[LiVE2SURF]

Does anyone here know anything about green iguanas??

I've wanted an iguana since I was a little girl, lol.
I'm moving out soon and I want to get an iguana.
This way I can make sure it has a real big cage to move around.
I hope to go to a shelter or rescue and get one there though. =)

I was wondering though..

What do they eat?
I've read that they can eat fruits and veggies and flowers.
I've also read that they can eat crickets.
PLEASE tell me that they don't eat crickets.
I am so afraid of crickets it's not even funny.
Spiders? Fine. Crickets? Ewww, no.

What are they like as pets??

[Venom]

Well, I've never owned iguanas, but I'm into reptiles so I've come across some of their care.

They eat crickets as babies, but once they're adults, they can be kept just on vegetables and fruits.

So if you do take one from the shelter, it'd probably be an adult which means you won't have to deal with crickets.

They need UVB light to keep healthy, and a pretty decent sized enclosure.

They're generally pretty docile.

That's all I know about them.

[LiVE2SURF]

=) Oh ok, thanks. As long as there are no crickets involved, i'm cool.

[Xiaomao]

They're very hard work, they get BIG, and are apparently pretty expensive. They're lovely animals, though, I don't think I'd ever have the time for one.

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by LiVE2SURF

Does anyone here know anything about green iguanas??

I've wanted an iguana since I was a little girl, lol.
I'm moving out soon and I want to get an iguana.
This way I can make sure it has a real big cage to move around.
I hope to go to a shelter or rescue and get one there though. =)

I was wondering though..

What do they eat?
I've read that they can eat fruits and veggies and flowers.
I've also read that they can eat crickets.
PLEASE tell me that they don't eat crickets.
I am so afraid of crickets it's not even funny.
Spiders? Fine. Crickets? Ewww, no.

What are they like as pets??

I lived in a suite my sophomore year in college. We had an iguana as our mascot. I will tell you that the novelty of owning an iguana wears off fairly quickly. Yes, they are cool looking and the idea of one as a pet has a certain appeal, but they do not appreciate what you do for them, they think you are trying to kill them if you pick them up or pet them, they tail whip, the claws are quite sharp, the iguana residence imparts a certain odor to whatever room it is kept in, and they will bite if you try to get them to do something they don't want to do. You may have grand fantasies of walking around campus or your residence with an iguana on your shoulder like some warrior princess. This doesn't work. The iguana doesn't care what you want to do, the iguana will behave exactly how it sees fit. It may bite your earrings or climb into your hair. It may leap from your shoulder into your drink, or worse, your friend's drink. If it gets to the floor it will run and hide in some place from which it can not be retrieved.

The upside of an iguana is that it thrives on neglect that would kill cats, dogs, and any number of rodents commonly utilized as cheap, minimally-interactive pets.

I'm sure that you are not going to heed these words of wisdom. You are going to acquire an iguana, you are going to convince yourself that you are actually happy to have the iguana and will submit to the misconception that it was a good idea. However, one day you will realize that you are waiting for this stupid reptile to die. The problem is that he will not die. He will live for 30 or 40 years by virtue of his impossibly slow, ectothermic, reptillian metabolism and the fact that he lives in a box, never exerts any energy and is never exposed to any pathogens that his robust immune system has evolved to fight. There is a reason someone gave that iguana away.

Good luck. Enjoy your iguana.

[i3est21]

I've never owned one but I do know they will get pretty big depending on the size of their habitat.

And as the previous poster said, they can live a very long time.

[JustPassinThru]

I don't know if my iguana's behavior was normal, but he was attracted to light and one day licked a lightbulb. He burned his tongue and was unable to eat. Little "Quito" is chasing crickets "up there" now, with my painted turtle and Mexican tarantula.

[JanuaryGirl]

The people I've known that were able to successfully have iguanas as pets spent A LOT of time playing, training, and socializing with them and basically had either a room, area of the house, or yard for the iguana to be free in.

The people I've known that didn't spend as much time with the iguana, and kept it mostly in a cage, ended up with an unhappy and aggressive reptile.

Any reptile, especially one of that size, is going to require a ton of upkeep and money to keep it healthy and happy. I mean, iguanas get larger than some dogs, you need to be ready for it to grow BIG and make sure you have the proper space for it not only now but in the future.

[mrs1885]

If you take the time to research them and are willing to put in all of the effort needed to keep them healthy and you spend a good deal of time with them so they are social, they can be neat pets. But please keep in mind it does take a lot of time and you need to be thinking out a good 30 or 40 years. They're not dogs or cats, so it's not a 10 or 15 year commitment. Where do you plan on living in 30 or 40 years? Each time you move between then, you'll need to make sure your new home has the space needed to accomodate the iguana. They can exceed 6 feet BTW. They're not small when they're full grown. And if you don't spend that time socializing and training them, you're going to have an aggressive 6 foot iguana on your hands.

Now, if you're willing to invest the time, money and space to him, I support the idea of adopting one from a rescue. I work with one in Ohio if you'd like the reference. You can also look at reptiles on Petfinder to find one near you.

ETA: They are very cool. The lighthouse my husband and I were married at in Florida had them living there wild. At the reception on the beach, they were coming to us and eating fruit out of our hands.