I made plans for a cage 4 feet long and wide and 5 feet tall, would this work for an iguana? Also how big an iguana could it house before needing a bigger cage?

direct from our caresheets:

Baby iguanas are really cute and not too large, but don’t think a 10 gallon tank will “get you by.” The optimum starter “tank” for a baby iguana is a 55 gal tank (4 ft long, 1 ft wide, and approx 21 inches tall). The minimum sized tank for any baby iguana (under 18 inches) would be a 30 gal tank (3 ft long, 1 ft wide, and 20 inches tall). A 10 gallon tank does not have the space in order to have a proper temperature gradient… which is very important for any age iguana. There are other types of cages that range in the same size range as tanks and for the most part these are ok also. The window screen type cages are not recommended because UVB is greatly diminished because of the small mesh. This is something to think about when picking a cover out for a “tank” type cage… pick a cover with the largest holes you can find for the UVB to pass through better. Don’t pick the cover that looks like window screen. Your iguana will suffer in the long run with the lack of UVB intake.

Other iguana sites have made statements about having very large housing requirements for your iguana once he/she is full grown…. Here at Iguana Center we feel that if an iguana has access to regular exercise, then a smaller enclosure is acceptable. There are a lot of people interested in having an iguana, but when they hear the requirements and size of cage needed, they shy away. Of course, bigger is always better, but you don’t have to have a huge enclosure in order to house your Iguana. If you are not able to let the iguana out on a regular basis, then a larger enclosure or an entire room is a must.

For instance, an enclosure 4 ft long, 4 ft tall, and 2 ft wide is ample room for an adult iguana provided the iguana has an opportunity AT LEAST 4 to 5 times a week to roam and exercise. Our iguanas are housed this way and they are fat, healthy, and muscular. Minimum size requirements for an adult iguana would be 4 ft long, 3 ft tall and 2 ft wide. This is, of course with the exercise stated above. Without access to exercise, an enclosure size of 6ft long by 6ft tall by 3ft wide (minimum) is required for a happy, healthy iguana. They need to be able to climb and use their leg muscles properly. Once again, the larger the cage—the happier and healthier the iguana will be.

Housing an iguana in a room (free roaming) is acceptable, but great care must be taken to insure the iguana is safe. Anything an iguana can get to and is small enough to eat is a hazard for them. There was a story about an iguana that ate and passed a sock. So anything that can go into the iguana’s mouth is dangerous. Also great care must be taken with the climbing obstacles in the room…. Make sure everything is sturdy and wont fall and injure your iguana. Some people choose the bathroom, where access to the tub for potty training is available. And of course showering keeps the humidity nice and high.

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Ken

"Somewhere in heaven, Billy Martin just got fired. RIP George Steinbrenner"

Actually a member has used a 4'x4' footprint for his now 10 year old iguana while he went to school. He allowed a lot of free roaming. I think his enclosure was taller though. Mine are twice that size but Huff is too aggressive with me to allow free roaming. And my other iguanas don't want to freeroam. That is something you might need to deal with--the chance that you may not be able to allow freeroaming for one reason or another. But that size should last for three years for a nonfreeroamer. Huff is a little over 3 and just got his large forever home.

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Jan. 25, 1963 - Sept. 10, 2006 (R.I.P)

Mine is in a 4 feet x 4.5 feet (slightly bigger than your plans), and he has absolutely no desire to leave and is very happy. I leave the door open sometimes when doing stuff like preparing food (while keeping an eye on him of course) and he NEVER even tries to leave. Mine is 6 feet tall, not 5 feet. But he hardly ever uses the bottom floor anyway and I think 5 feet is enough in my opinion. But it may be worth making it 6 feet because it would be easier for you to go into it and clean etc. as most people are over 5 feet tall. Also, you probably won't be stacking stuff on top of it anyway right? So may as well make it 6 feet.

I don't recommend over 6 feet though because it would be hard to reach up high to extract an iguana for bathtime etc. if he doesn't want it at that height or to clean the top shelf. The top platform would be a foot beneath the roof (keep in mind my lights are outside).

i'm pretty short though, i don't want a cage that I need a foot stool to clean but I could go for 6 feet high instead of 5.

I redesigned the cage plans and you can view them in my gallery. I had to use Paint to make the plans because I didn't have any other program to make diagrams with.

I just built a 4' x 2' by 4' high cage for Fluffy. But she's ony in it while I'm at work. The rest of the time she's free roaming. She also gets to watch tv during the time she's in her cage, plus it's in front of a window. She seems fine with it. I waited to build her a new cage til I could see what sort of things she likes to do. She definitely likes free roaming, so I didn't build her a huge cage.

Holly

My old ig was in a 5x5x6 cage and he seemed very content in that. He had lots of out time too though unless he was in his "kill mum" stage lmao