Hello! There's a person selling their 2.5 year old male iguana, complete with 260 gal Reptarium, some equipment and the MK's book on iguanas, and I expressed my interest. I'm eager to try out this new kind of pet, but after reading on Internet sites, I'm not sure I'll be able to enjoy an iguana, especially reading about males' terrible breeding season behavior, and my house being full of females. I'm looking for something I can communicate with and hold, and not have to worry every spare moment of my day about, because I'm in college and don't have as much time as I used to. Their diet seems quite demanding as well, though I don't know how much most people spend on buying their igs fresh produce, especially during the winter months. Could you please give me some advice? I already own a pet whose life expectancy rivals that of a healthy ig, so I guess you can say it's not the commitment time frame that scares me. It's mostly whether or not an ig is controllable and worth the time and effort; I don't want to get myself into a mess where I buy him but end up with a terror on my hands. Thanks for your help!
It sounds to me like you have pretty much answered your own question. If it doesn't feel right then you probably should not do it.
i'm with stormy - if you're not completely sure about getting a green iguana you should not get one. head to www.anapsid.org and read as much as you can before deciding.
I've done a fair amount of reading as soon as I spotted the ad, on whether or not I can properly care for an ig. I especially liked the article written by a college student to other students. However, a lot of the problems won't be there for me, since the ig already has a very large cage, the largest commercially there is, and necessary equipment. However, the responsibility issue, along with the demands of ig care, have made me careful about agreeing to take him without some serious thought. How old does a male have to be before he begins exhibiting agressive behavior during mating season? Could I ask: of the iguana owners anyone knows personally, how many are adults that have 'settled down' with control over their own schedules, and how many are younger people with more random schedules? I'm confident about being able to be there for an iguana for the rest of my college career, but afterwards I don't know where I'll be. Or where he'll be, of course, barring any accidents. However, that's a similar situation I'll have with my chin, who should also live to be around 20 or so...
if you don't know for certain that you can care for this iguana for more than a couple years, then you cannot responsibly take it on. males aren't the only aggressive ones and they aren't only aggressive during breeding season - 90% of iguanas are NOT friendly. sure there's some out there that act like puppy dogs, but most DO bite, scratch, and whip their tails. females are just as bad as males, they just aren't as physically big as males. i'm gonna add one more thing - if you plan on getting married and having children some time in the next 15 years, an iguana is going to be MAJOR problem. who will care for it while you're on vacation/honeymoon? who makes sure it gets everything it needs (including walks in the sunshine) when you're pregnant with sore feet? what happens to the animal when you're a newly-wed who just wants to concentrate on your new husband (as you should want to)? how often does the animal get taken care of when you have 2 kids under the age of 10? how do you keep the iguana from giving your toddler (who touches everything) salmonella? if you are as 'in to' iguanas as you appear to be, you should continue your research and get an ig once you have a home and a family and a life and a career . . . or whatever you want in life. p.s. 'reptariums' suck (even big ones). they are NOT sturdy enough to hold a climbing iguana and they can *not* hold humidity. an ig needs at *least* 75% humidity and you are not gonna get more than 40% in a reptarium - tops.
After some consideration, I decided to not get the ig. Mostly I worry about what might happen if it's too aggressive for my parents and sister to handle should I go abroad to study, or what I would do if we all go on vacation and there's no one to care for him. Of course, I'll have the same issues with my chin, but she's less demanding and probably easier to find a foster home for should that issue arise. Thanks for your advice here, may it be a bit harsh I was just asking...and I only hope the lady can find a suitable home for her ig. I looked through this forum and it's such a great place for reptile lovers. I may consider getting myself a small guy again sometime, like a skink or anole, (I had a fence lizard and loved him) and I'm glad to know there's a site I can frequent for help.
i have to admit that i'm glad you decided against purchasing the iguana. HOWEVER you really seem to be intelligent and to care for the animals and i definately think you should get a little gecko or a frog or something sometime (when you can provide a stable environment). we hope you stick around here, too!
It is not fair all the bad press Iquanas get!! Yes its true they do take alot of work but as for the agressive behaviour I have never experienced this before. I have been keeping Iquanas now for four years and the one I have at the minute is a three and a half foot three year old male ( he is currently sitting on my head as I right this message) The rewards I have received from them is unmeasurable. I have always kept males and I have never experienced any kind of bad behaviour of any kind (and I am female) . I adore Iquanas, they are beautiful, fasanating and they have their own personalities. my Iguana is part of my family and he always will be, he lives with four water dragons in a very large enclosure in my kitchen i could not imagine my life without him in it. He is so itelligent, knows everythingyou are saying, my family adore him. He comes out of the cage all the time, walks up the stairs and goes into my bedroom and falls asleep between my two pillows, hes is scared of his own shadow sometimes but he knows who to trust, with have made a fantastic partnership over the years. Once an Iquana learns to trust you you will have a friend for life. So dont think badly of iquanas, if they are bad tempered there is usually a reason for it. Good luck for the future.
iguanas get "bad press" to warn people. if someone gets on here and asks if they should purchase a pre-owned adult male iguana that they haven't worked with before when they've never had an iguana, i can NOT advise them to do so. like i said, there are some ig's that are *fantastic*, but most aren't the friendliest animals. just because you've had great experiences does not mean that everyone else has or that most iguanas are sweet. the way to make iguanas sweet is to A) get lucky and get a good one hold it every day many people cannot do that or are not willing to do that and in ravenwing's case she didn't even know the animal or how it was raised. it is *quite* possible that this animal would be very violent.
This is very true, Hummingbird. That being the case, the answer I would give then is avoid them all together. The more they are purchased from pet stores the more the problems they have are compounded. There are far too many out there that are homeless and not cared for that adding to it is sad. There should be some laws that stop the importing of the iguana totally. Until something can be done, they are the ones that suffer. They are beautiful wonderful creatures , and they deserve to be treated that way. They do take a lot of time, patience and care.
i totally agree, lturbott - adopt if at all possible! and quit the breeding! this applies to red-eared sliders and lots of other herp species, too.
