I was working at a pet store for almost a year, and because I had several pet snakes, any unwanted reptile was referred to me (I have a big heart and wouldn't turn any animal away...even a hedgehog...and their not legal here!)(I've adopted 2 turtles, a few snakes, a savannah monitor, and the 3 iguanas, a hedgehog and a couple of other critters too). That's how I've ended up with now 3 iguanas! The 2 largest iggys are almost 3ft or a little over 3ft from head to almost full tail (I think only about 1 inch is missing on 1 and maybe 3 inches missing on the other iguana and none missing fro the baby). They've been on a dry diet of reptile from vitakraft for vegetarian reptiles, fresh and frozen/thawed veggies and fresh fruits. What's the proper size enclosure for these guys?, and am I'm feeding right foods? (kale, dark leafy greens, broccoli, spinach, collards, green beans, and some carrots, cabbage, and a few other veggies - fruits, apples, pears, bananas, cantaloupe, and a few others), also proper heating and what fluorescent 2.0. 3.0 5.0 or 8.0?

thanks in advance for any and all assistance....Marine

Hello,

Proper housing for an adult should be roughly 4'(w)x3'(d)x6'(h) although if you are housing multiple iggys in the same enclosure it should be much larger. The foods seem alright and for UVB, a reptisun 5.0 will be fine or a reptiglo 8.0.

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Josh Shrader

1.0 Ball Python (Monty)
0.1 Red-Eared Slider (Woody)
0.1 Yellow-Bellied Slider (Buz)

Actually you need three enclosures. Iguanas are not social animals. They may seem to get along but then suddenly turn for reasons unknown by you. They are wild animals and need to be treated accordingly. In the wild they come together for protection and mating. But in the wild it is quite easy for a victim of an aggressor to get away. There is no place in captivity that compares to the wild. And in captivity they do not need other iguanas for protection and mating is not recommended since there are way too many homeless and unwanted iguanas already. There are some experienced iguana owners that do keep their iguanas together but it takes diligence on the part of the owner to do so.

The size of an enclosure will depend on if they will be able to roam for exercise outside there enclosure and how often.
Here is some things to read
http://www.herpcenter.com/a/ for diet
http://www.herpcenter.com/a/ for housing

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

Thank you both for all the information, currently they are all kept in separate enclosures, because I wasn't sure about putting them together. I do not plan to breed them because I know about all the unwanted iggys that need homes...thats why I now have 3 of them. I'm unsure of the sex of the iggys too, not familiar with lizard sex identification...anyone know how to tell that too? thanks again for all the info....Marine

GIS Sexing Iguanas
Melissa Kaplan's Sexing Green Iguanas

I think those will be helpful.

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

Actually your diet needs a bit of tweaking! You should be feeding about 75% leafy greens. The staples are collard, mustard and turnip greens, Avoid anything with the name lettuce behind it. The spinach, broccoli, cabbage and kale are occasional if at all foods. Same with the carrots and bananas. Check out our articles on iguana care for a good overview of care and diet. I would also recommend picking up Green Iguana The Ultimate owners Guide by James Hatfield, III.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Here's the link to our Iguana Diet page.

If you're planning to continue offering a pellet-type food, I'd suggest the RepCal formula. From what I've been told, many of the other pellets have a very small amount of fish meal added (apparently igs love fish meal). But like any animal protien, fish meal can cause kidney problems down the road. Also, when feeding pellet-type foods, be sure to moisten/SOAK them in water first. Failure to hydrate the pellets will DEhydrate the ig; hydrating the pellets also helps to hydrate the ig.

And welcome to the HCN, by the way!

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~~Steph

"This I believe: That the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world." John Steinbeck

Looks like our other Iguana experts have the info part at bay....Welcome to our Site and let us know if you have other questions...Lyn

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Warmest Regards from Lyn

As Lyn said, sounds like our ig experts have this under control! Welcome to the site, and I hope the igs thrive in your care. It's great that you have taken in so many unwanted/abandoned animals, though I would advise caution to anybody rehoming that you must know a)how to properly care for these animals prior to taking them home when at all possible, otherwise you could end up doing further harm, and b)that you are able to take care of these animals.

We have rehomed reptiles in the past, but there have been others that we have had to sadly turn down, simply because we didn't have the room/capabilities/expense to look after them, and that would have caused further damage.

Good luck with the igs and all the others and I hope you enjoy being part of the HC community

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

thank you all for all the great help and info! Marine
btw the vitakraft is all vegetable and some fruit and it's not in pellet form, and they seem to like it a lot, I couldn't find that there was any animal protein in there. thanks again for all assistance