Setting Up a Home

The home of the iguana needs to be properly set up for the benefit of the iguana.  A good home will provide a safe place for the iguana to comfortably live.   The habitat that you set up need to be totaly independent of the rest of the house.   If it is 60 F or 70F it still needs to be the ideal temperature in the habitat.  

The home of your iguana needs to big.  Very big.  You shouldn't waste time buying small terrariums or aquariums.  The iguana will outgrow it very fast so you should instead build a huge cage or have one built for you.  The cage should be taller that it is big at the base.  It should have proper ventaliation.   Most preferable would be to have screen wire on each side of the cage.  Also try to get one made for you that is very sturdy and has a door in the front.

The cage should have branches or something like that.  Iguanas are aboreal which means they live in trees.  The iguana is must happier up in a branch than it is on the bottom of the cage.  The cage should have branches criss-crossing so the iguana can climb easly.  Be creative and logical in placing branches.   You can also install shelves in the cage if possible.  The shelves should be sturdy just like everything else in the cage so the iguana doesn't hurt himself.

If you are going to use tree branches that are real then you need to clean them.  Place them in your oven and bake 2-3 hours at 250 F.  If they don't fit in your oven then you should scrub them very throughly and clean them very throughly with water.  Never choose wood that has been wet or partially rotted or has been on the ground.

One of the branches needs to be situated underneath the basking area.   The basking area is the area that the iguana will spend time heating him/herself up.  Reptiles are cold-blooded which means that they cannot heat themselves up.   Rather they have to rely on the environment to heat or cool themselves off.   When the iguana wants to get warm he will get in his basking spot.  The basking spot should be a comfortable branch 10-12 inches away from the incandescent heating bulb.  The bulb should be placed in a silver reflector dome and placed on top of screen wire.  The top of the cage should be made of screen wire.  The heating dome may be placed on top of it which will make a focused basking spot as well as preventing the iguana from buring him/herself on the bulb.  In summary, there should be a basking spot situated underneath the heating lamp which should be set the screen top of the cage 10-12 inches away from the branch.  A thermometer should be placed here.   It should be about 90-95 F.

Along with the heating dome there needs to be a UV light.  Place it in a holder specifically designed for one.  The UV tube needs to be on 12 hours a day.  Just turn it on when you turn on the daytime heating lamp.  The UV light must be unfiltered.  This means that no glass, plastic, or plexiglass can be in the way of the light.  The UV fixture should be placed next to the heating lamp on top of the screen top of the cage.  The UV light should shine down on the basking spot so the iguana gets sufficient UV rays.  The UV tube needs to produce all wavelengths of UV light.  Most importantly of all, it needs to produce UVB for calcium absorbtion and synthesis of vitamin D3.  This is an important part of your iguana's health because lack of UVB will lead to Metabolic Bone Disease which is a very serious condition!  Immediate medical attention by a vet will be neccessary if signs of MBD occur.  I recommend reading iguana care books on MBD that you can buy at stores.  

Some supplements contain vitamin D3 but scientists have found out that this does not get absorbed through digestion.  Either way you still need to get a UV tube that produces UVB!!!!!

Having a UV tube is not enough for good health.  It helps a lot but the best source is still the good ol' sun.  Sunlight is much better that the UV light produced by the tubes.  Taking your iguana out for sun is absolutely necessary for the iguana's health.  Take him outside when it is sunny, don't worry if it is cool outside, and always keep an eye on him.  The iguana will run away from you accidentely or intentionally.  He will run away from you even though may have not in the past two years but it takes only one day to loose him.   The best way to get him some sun is to build an enclosure outside designed for sunning.  It needs to be made from screen wire not glass because glass will filter the UV rays out.  In the cage you should place water.  It is absolutely necessary to place water in the cage because the iguana could dehydrate in the sun.   Also you must provide a shaddy area where the iguana can go when he starts to get too hot.  Death or serious injury can result from overheating since iguanas cannot control their own body heat.  Note:  When the iguana starts to open its mouth to pant, it means the iguana is already toooooo hot.  Panting is very inefficient and once you see him panting, you know he is in the danger zone of overheating.  In summary you need to have an enclosure that the iguana cannot escape from that has lots of sun, water, and a shaddy area.

Back to iguana home inside the house.  The habitat inside your home needs to have a substrate.  Look HERE.

The home needs to have a bowl of food and a separate bowl for water.   YES, iguanas do drink.  Although you may never see the iguana drinking, the iguana will drink. I have seen my iguana drink lots of times!!  It is very interesting to watch.  You need to supply the iguana with fresh drinking water everyday.  Check with the water utility company that supplies water to your home to see if the tap water is drinkable.  If it is then you may use tap water.  If not, I'm really not sure what to do.  Try to look at other web sites.  The bowl of food needs to have food.  See FOOD.

The cage should be situated away from a heavy traffic of your home.   The iguana will get stressed by loud noises and humans running around.  The cage should be away from loud speakers, the T.V., or other loud appliances.  Just place the cage in a quiet corner of your bedroom.  This way he will get used to looking at you and vice versa.  This improves the bonding between you and your ig.