Iguana Care

Before thinking of keeping iguana as a pet, one should be aware of the basic care tips of iguana. Iguana is a giant reptile which grows very quickly within a short period of time. The potential of iguana is totally dependent on the care and attention given to him by its owner.

It is important for one to provide essentials to their iguana in order to make them feel comfortable and secure. Essentials such as - housing, temperature level, humidity level in enclosure, lighting, proper balanced diet and cage maintenance should be provided to iguana.

Housing/enclosure for iguana:

1. House/cage should be at least twice the length and width of iguana, since it grows very quickly of about 6 to 7 feet in length.
2. Cage of iguana should contain adequate amount of space for iguana to move around and to perform daily exercises
3. Housing should make iguana feel comfortable.
4. Housing/enclosure should have trees, plants etc for climbing. Iguana is arboreal; it likes to climb a tree. Climbing tree is very essential for iguana to maintain an active body and avoid any metabolic diseases.
5. Smaller size of enclosure restricts the growth of iguana. It takes long time for the growth of their body parts.

Temperature in the enclosure for iguana:

1. Basically iguanas are cold blooded reptile, so they need warm climate in their habitat.
2. During day, the temperature level should be maintained around 80-88 degree F with a basking spot of 90-95 degree F.
3. During night the temperature level should be maintained around 75-80 degree F. However, light should be kept off in night.
4. In the enclosure, balanced temperature should be maintained. i.e. cooler and warmer areas.

Lighting in enclosure for iguana:

1. Lighting in the iguana cage is very essential for the heath of iguana. Iguana requires UVA and UVB light.
2. UVA light is required by iguana for maintaining a natural behavior
3. UVB light is required by iguana to maintain vitamin D3 in their body. Vitamin D3 helps in digesting the food and results in preventing metabolic disease in their body.
4. UV light can be provided to iguana through sun light. It is one of the cheaper sources of UV light.

Humidity level in enclosure for iguana :

1. Iguana habitat/enclosure must have a high range of humidity level.
2. Humidity level should be maintained around 75-85%.
3. High level of humidity level is preferred by iguana since they come from tropical region. They don’t have habit of drinking water.
4. Iguana prefers to take water through the humidity level in the enclosure i.e. Rocks.
5. Humidity level help iguana to prevent their skin from getting dried.

Diet for iguana:

1. Iguanas are herbivores reptile. They prefer to have plants, fruits, vegetables, and flower in their diet.
2. A proper balanced diet for iguana must include Green leafy vegetables of about 40-45% i.e. collard greens, mustard greens, escarole, dandelion greens
3. It should include 40-45% of other vegetables like green beans, okra, orange fleshes squashes, alfalfa, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, sweet potato, parsnip and carrots
4. 10% of proper diet should include fruits such as blackberries, watermelon, grapes, mango, papaya, honeydew, and banana
5. 5% of diet or less than that diet should include grains
6. They should not be fed with animal proteins. It disturbs their digestion system resulting in disease in iguana.

Cage maintenance :

1. Cage maintenance is very essential for the growth and health of iguana
2. Waste food and other unwanted products should be regularly removed from the cage. Contaminated food in cage may cause infection to iguana
3. Fresh water in a shallow dish should be provided to iguana
4. Substrate in the cage should be leveled properly, it should not be toxic
5. Use of newspaper at the bottom of enclosure would be better. It will reduce your burden to clean the cage
6. Toxic substrate may result in some disease to iguana

The above mentioned tips on iguana care will definitely help you take good care of your iguana.