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Tips For Iguana Owners
If you are considering an iguana for the first time let me offer you this tip, before you bring your new pet home, build a cage! Don't think you can start small and build a larger one later, later will come far sooner than you can possibly imagine! That tiny little lizard you bring home today will grow at least a foot within the first year and that cheesy little tank the pet store salesperson sold you will be nothing more than a waste of your money! A minimum enclosure for an iguana is 6 feet long by 6 feet tall by 3 (or more) feet wide. Too big you say?
Than Choose Another Pet Now!! Also keep in mind that to maintain a healthy iguana, that will live over 20 years, you must provide ample ventilation. Should you choose the more common 'Green Iguana', like Skydog above, be prepared to install a humidifier. Glass aquariums are Not an option!
Now about food, most iguanas are pure vegetarians. This does not mean however green lettuces. Salad lettuce will only give your iguana diarrhea and no nutrients. A proper iguana salad consists of collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelions, bok choy, kale, alfalfa, ground carrots, chopped squash, hibiscus flowers, and rose petals. These should make up at least 90%
of your iguana's diet; other foods should include occasional spinach, peas, assorted berries, clover, water crest, cabbage, melons, grapes, apples, bananas, and other fruits. These should
make up the remaining 10%. If you choose the green iguana then insects and any other animal protein should be taboo! While iguanas fed such items may appear healthy, and usually quite larger than ones who are not, their life will be greatly shortened. Feeding a diet of protein is a trick iguana farmers use to raise very large iguana in a short period of time, however those iguanas are not raised for health but for some perverted dinner plate! There are however some species who require animal protein such as the rhinoceros iguana and some Mexican species. Godzilla is allowed no more than 6 or 7 mealworms or crickets per week and only because he is some what related to the rhinoceros iguana and because David Blair says it is ok. Do Not let your iguana eat scraps from your dinner plate, while he may like it, your only going to kill him!!
As for that "crap" the pet stores sell (pardon my language), I have only found one that not only will the iguanas eat (without having to starve them first) but also has only the right ingredients and that is ZooMed's moist iguana pellets. It has no corn, no artificial flavor, no fillers, and no glycol and both Skydog and Godzilla love it. Please, please, do not let some salesperson tell you what to buy, read the ingredients and tell that salesperson what you need to buy!
And then there's the issue of vitamins and minerals. While there are many brands to choose from I prefer to go with the manufactures who specialize in reptiles not in fishes and birds. Godzilla's choice here is Rep-Cal. You will need both the calcium and the vitamins, do not buy any of the pre-mixed types and there is no need for that junk that adds phosphorous for iguanas they get all the phosphorous they need from the vegies. It is important that you add these items daily, especially if you have a female and she is producing eggs, that I learned the hard way through the loss of Skydog! :-(
Well, that only leaves two more considerations for your new pet. First, and very important, is lighting. Natural sunlight is mandatory and the more the better! While Godzilla is an indoor iguana, he still gets daily sunshine (weather permitting of course). A glass window is not acceptable as the glass filters out the needed UVB and UVA spectrum of the light, so a wire mesh of at least 1/4 to 1/2 inch is my solution. His enclosure has two ZooMed full spectrum neon tubes (ZooMed is the only artificial light worth spending your money on, trust me on this. Don't listen to that salesperson again!) and he has access to lay his entire body within 6 inches of the lights for this is as far as the beneficial rays can extend. Keep in mind that the "basking" lamps, even ZooMed's, produce little to no UVB and UVA, they are for warmth and nothing more. Do not use hot rocks for tree dwelling species, this is the wrong way to warm a tree dweller and can actually cause health problems! Your best bet is to provide your iguana with as much natural, unfiltered sunlight as possible. And NEVER put an animal in the sun without available shade!
Now for the final requirement to own an iguana, LOVE! Iguanas are demanding creatures and each species is unique. Skydog for instance would perk up when ever I came home and loved to have her throat rubbed (and rubbed, and rubbed, until my hand ached) but other than that she preferred to be left on her own and hatted to be picked up. Godzilla, on the other hand, is like something between a puppy and a cat. He can not stand to be left alone and will follow me from room to room. If I sleep in too late and the sun comes up he will actually jump on my bed to wake me and take him outside! Once he is bored with where ever we happen to be he just jumps up on my shoulder, puts his front feet on my head and 'rides' me like a horse to where ever he wants to be. Also keep in mind that iguanas are very intelligent animals and each one will have their own personality. I think the best advice I can give is to remember that your iguana is not a pet, he is a friend! If you can meet all the requirements above then you will have a healthy and happy friend for many years to come regardless of which species you may choose.
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