines and plants, sometimes you have to go to the fish department, as Iguanas love to climb. I have also found that cat trees work really good in the larger cages. It easily supports the weight of your pet and usually gives them multiple layers to climb and bask on. The carpet makes it comfortable for them and its also easy for them to grip. I do not recommend getting one that is already treated with catnip though as this may be harmful to your Iguana. Your Iguana will also need a constant source of water in the cage to drink from and help raise the humidity. Iguanas like to be humid and the humidity level should be around 60% in your tank. You can arrange this by building them a swimming pool or buying a water fountain and placing a light near it so it will evaporate the water. I think the swimming pool is the cheaper way to go and its more fun for the Iguanas. All you need to do is buy a kitty litter box or painters rolling pan, place it in the cage and keep it filled with warm water. Try to change it everyday and the light will help keep it warm. The painters rolling pan will provide a shallow end and a deep end for your pet, while the kitty litter box will be all deep.

Meet Jade and Mr. Scrambler

2005-11-21T14:43:00.000-05:00

I thought everyone would like to meet the stars of our show. These are our Iguanas Jade and Mr.Scrambler. We rescued both of them and were thrown into Iguana parenting with out a clue as to what we were doing. We found that every book or internet site disagreed with each other and it was hard to find the right answers. So they encouraged us to start this page. To them we owe our thanks.

2005-11-21T13:59:00.000-05:00

Mr. Scrambler stops to pose before he continues to climb onto my husband's head.

2005-11-21T13:56:00.000-05:00

Although this is not a great picture of Jade it gives you an idea of how her back has continued to curve. It starts in the middle of her stomach and zig-zag all the way down her tail.

2005-11-21T13:53:00.000-05:00

This is Mr. Scrambler when we first got him at Christmas last year.

2005-11-21T13:52:00.000-05:00

This is Jade getting her first acupunture treatment. This is for her Scoliosis. I work for an animal hospital that specializes in Chinese and herbal remedies. Dr. Nunez started doing this for her because it relieves the tension in the muscles which loosens her back a little.

Substrates

2005-11-21T11:21:00.000-05:00

Substrate is what we call the substance used on the bottom of your reptiles enclosure. There are many things you can use in this category and you may need to experiment with some until you find what you think works best.

Reptibark or other bark like materials: Sold in most pet stores these barks are supposed to simulate what the ground would be like in the wild. This product can become very expensive. Depending on the size of the cage you have, you may need a lot of bags to cover the ground. I have found that the product is very dusty which causes my Iguanas to sneeze more often. Its sometimes the color of the dust instead of white, which may cause alarm if you don't recognize it quickly. I have also found this product to mold. Your cage should have a high humidity level (we will talk more about this later), and, if your Iguanas are like mine, like to splash around in the tub. This causes the bottom side of the bark to mold and is dangerous for your Iguana to breathe in or eat.
Pellets: You can also purchase reptile pellet bedding or alfalfa pellets, usually sold as rabbit food. These pellets will absorb moisture well, can easily be cleaned with a kitty litter scoop, and are safe for your pet to digest as long as he/she is big enough not to choke on them.
Sand: Many pet stores sell calcium sand which is good for your Iguana if they decide to eat any of the sand. You can also go to Home Depot and buy a big bag of play sand for about $3. It covers a huge amount of space and its usually sterilized because parents are over protective with their children :). Sand will also absorb the moisture and can easily be cleaned. I personally have a big sandy area around one of my Iguana's pools so its looks like his own little oasis. He actually likes to make mud and can be found purposely knocking water out of his pool and then rolling around in his new mud puddle. For pets that tend to sit around all day I enjoy watching this.
Carpet or newspaper: Many people like to use newspaper at the bottom of the cage. If you are using a bird cage where the droppings pan is separate from the cage then this is a great and cheap way to go. Everyday you just pull out the pan and put a few new sheets in and you are ready to go. If the floor of your cage is attached though, so your Iguana is constantly walking on it, I find that the newspaper shreds easily under their claws and that when they scramble around they push it to the side and poop on the cage floor anyway. This just makes a big mess for you to clean. In all my cages I use carpet. You can buy reptile carpet at the pet store, but once again I find that Home Depot is my friend. You can go to their carpet section and buy large amounts of indoor/outdoor turf for about $20. I then go home, cut the carpet up into squares that fill the bottom of the cage, and store all the other squares in the closet. This way I can easily change the cages 2-3 times each without having to go out again. Since both of my Iguanas are potty trained (more on this latter) the carpet almost never gets dirty unless there is the occasional accident. Then I change the carpet out. This happens about every month so for $20 I can change each of my 2 cages 3 times and not need to worry for 3 months.
Linoleum: This is a good way to go if you never want to change your floor. All you need to do a grab some paper towels and clean up any messes. The only things I found wrong with this approach is that I could not get the edges to be smooth and I was afraid of my Iguana cutting himself. If you can find away around that then this is a great method. My boy Iguana also tends to try to play in his poop so if its just on the ground and not in his pool or sand he gets covered. I could never catch him in the act to clean it before he did this. My girl Iguana is very clean though and would never dream of doing something like that, so you'll need to experiment to see what happens. Again Home Depot is the easy, cheap way for getting the linoleum or titles that you need.

