How big of a responsibility is taking care of an iguana?

My cousin and her soon to be husband have this little iguana for a pet. but they are so busy they never can take care of it. the poor thing has almost died twice because of neglect and they are asking me to take care of it for them. I love animals and have had lizards before but my parents are a little iffy on whether or not they want ANOTHER animal in our zoo…i mean home. so im researching junk about iguanas. have any useful information???

9 Responses to “How big of a responsibility is taking care of an iguana?”

  • steph_lw:

    They need to eat particular food. Their cages have to be cleaned often. If you want it to be tame you need to spend a lot of time with it. They have a tendency towards calcium deficiencies…. there should be websites on how to take care of iguanas. It really depends on the time and money you have to invest in taking care of an animal.

  • MomofSevenanGelS:

    one big thing…make sure you have room for a large cage…I had an iguana that I dwarfed by not regularly increasing the size of the cage…be prepared.. they love greens and fruits, but , be careful of acids.. make sure that, what you are feeding them contains the balanced nutrition needed for iguanas…try a powder for extra nutrients.. there is also one for calcium which is very important for iguanas… there are many other things needed for care of iguanas…really research this before taking this task on as I think it will bew a big one.. but they are fun…:-)

  • Robin V:

    Try it and you’ll see for your self!

  • person:

    simple-catch flies and other flying bugs and leave out a bowl of water

  • captain howdy:

    Iguanas are very high maintenance reptiles. they are prone to dehydration, calcium deficiency, and can also be very aggressive. If you are not prepared to take care of it you should look into possibly finding an iguana rescue they are all over and are dedicated to saving iguanas and placing them in homes that have the means to take care of them. Iguanas are strictly vegetarians, do not feed them live food it will cause problems. Also if it is a female it can very easily become egg bound which is where the female produces eggs and will not lay them due to non fertilization. this is very common with iguanas. My best recommendation would be to find a iguana rescue.

    *******DO NOT BRING HIM TO A HUMANE SOCIETY************
    the humane society will put it to sleep they do not believe reptiles to be pets and lobby very heavily for the passing of laws making it illegal to own reptiles.

    i hope this helps it is a link to the iguana rescue network, they are a 501c non profit organization

  • x_twilightreader_x:

    Iguana’s get very large. My friend has one that is almost 8 feet long. They are cute when they are small but like anything they get bigger.

  • Midnight:

    Ok, bad choice getting an iguana. They are a HUGE responsibility. Mine is nearly 7 years old, I love her and take care of her, but I wish I had never bought her (sorry sweet pea!) Try the Ultimate Green Iguana Manual by James Hatfield. It is very helpful and full of info.

  • italianprkchp85:

    yea good luck with him lol. they get several feet long and can be very dangerous. make sure u keep their nails trim and hold him where he cant whip you with his tail. if u play with him everyday they should stay friendly and cause no problems at all. all they eat is fruits and vegetables so feeding is easy. just mist the cage everyday a few times a day and make sure he has fresh food.

  • animal_66_2006:

    !!!!HUGE RESPONSIBILITY!!!! my advice would be find an iguana rescue program NOT AN ANIMAL SHELTER OR HUMANE SOCITEY THE WILL PUT IT TO SLEEP look into it on the net !!!!HUGR RESPONSIBILITY!!!!

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