Active in the daytime, the young iguana is usually bright green, helping it hide from predators in the green vegetation of the forest. With its quick movements and sharp eyesight, the green iguana avoids capture quite easily. As the iguana grows older, its color changes from bright green to muted green. An iguana in the wild spends its day trying to find a sunny spot to lie on, feeding, and trying to escape from predators. Of course, an iguana in captivity is a different case. Though there are no more predators to escape from, an iguana should be well taken care of by its owner. It may be a popular pet, but taking care of it is by no means an easy task.

Let’s talk about some things to do when taking care of an iguana.
1. Provide a large enclosed space for your iguana. Since a green iguana may grow as large as seven feet, the pet’s enclosure should be an owner’s top priority.

It may seem that the iguana is contented with a small pen; however, without ample space, it will grow listless and will be stressed, resulting in sickness and even vulnerability to infections.
The enclosure should be a few times the iguana’s length in either depth or width or one and a half times in height since the animal needs to move around or even climb.

Later on, the pet iguana should be given privileges to roam around the house, as long as the owner will make sure that it won’t be able to get out or feed on important stuff around the house.

2. Provide big branches or synthetic structures for your pet’s enclosure.
Not only will the enclosure look more pleasing to the eyes with the addition of the things mentioned above, but they will also make the pen a better place for the green iguana to live in. It will be a good habitat since it will provide a venue for climbing and basking – two activities that contribute to the iguana’s emotional and psychological growth.
For the flooring of the enclosure, one may use mulch (a material designed to keep hold of moisture, prevent weeds from growing, and keep the earth from being eroded) or simply sheets of your daily newspaper.

3. Make sure to provide the enclosure with a good heating device.
Do not overlook this since an iguana not properly heated can not digest its food well. An owner should provide a good source of UV light for the iguana. The enclosure should not have any part with a temperature lower than 26°C, while at least one part should have a temperature as high as 35°C. A spotlight is good for this purpose.

4. While heating and light are important, provide darkness, too.
Six to ten hours of darkness each night is also important for the iguana’s well-being. The enclosure should be shielded from streetlights or lights from appliances.

5. Pay attention to your iguana. Any pet animal deserves care and interaction from its owner. Just like your regular cat or dog, the green iguana deserves love and affection. If not given the attention it deserves, an iguana may grow listless, sick, and eventually die.

There you go. The tips mentioned above are just some things that have to be considered in taking care of an iguana. These are not to be used as a substitute for a consultation with your trusted veterinarian.

Professional help is still needed to make sure that your iguana will live for a very long time.

Most iguana owners often get confused on which book to follow, and which website to look at, or which person to take advice from. S,o to have the right information about taking good care of your iguana, make sure that your guidelines are approved. Also, check out some credible websites about the myths and misconceptions about taking good care of your iguana lizard pet.

Make your iguana feel at home first by not moving it from a small place. Leave your iguana in a small secluded place and observe it first for a few weeks and chart down different changes that it may project. It may be stressful for your iguana to get used to your place for the first time so but don’t fret about not being able to handle your iguana for the first few weeks, this will make the taming process of your iguana faster.

Next is to find a good veterinarian for your iguana. While waiting for your iguana to get accustomed to its new environment, you should find a good veterinarian for your iguana’s regular checkup.

Food is another issue when it comes to taking care of your iguana lizard pet. Aside from the iguana food that you can buy from the pet store, you can also feed your iguana with vegetables and fruits. One basic rule is that iguana lizard is stringently herbivores, though many books recommend insects to be fed to iguanas, some are still against this notion and firmly believe that feeding your iguana lizards green and leafy herbs is still the best diet. Eventually, the most important thing is to provide them with fresh food and water. And they should be fed regularly every day enough to be healthy.

The habitat of your iguana is also a major factor in your proper care regimen. You should have a large place for your iguana lizard, as time goes by, your pet will grow bigger almost four times bigger than the size when you first bought it.

Cleanliness is also an important factor in an iguana’s habitat and with your iguana as well. Try to clean them on a very regular basis to avoid parasites that can cause sickness and odor in your iguana’s habitat.
One thing that you should have in mind before owning an iguana lizard is the number of funds that you are willing to give. Owning an iguana is not an easy task, both physically and financially, so be ready to shed not just some sweat but also some cash to go with it.

People think that iguanas make cool pets. They may be right. Some may have the misconception that iguanas are low-maintenance pets; they would be wrong. As with all pets, iguanas have their requirements. However, the main issue in taking care of a pet iguana is not just your ability to provide for the iguana’s needs. It also involves your qualifications.

So what does it take to have a pet iguana?

1) Love – of course, you need to love your iguana to take proper care of it. When you love your pet iguana, it naturally follows that you will do everything to take good care of it. This is the basic requirement for an iguana pet owner. This is because love lays down the foundation for all the other things that you need to do or have to take proper care of your iguana.

2) Patience – iguanas need a very long time to be tamed. You cannot expect an iguana to begin behaving properly immediately. Be patient to spend the amount of time required to train an iguana. Persevere, to truly take care of your pet iguana. Remember that patience is not just about riding out your pet iguana’s bad habits; it is about making the effort to train it properly.

3) Commitment – we are not talking about marriage. However, be committed to taking care of your pet iguana. Some people just buy an iguana on impulse. During the first days, they might take proper care of the iguana. However, as time goes by, they soon lag in their responsibilities, and the iguana is neglected. This, of course, leads to some serious consequences.