How to be a good Iguana Keeper

2005-11-20T22:56:00.000-05:00

If you currently own an Iguana or are looking to adopt one of these great reptiles into your life you probably already know that its hard to find good information on how to care for them. Or at least 2 pages or books that agree with each other. I know I thought it was an impossible task. That's why I decided to start this page. Your Iguana needs you to be the best keeper you can be, their life literally depends on it. Within these pages you can expect to find what I have found to be good information on housing, feeding, and caring for your Iguana. This is just my own opinion for all the information I have gone through. I don't guarantee that it is the best or only way to care for your herp., but I hope it helps you shift through all the other information you have read.

Housing for your Iguana

2005-11-20T20:31:00.000-05:00

Choosing the right size home for your Iguana

Choosing the housing for your Iguana may well be a never ending project. The size of your Iguana's cage will need to grow with your Iguana. The enclosure you choose should not be less than 1 1/2 times the length of your Iguana, snout to tail, tall. The with of the cage should not be less than 2/3 the length of your pet. Buying, or building the cage larger than these dimensions will help save you money with less frequent upgrades. These cages can be made from almost anything. While your Iguana is still young it can be housed in glass tanks that you can buy from the pet store. While these are usually made for fish there are some stores that carry reptile specific cages. You should always try to have the cage be taller than it is wide because Iguanas like to climb and bask in high places. When your Iguana out grows these tanks you can make your own with wood or PVC pipes and make the walls with either mesh or plexi glass. I do not recommend using chicken wire or wire mesh material because it can cut off toes or cause damage to the Iguana if they like to rub up on the wall. While the other materials may also leave marks, the wire can easily cut through their scales.

Lighting for your Iguana's Cage

There are many different ways to light your Iguanas cage. It is important for them to obtain the correct amount of uv/uvb light to propaly digest their food daily. If you Iguana will be housed outdoors, without glass, then you do not need to worry about special lights because they will get what they need from the sun. Any type of glass, including plexi glass will refract the light and prevent the uv/uvb rays from getting to you Iguana. Therefore you will need to provide them with the proper lighting. If you are using mesh or any material that may burn make sure you set the lights up away from the cage to prevent fire. You can purchase painters drop lamps from any hardware store for pretty cheap and they will hold your normal size light bulbs. If you want to use the tube type you will need to buy the proper light source from a pet shop. These cost anywhere from $30 - and up depending on the length and number or tubes you want it to hold. You then need to purchase a uvb bulb. These come in a variety of sizes and you can buy day time and night time bulbs. Depending on the size of the cage you should have at least one of these bulbs for each area you think your Iguana will use as a basking site. For heat you can buy ceramic heaters or bulbs that only emit heat, like the ones you can buy for your household bathroom. These will need to be in holders that can withstand the heat they put out to prevent fires. If you have a small tank you can also buy under tank heaters to heat a small section of the floor. I do not recommend heat rocks as your Iguana is not smart enough to get off of them. While its stomach is nice and toasty warm, its back is still cold so it does not get up. This can cause nerve damage or burns. Do not up undertank heaters diectly on the floor. Thet casue the carpet to burn all the way down. My tan carpet now has a large green patch from doing this. The cage should have a temperature range of 70 degrees F to around 100 degrees F. Set up your heat lamps so you Iguana will have some cool places to hide and areas where it can bask in the warmth.