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William K. Hayes
Articles & Books From William K. Hayes
Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-26-2022
Before you bring home your new pet iguana, purchase all the necessary supplies and equipment, and make sure the enclosure is roomy enough for your iguana’s size. Daily baths are part of iguana care, so be sure you know how to bathe your iguana correctly, and be on the lookout for certain conditions that require a trip to the veterinarian.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Iguana communication is physical. Their words are formed by the arrangement of their body and body parts (posture), movements (stylized walking, strutting, bobbing), and use of three-dimensional space (where they're in vertical space, seeking height or flattening out).
Iguanas, then, have developed a limited (in human terms) vocabulary, one that — like some spoken languages — has some very subtle nuances in pronunciation.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
An iguana can be injured several ways. Sometimes the injury is obvious; sometimes it's not. When the injuries are minor, you can often treat the injury yourself, but knowing whether an injury is minor — or knowing when it goes from being a minor problem to a major one — is the tricky part.
If you're new to iguanas, or you've never encountered and dealt properly with the condition before, don't fiddle around with it.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
The first thing to know when considering an iguana for a pet is that several different types of related lizards have the word iguana in their name, including the helmeted and casque-headed iguanas (Corytophanes and Laemanctus), the desert iguana (Dipsosaurus), the Madagascar iguanas (Chalarodon and Oplurus), the spiny-tailed iguana (Ctenosaura), the rock and rhinoceros iguanas (Cyclura), and the green iguana (Iguana).
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Unlike mammals and birds, iguanas don't clean or groom themselves. Iguanas in the wild seem to rely on brushing against rough bark and plunging into bodies of water to remove the grime and parasites that they pick up over the course of living their lives. Given that a captive iguana probably doesn't have much rough bark to rub against or pools to dive into at will, the task of keeping him clean falls to you.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Iguana owners will need to visit a reptile veterinarian for medical diagnosis and intervention in certain situations. Take your iguana to a see a veterinarian — no matter how experienced you are with iguanas — if your pet has any of these conditions:
Lethargic
Hurt or bleeding
Paralysis
Limbs and spi
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Don't make the mistake of starting with an iguana enclosure that's too small - iguanas grow quickly. The following table shows you the minimum enclosure dimensions needed based on the average size in snout-vent length (SVL) and snout-tail length (STL) for the first seven years. So, unless your iguana is full grown, when its STL is more than two-thirds the enclosure width, it's time for a new enclosure.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Being completely ready before you bring home your iguana is essential, and a lot goes into creating the proper iguana home. To make things as stress-free as possible for you and the iguana make sure the new enclosure and furnishings are set up early. Here's a list of necessary equipment and supplies (which is the same no matter how old the iguana is):
The enclosure
1 55–100-gallon enclosure
1 reptile under-tank heat pad or human heating pad
1–2 daytime overhead heat sources (white basking lights, a basking light and ceramic heating element [CHE], or an incandescent household light bulb)
1–2 nighttime overhead heat sources (nocturnal heat light and/or CHE)
1 light fixture for each overhead heat source (porcelain sockets are required for CHEs)
1 UVB-producing fluorescent tube long enough to stretch across the width of the enclosure
1 fluorescent light fixture
2–5 appliance timers to automate the heat and fluorescent lights
1–2 table lamp dimmer switches (or rheostats) or a hard-wired thermostat to regulate the heat source output
1–2 power strips (6–8 outlets each)
3 thermometers to be placed in the enclosure to monitor temperatures
2–3 units of suitable substrate, including extras to rotate in and out as they become soiled
1 hide box (a box your iguana can hide in)
1 branch or shelf for basking
Food, vitamins, and supplements
Fresh supply of iguana-friendly food
Multivitamin
Calcium supplement
First-aid supplies
1 container of blood-stop powder or a box of cornstarch
1 bottle of Betadine (povidone-iodine)
1 tube of triple antibiotic ointment
1 reptile veterinarian
Other stuff
1 water bowl
1 food plate
1–2 food storage containers for salads and greens
1 set of cleaning and disinfecting supplies (sponges, paper towels, gloves, cleaner, disinfectant, etc.