Things to consider when deciding to get your iguana pets

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Things to consider when deciding to get your iguana pets

Article by Larry Caboa









Things to consider when deciding to get your iguana pets

ost of the time, whoever decide to buy iguana pets (or various other exotic pets for that matter) rush into the decision without carefully examining the reality of owning such a pet.

It is not surprising that people trend to buy iguanas without knowing…

These animals are over breed on the USA and over caught in their natural habitat; making them inexpensive and plentiful at pets stores and reptile swaps.

The price tag range on a juvenile iguana pet is anywhere from to as little as bucks. At first. They seem cheap, easy to own and for all intent purposes, a really cool pet.

Guess what:

It is true that iguana pets are amazing and great companions; that they are affectionate even if some people think they are not… (if they weren’t cool I haven’t own one); but lets face it’; most people don’t even bother to do a little research on knowing how much care this animals needs.

If you are thinking into buying an iguana, keep on reading as I’ll be giving you some reasons to consult with your pillow before running to the pet store.

Iguanas are tropical lizards.

The natural environment of an iguana is the tropical wild jungle. If you are not aware of the concept; jungle is not forest; jungle is what a forest use to be several thousand years a go.

It is the most dense, less impenetrable regions of tropical rainforest. In comparison, a jungle extend 20% or so of the extension of an actual forest; where the trees are young… and there are lianas and herbaceous plants instead of… trees.

Anyways, iguanas live naturally in tropical jungle; with means they need certain amount of humidity and heat; besides, iguanas are lizard by definition; which happens to be reptiles. Reptiles need exposure to direct sunlight in order to control their body temperature.

This only means that you need to buy some lights. UVB and UVA lights to be precise; which are bulbs that emulate the UV rays from the sun. These bulbs need to be on from 12 to 14 hours a day to simulate the typical day cycle of an iguana on their natural habitat.

Besides the UVA-B light fixture; you’ll need to install a heat bulb in order to keep the temperature. This is to create a hot spot basically; where your iguana will warm up until reaching the adequate body heat to process it’s food.

On their natural habitats, iguanas climb up the trees for sunlight exposure… when they are “charged” with enough sun heat, they keep minding their business. Sometimes they lay off a stone for sun exposure too… Again, reptiles do not control their body head by internal process as mammals does (we are mammals; so we don’t understand that).

These UVA and UVB may get expensive; depending of the size of the cage and such… plus the 12+ hours of electricity consumption these babies will add to your electricity bill.

About the Cage:

Cage itself is a recurring expense. Iguanas trend to grow up fast… which means you’ll be required to upgrade the cage size. How much space on your room are you willing to give away for your mini dinosaur?

A full grown male iguana can reach as large as 6 feet long from tail tip to head… By the time you’ve been upgrading to a cage big enough for this size of iguana pet… you may have spend over 500 bucks already.

Iguanas require attention

While they may seem happy while sitting on their tree branch under their UV light… iguanas are social animals. In fact, in their natural habitat, these animals have a very complex social behavior where a fixed structure is in place.

Big alpha males are usually on the toppy tip of the trees while the rest of the gang hang around lower, just to mention something.

Iguanas enjoy conquer new territories and can get bored if housed in a cage; specially if it is too small for their size. It is usual to see a bored iguana to bob its head at you (a dominance signal) as you walk by his cage.

Non socialized iguanas can be dangerous.

It is important that you take your time to give affection to your iguana pet. By spending time with your iguana, your pet will get to know you and enjoy going jogging with you on the park while been laying on your shoulder (with a leash of course… you know, just in case)

But if your iguana is not tamed or well socialized it may/will attack you and other humans around. They have very big and sharp claws that give them the necessary grip to climb trees; and these things can be dangerous if not trimmed on a regular basis; besides, a full grown iguana bite can put you on an emergency room and give you a nasty scare.

The tail whip is the usual move of an iguana; and they can leave a nasty welt.



About the Author

I’m just a guy who love iguanas and boas.










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