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Iguanas are one of the most popular reptile pets in the world. As required for pet owners to acquire animals for caring, they need to learn the characteristics of the reptile from its anatomy, feeding requirement and habitat.
The enthusiasm one has for a new pet of any kind often wears off quickly if the animal is no longer healthy and finds them experiencing problems. It only takes understanding and education to prevent those problems to make life easy and happy for both owners and pets
If you have already decided to obtain an Iguana as a pet, there are a few facts to keep in mind. The longevity of the animal is up to 15 years in captivity, the size of adults reach up to 6 feet in length. There are basic and important dietary requirements to consider. It is also important to understand that these animals are capable of inflicting injury on their owners. Though it is established there are more cases domestic dog biting than there are the number of Iguanas in the United States, it is safe to bear in mind that the iguana pet is a wild animal regardless of how much you think it is not.
The availability of farm raised Iguanas from Central and South America has drastically reduced the price, increased the quantity available, and generally increased the health of the babies arriving into the United States as well as other countries. These facts make it easier than ever to obtain a healthy animal to start, or to expand your reptilian collection!
The area that needs major attention is the diet of Iguanas. As popularly known, the iguanas are herbivore. To be more specific Iguana is actually a folivore, which means animals that primarily eat leaves. It’s natural habitat are branches of trees and there is no evidence that Iguanas, young or old, eat insects etc. For they do not possess any predatory capability like jumping or quick movements to capture fast moving insects. Besides iguana simply cannot properly metabolize anything other than leaves. Iguana has a digestive system that is known as a “Hind-Gut fermenter”. Meaning they use the lower intestinal tract to produce vitamins and absorb it’s ingested food. Fiber is a critical component of of their diet. It changes as the animal matures. Approximately, fiber should be no less than 16% of their diet.
Body temperature plays an important role for Iguanas to digest their foods. In their habitat the Iguanas seek a sunny basking spot to raise their body temperatures to around 98 degrees Fahrenheit. When they achieve the required body temperature they will begin to feed. The proper body temperature helps the animal in digesting its food.
During captivity, it is important to provide pet iguanas with the proper heating equipment to maintain required temperature.
The rate at which Iguanas eat is a function of its health, environment and age. If junk foods are for children, junk food for the Iguanas is fruits. It is equally as hard to get most common Iguanas to eat their greens instead of cantaloupe.
Dark leafy greens comprise the majority of Iguana’s diet. Minimize intake of spinach, parsley and kale. These greens contain oxalate which blocks Iguana’s ability to absorb calcium. There is still ongoing research proves this issue, but it is probably safe to avoid these greens.

Young iguanas should be fed daily. In their natural habitat, these animals feed several times per day. As they mature the frequency of meals decreases. They have no ability to chew food; they bite off chunks of greenery and swallow it whole. Therefore in captivity, It is important to chop all their food to a size that can be handled by your iguanas.

I’m thinking about getting an Iguana. I’ve read up on them, and can easily set up my room (which is quite spacious) for one to be happy. I think I would really enjoy having one (a somewhat lazy, low maintenance pet) but I thought I’d better ask people who’ve actually had an iguana. Do they really make good pets?

People think that iguanas make cool pets; they may be right. Some may have the misconception that iguanas are low-maintenance pets; they would be wrong. As with all pets, iguanas have their requirements. However, the main issue in taking care of a pet iguana is not just your ability to provide the iguana’s needs. It also involves your qualifications.

Love of course, you need to love your iguana in order to take proper care of it. When you love your pet iguana, it naturally follows that you will do everything to take good care of it. This is the basic requirement for an iguana pet owner. This is because love lays down the foundation for all the other things that you need to do or have in order to take proper care of your iguana.

Patience iguanas need a very long time to be tamed. You cannot expect an iguana to begin behaving properly immediately. You need to be patient in order to spend the amount of time required to properly train an iguana. You must persevere in order to truly take care of your pet iguana. Remember that patience is not just about riding out your pet iguana’s bad habits; it is about making the effort to train it properly.

Commitment we are not talking about a marriage. However, you need to be committed to taking care of your pet iguana. Some people just buy an iguana on impulse. During the first days, they might take proper care of the iguana. However, as time goes by, they soon lag in their responsibilities and the iguana is neglected. This, of course, leads to some serious consequences.

Before buying a pet iguana, you should realize that iguanas can live up to 20 years. Are you prepared to make a commitment for that length of time? If you think that you can just sell an iguana when you’re bored with it, you would be wrong. You see, a sudden change of owners can affect the iguana very deeply. It would adversely affect the iguana’s health.

Finances taking care of an iguana can be very expensive. You need to provide food, a spacious habitat, and other supplies that are necessary to a pet iguana’s well-being. You will also have to spend cash for regular trips to the veterinarian. Can you do that? Remember that buying the pet iguana is only the first step. You need to spend money to take care of it too.

Willingness to learn some people jump at the prospect of buying a pet iguana without first thinking about the things they need to do in order to take proper care of an iguana. If you are planning to own a pet iguana, you should have the willingness to learn how to properly take care of them. This means that you have to make the effort to read up on iguanas and how to take proper care of them.

Time you need to have available time in order to take proper care of a pet iguana. This does not mean that you need to have time to feed it and clean it. You need to spend some time to play with your pet iguana. This will definitely help the health and well-being of your pet iguana.

I’m talking about the big types of Iguana. Are they easy to take care of and are they ok around cats? Or would cats hate them?

Iguanas are one of the most common exotic pets. If you’re considering getting one of these lizards, you should know a few things beforehand. Here are a few things you need to consider when buying iguana pets.

Once you’ve made the decision to buy an ig, you should start looking for an enclosure. It’s best to have the enclosure setup before you bring him home. This will give you a chance to make sure the humidity and heat is adjusted well enough. This is especially important when getting a younger ig.

After you’ve got the enclosure, you need to decide where you want to get your iguana from. You’ll have to choose between a pet store and adoption from a rescue shelter. You should know that pet stores generally don’t give iguana pets the best care.

The igs are usually very stressed, and the employees may even give you invalid information about their proper care. If you want the best chance of getting a healthy pet, you should consider adoption. The rescuers generally take very good care of iguana pets.

Once you’ve decided where you want to get your ig from, you’re ready to pick one out. You should make sure you check the iguana out thoroughly before you take him home. If you’re buying a younger iguana, it’s important that he’s very energetic. An immature iguana that rarely moves around is in all likelihood sick. Older ones are usually less active, but can still be healthy.

It’s also a good idea to check for parasites. Mites are some of the most common parasites. You can check for an infestation by looking closely at the iguana’s scales. Mites will appear as small specks that are moving around.

Another common problem with iguana pets is dry gangrene. This condition causes symptoms such as blackened tail tips and toes. However, some iguanas naturally have black patterns, so you shouldn’t get this confused with dry gangrene.