Hi, my name is John and I work at a Petco. While there are a lot of bad Petco's around I just wanted to let you all know that we take great pride in our animal care and really love our animals. In my training I was recently asked to take a Reptile Specialist test and one of the questions was regarding Iguana house training. Since I've always roamed herp boards, mostly for my Bearded Dragon, I remembered seeing several mentions of house trained Iguana's so when I was asked about that on the Petco test I answered: "Yes, Iguana's can be house trained". Turns out Petco has no idea that Iguana's can be house trained and I got the question wrong.

While I have not found any specific mention of roaming Iguanas that go in a litter box everyday I have seen several threads about house training and I was wondering if there is a good informative resource about the topic? I've been asked to box up all the information I can find and submit it to our higher ups so that they may correct their mistakes.

Thanks for any help. While it is mostly not my concern if Petco has this triviality wrong I am concerned with turning the common hampster owning kid into a herper. So far I've been great at selling Bearded Dragons ( my fav ). I'd love to know more about training your Iguana not only to poop in a designated spot but also in general. One of the biggest Iguana turn offs is that most people have heard horror stories about tail whipping, claws, etc.

If I can help customers understand that they can be great loving pets, and also alleviate some of the maintence with house training I could get some Iguanas into some good homes.

Hi, and welcome to the HC! Glad you joined us! Sadly I cant help you out with you potty triaining problem tho, mine was already trained when I got him But more members will be along to give you advice! So other then iggys what other herps do you care for at petco?

Currentely we carry Anoles, House, Leopard, Crested Geckos, Bearded Dragons when we can get them, had a CHameleon for a while, assorted Toads and Frogs ( including a Leopard which I don't like ), Iguanas, Water Dragons, Boas, Corns. Changes from time to time but we can get almost anything. My current favorite is the African Fat Tailed Gecko which I'm pretty sure I'm going to be buying for myself.

Water Dragons, Bearded Dragons, Leopard Geckos, and Iguanas are our most popular so these are the species I'm trying to learn the most about. We get a bad rep for being a large corporation but we really try and make sure people understand what it takes to own an animal before they buy. Some of you may not know that we can refuse any sale and do so on a normal basis.

Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm hoping to learn a lot here and share with our customers.

I worked for petco for a month and couldnt take it. I had a horrible manager though so I blame her for not pushing the other empolyees to do their jobs, and she just didnt care about the animals. So I can understand that youre a good employee and have a good manager but for the most part petcos deserve the bad rep they get. If you have any other questions or anyhtign feel free to ask! Thats what we're here for

Hi John, welcome to Herpcenter. There are quite a few Ig owners here that can help you out (me not being 1). I commend you on your zeal and commitment to your job. Petco and Petsmart have gotten a bad rap and it's good that people like you can help turn that around. best of luck.

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Ken
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan

John,

Maybe I shouldn't post this.

I would like to suggest that you have your customer research whatever pet they wish to get. I commend you for wanting to help them but what they need to know about iguanas will require you spending a whole day with them. Be best to have them come to this site.

The problem is that iguanas are not really good pets for most kids. The cost of the iguana is not the price paid at the pet store. Iguanas grow quickly and reach lengths of 4-5-6 and even 7 feet IF properly cared for. The first year requires a 55 gallon tank/cage/enclosure and then the adult cage needs to be made. Iguanas IF properly cared for live 20-25 years. So the parents need to be prepared to take over the ownership of the animal. They require a lot better UVB lighting setups than most petstores sell. Also the manufactures recommendations usually isn't what the current recommendations are. There are specific heating requirements (NOT a hot rock) that is needed or the iguana will not properly digest it's food. The qualified reptile vets that are needed for regular checkups and emergencies are very expensive or hard to find. Most parents and prospective owners will not be willing to pay for one for a $20 disposable pet. The recommended fresh diet can be hard to find in many parts of the country and most commercial diets that are sold in the petstores are poor for use as a regular diet and contains ingredients bad for an iguana. Iguanas can take a year of more to tame/train/socialize. And even then once they reach sexual maturity can become very aggressive.

Most times a 10 gallon tank, hot rock (iguana slow cookers), a tiny inaccurate manual, particle substrate & commercial food pellets are sold with these cute little lizards. Most will either end up with Metabolic Bone Disease or die.

House training is the easiest part of all this. The easiest is to find out where the iguana wants to go and put newspaper there. The other is using a litter box with water. Well it can be a little bit more complicated sometimes.

Sorry to be so negative but I have been seeing so many posts by both kids and adults that refuse to do what is needed to be done to properly care for an iguana because they can not afford it or can't see spending that much money for that cute $20 lizard. There are so many lists of unwanted iguanas already out there.