Before buying a pet iguana, you should realize that iguanas can live up to 20 years. Are you prepared to commit for that length of time? If you think that you can just sell an iguana when you’re bored with it, you would be wrong. You see, a sudden change of owners can affect the iguana very deeply. It would adversely affect the iguana’s health.

4) Finances – taking care of an iguana can be very expensive. You need to provide food, a spacious habitat, and other supplies that are necessary to a pet iguana’s well-being. You will also have to spend cash for regular trips to the veterinarian. Can you do that? Remember that buying the pet iguana is only the first step. You need to spend money to take care of it too.

5) Willingness to learn – some people jump at the prospect of buying a pet iguana without first thinking about the things they need to do to take proper care of an iguana. If you are planning to own a pet iguana, you should have the willingness to learn how to take care of them. This means that you have to make the effort to read up on iguanas and how to take proper care of them.

6) Time – you need to have available time to take proper care of a pet iguana. This does not mean that you need to have time to feed it and clean it. Spend some time playing with your pet iguana. This will help the health and well-being of your pet iguana.

The iguana habitat should have these accessories to assure the best of health for your iguana:

1) Substrates 

Substrates compose the surface of the iguana habitat. In choosing a substrate for your iguana habitat, you should remember that iguanas constantly flick their tongues. This habit allows your iguana to process different types of information about its environment. Do not use anything small like wood chips, sand, or gravel as a substrate because of this reason. Anything that sticks to the tongue of the iguana is likely to be eaten. Sand and gravel would be very dangerous to the iguana if they are ingested. This goes for any particulate materials.

In choosing a substrate, you might want to try newspapers with non-toxic ink. You could also try to use other types of paper, as long as they are not toxic to animals when ingested. Some people prefer to use pieces of indoor and outdoor carpeting as substrates for their iguana habitat.

2) Basking and Climbing Accessories

Iguanas are arboreal. In the wild, iguanas spend most of their time upon trees. You need to provide some climbing material in your iguana habitat. Try including some shelves in an iguana habitat to simulate branches of trees.

If you include branches in your iguana habitat, you should provide some that are big enough for your iguana to lie on comfortably. You should also cover them with some material that will help them in climbing. One option is to cover the branches with carpeting. The branches will also serve as basking places for your iguana. These spots are where your iguana will go to relax.

3) Food and Water Dishes 

You should provide your iguana with dishes for food and water. Although iguanas are not inclined to drink often, it is still important that you provide them with a source of fresh water daily.

Iguanas love to soak in a water dish, so you should provide one that’s just the right size for your pet. It should be big enough so that the iguana won’t tip it over when getting in, and it should be shallow enough so that the iguana won’t drown. You should also realize that after soaking, an iguana usually likes to poop in the water. You will have the responsibility to change the water in the dish and sanitize it regularly.

4) Hiding Places 

There are times when an iguana likes to be alone and unobserved. You have to provide a suitable hiding place in your iguana habitat. You could place a log, a rock, or anything which your iguana could hide behind. Just like people, iguanas need privacy too.

When you add these accessories to your iguana habitat, you can be sure that your iguana will be living in an ideal enclosure. Then, your iguana’s health and well-being will be secured.

Iguanas are very popular pets. People who take iguanas as pets do so because they may find iguanas “exotic.” However, some people are put off by the fact that iguana care can take so much work. But, if you know the basics of food and shelter for iguanas, then iguana care can be quite easy. 

Here are some things you should know about proper iguana care:

1) Food – Iguanas are strict herbivores. Old books on iguana care still say that you need to feed small insects to an iguana. This advice is backed by the fact that some iguanas can be seen consuming small insects in the wild. However, you should know that wild iguanas usually eat insects accidentally, when some such insect lands on a piece of vegetable matter that the iguana is eating. Another reason why some wild iguanas eat insects is that they have nothing else to feed. Sometimes, different factors affect the vegetation on an iguana’s habitat, so the iguana is forced to feed on insects.

Why shouldn’t you feed animal proteins to an iguana?

First of all, iguanas’ bodies are made for maximum use of plant foods. Hence, they can not properly process the high concentration of protein contained in animal products. The part of the protein that their bodies cannot process often ends up as crystals deposited in the tissue. This could lead to gout or kidney failure.

Proper iguana care requires that you try to keep your iguana on a strict vegetarian diet. Some people think that their iguana’s growth will be stunted if they do not feed it any animal proteins. You should know, however, that iguanas that are fed strictly plant foods will grow bigger and live longer.

2) Shelter – this is the second consideration to take in proper iguana care. An iguana owner should pay very close attention to the habitat because of the simple fact that an iguana is cold-blooded. This means that the iguana depends highly on its environment for its survival. Here are some things to consider:

a) Temperature – the enclosure for the iguana should have varying spots of temperature. This is so that the iguana can regulate its body temperature by moving between cold and hot spots. You should provide a basking spot for your iguana with a temperature ranging from 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit.

b) Size – proper iguana care requires that you provide an enclosure that gives your iguana plenty of space to move around. Some people might think that iguanas require small habitat, but the fact is that an iguana that’s properly taken care of can grow up to six feet long! This means that you have to be prepared for the future if you want your iguana to remain healthy.

c) Lighting – iguanas need a source of UVA and UVB light. Now, while iguana care shops may have some artificial lighting that provides these, you should know that natural sunlight is still the best for your iguana.

These are just the basics of proper iguana care. These tips should get you started on taking care of an iguana. However, if you wish to truly master the art of proper iguana care, you should research more about the subject.