by Wes Pollock

Created on: February 08, 2009

What You Should Know Before You Get an Iguana.

Did you know that those cute little green guys with the tiny spikes on their backs and tails twice as long as their bodies don't stay small? Were you aware that they not only don't stay small but can live over twenty years? Has anyone told you that to properly house an adult iguana you will need a cage the size of a small room? Did you know that males in particular can be quite aggressive?

Most of these points are either purposely or accidentally overlooked at most pet stores, the most common source for Green Iguanas. Often the employees at establishments which sell these reptiles simply do not know many facts about Iguanas and sometimes they do know but are more interested in making a sale than properly educating the buyer.

The Common Green Iguana, Iguana iguana, is one of the most frequently imported reptiles currently available in the United States. At a minimum several hundred thousand a year are imported to the USA. They are farm raised in Central and South America
specifically for export to pet stores around the world. They are also harvested from the wild for the same purpose.

Green Iguanas can be found in almost any big name pet store as well as in most small Mom and Pop operations. They are cheap. They are plentiful. They are cute. 90% of them will not live to see their first birthday.

That cute little green wiggler, barely a foot and a half long weighing just a few ounces has the potential to be a six foot thirty-five pound beast with a head larger than your fist and four feet of tail that can provide quite a whack if you happen to be on the receiving end of a tail-slap. Their claws, barely noticeable when hatchlings, will become large strong and sharp, easily able to puncture and tear human skin as well as your furniture, drapes and clothing if they are not trimmed properly.

Green Iguanas are not terrestrial, though they are territorial. They are excellent climbers who put to good use the long claws they have on the end of every toe. The tail is also used to counterbalance the body keeping the lizard from falling out of the trees they frequent. Their tail is also semi-prehensile, able to wrap but not grab and hold, the branches they feel most comfortable on. When frightened that tail becomes a whip-like weapon wielded by an expert and able to inflict a serious welt.

To be kept in captivity a Green Iguana needs a sunlight simulant; a light to replace the natural sunlight an iguana has access to in the wild. There

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