Yesterday I saw my first head bob... It was pretty smooth up and down motion, like those described for a male. I know this can't be a sure way to tell. I can't wait to find out if its a male or female, we're hoping it to be female...

Anyway, how do you know what that head bob means? It was in a relaxed position, not puffed up or anything, in fact, with legs on the side like it was sleeping. But dewlap was flared. Don't know if that's annoyance or greeting.

I'm no iguana expert by any means! But with many lizards the head bob can be interpreted as a few things;
Submission - s/he is showing you that he is not a threat and means you no harm and/or feels that you are a threat and is being submissive to that threat.
Dominance/submission during mating - males will often use the head bob to display their dominance and "show off" to females during courting. Females will use a slower and calmer head bob to demonstrate to the male that they are submissive to their advances and can be an invitation to mate.

Since your ig is so young it is likely that s/he was displaying the first meaning. Hatchling and young bearded dragons often do this, along with an "arm-wave" to say "i see you as a threat, please do not hurt me as I mean you no harm". Our adult male dragon typically goes mad running up and down his enclosure head-bobbing at passers by who might want to take his females from him and also as a "come-on" to the females

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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

Sounds awfully confusing to me! It's like when people nowaday say "That's BAD" and mean good, or "You're GOOOD" and mean you are terrible etc.

Head bob either mean submission or dominance... LOL!

As your experience with your ig grows, you will be able to distinguish between the 2. It does take some getting used to as there are lots of different meanings for certain things but you will get there in the end. Heck, some people have their ig's for years and still get confused over what certain behaviours mean lol

The head bob is really not a gesture of submission. A slow smooth head bob is a greeting or announcement that "I'm here!" A rapid head bob is a challenge and acknowledgement of you being in his territory and he wants you to know it. A rapid jerky head bob accompanied by a shaking of the head from side to side is showing you that he is ticked off and you better watch your fingers!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Merlin, from what you said, it seems like a greeting, although the dewlap was completely flared.

I don't know if I responded correctly. I hope I did.

How should you respond when you don't know what it means for sure?

And how "Rapid" is rapid?

LOL..Merlin is completly rite!! I knew when my Iggy was ticked at me hed do the headbob with shaking his head from side to side then if I came any closer hed try to get me!! Youll know rapid when you see it...*sighs* I miss my iggy...

The dewlap being flared is still him making himself look bigger. Sort of an "I see you but I'm too big for you to want to mess with!" like the schoolyard bully puffing up his chest.
Rapid is sort of hard to describe but I'll try. You know when you are talking to someone and nodding in agreement...thats relaxed. If you have seen those little toy dogs with the spring attached heads in the backs of peoples' cars that bounce their heads up and down when they hit a bump,..thats rapid. Learning the iguana's body language is the hardest part for new keepers. It just takes time and paying attention.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Ok, so this iguana head bobbed me as follows
1) Slowly (greeting)
2) Dewlap fully flared (aggression)
3) In a relaxed body (greeting)

LOL! No way to know what it is.

The flared dewlap doesn't necessarily mean "aggression." Like Merlin said, it can be a ruse or trick that means, "I'm too big for you to eat." It can simply be a way of making himself look larger and less vulnerable.

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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