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

Well said Marie.
And I might add that it isn't really so much you house training the iguana as the iguana house training YOU! Its pretty much figuring out where the ig wants to "go" and then supplying the necessary fixture there. And there is a very good possibilty that the ig will choose someplace that isn't really where YOU would like them to go. Even then the iguana may chose to change locations at the most inopportune times.
And we are talking about larger more mature iguanas. Young ones should not be left as free roamers. Its too easy for them to get lost or hurt and their body core temperature cools down very quickly. I commend you for wanting to improve the service that you provide for your customers but pushing baby iguanas to the general public is not really a good idea.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I like to add that it has been really depressing and discouraging on some of the sites lately. That is why I am so negative on pushing iguanas as a good "cool" pet for kids or anyone for that matter.

Had one teenager that did not have a clue how to care for an iguana until she came to the site I post to a lot. But the poor creature was obviously suffering from Metabolic Bone Disease. If love was enough the iguana would have been thriving but unfortunately love is NOT enough. She could not afford the vet and her stepfather/mother would not help her. I finally convinced her to ask her boyfriend and got one of the best UVB lights to her. They drove to another town and got it to a vet finally but it died a few hours after they got home. It just was so very sad.

Currently there is another kid whose mother can't even afford decent warm housing for themselves let alone for an iguana. Again I wish love was enough. The thing is with the warm weather coming she will probably be able to keep the poor thing alive for the next few months. BUT once the cold weather returns she will back in the same position again.

Then you get kids/adults that say hey why pay $100 for a vet when you can go get another $20 iguana. They want someone to give them a home remedy that won't cost much at all. Iguanas were only put on the earth to make things pretty for us wonderful human beings.

Then there is the adoption boards so full of iguanas that have become inconvenient, too big, too much responsibility, ect... In fact there is more than enough listings that all the petstores could stop selling iguanas and most likely there will still be too many iguanas for the people who will actually be willing to properly care for them.

I know that none of this is your fault and you really want to find homes for the iguanas in your store. The thing is they shouldn't be being bred but will continue being bred as long as stores keep ordering them to sell as a great pet.

This was probably overkill. I apologize.

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

It's sad that I can't work 80 hours a week because I really understand what your all saying and wish I could ensure our Petco's policy mirrored your approach. I appreciate all these comments and would like to just take the time first to alleviate your fears a bit regarding how I sell our reptiles.

• I never will sell heating rocks or pads as a heating source or recommend calci sand or any sand for that matter for a young animal.
• Every customer walks out with a complete setup first, then comes back for the reptile. Really helps ween out the "impulse" purchasers.
• I strike fear into mothers and fathers by letting them know that their Iguana/Water dragon is going to be a beast, and yes, they will probably be cutting up the greens while their children are in college years later. It amuses me to do this but I feel it's important as these lizards do have the largest care "curve".
• My card, with my home phone number, goes out to everybody that purchases a care intensive reptile. Somebody posted that you could spend a day with customers and I try too. I always push a good book and follow it up with a couple of internet sites. If they call thats great and usually I can follow up when them come in too buy crickets or meal worms.
• Besides Leopard Geckos most "exotic" reptile purchases goes to herp addicts. Repeat buyers who I've chatted with for months about their other animals. I love those because you can really take a breather selling one to an adult buyer.

The biggest problem is the young adult buyers. After fearing, delaying, and overwhelming those customers and they still come back you are left with the hope that they will become excellent caregivers. Usually it's an easy call to make. One guy I talked too for a week eventually bought one and is already completely hooked. The tough calls is when you almost feel comfortable with the sale but have too hope they become addicted to their reptile just as much as you are. If they get past the "your probably going to have to build an entire room for your pet in 2 years" there is not much else you can shock them with.

To tell you all the truth I adopted a Bearded Dragon because I thought it looked cool and it was free. Now I'm in love with the little guy and as you can see extremely interested in the herp hobby. I always hope there are more of me out there. I still laugh when my Bearded Dragon tries to walk on the kitchen floor or eats out of my hand.

We have to try and educate and hope for the best sometimes. Like I said before, if we feel the animal won't get the proper care the sale is over. "Here we have these wonderful betta fish..." We've refused everything from fish to hampsters and I will try my best to educate our other employees about the importance of screening potential iguana buyers.

I still would like more information on potty training. Recentely I've been hearing a buzz about training Bearded Dragons to use a proper location and think iguanas could do the same. While I understand that each reptile might decide to just poo where he wants it would be a useful approach to selling them. I've talked with snake guys who want a lizard in their homes but don't want the maintenence because of time or work. Somebody with previous experience with ectotherm requirements would be an excellent caregiver for an iguana.

I have to disagree. I keep both an iguana as well as several snakes. The iguana is, hands down, much more time consuming, labor intensive, and expensive to keep. With snake you feed it once a week, make sure it's cage is clean, warm, and has water and you are pretty much set.

However I do applaud you on your intent. If the chain stores had more people with your enthusiasm and interest they might not have the image that they currently carry.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!