Heating

    Iguanas are cold blooded.  This means that they cannot control their own body temperature.  Instead they have to rely on their environment to heat or cool themselves off.  The iguana therefore needs special heating to keep him/her alive.  One thing to always remember is that iguanas cannot be treating like humans as of climate.  If you feel nice and cool at 70C the iguana might not be so happy since your body temperature is at 97F and the iguana's will be lowered down to 70C.  Please don't think that the iguana now needs to be at 97F all day long.  In fact 97F is too hot for the iguana.  Just remember to keep a source of heat in his cage so he can get warm when he needs to and get cool by moving away from the heat source. 

*YOU NEED TO PLACE SEVERAL REPTILE CAGE THERMOMETERS IN THE CAGE AT ALL TIMES TO GIVE YOU A READING OF THE TEMPERATURE. 

I recommend that you buy one of those reptile thermometers that are specially designed to fit in the iguana's cage.  I use little round thermometer that sticks to the side of the cage.  It is completely safe.  Never use a human thermometer that contains mercury or alcohol.  Plus, most reptile thermometers are pretty inexpensive.

Several thermometers should be placed in the cage.  One underneath the basking spot, and one on the farthest corner of the cage away from the basking spot.  The one underneath the basking spot should read about 90F to 95F.  It should not be over 95F.  The thermometer around the coolest part of the cage should never be below 75F.  The basking spot is where the iguana spends its time warming up and basking.  Iguanas are cold blooded so they bask to increase their body temperature.

    Cages

   If your iguana lives in a cage then read this part.  The iguana's cage needs to have a source of heating.   Heating can be provided by the following methods:

1. Incandescent Bulbs

Incandescent bulbs look like light bulbs that both me and you use in our homes but they are different.  The incandescent bulbs that are for iguanas or reptiles are the ones that you need to get.  They are found at pet stores.  You might want to shop around until you find a good big pet store that has lots of reptile stuff.  The incandescent bulbs give off heat and light.  They are sold in several watts.  60, 75, 100, and 150 watts.  Choose the right one for you.   I have a 40 Gallon Terrarium (which is too small) and I use a 75 Watt bulb.   Usually small cages use 60 or 75 watt bulbs.  Medium cages use 100 watts and large cages use 150 watts.  The best way that I have found out is too buy a bulb and see if it gets too hot by checking the thermometer.  If it is too cool return the bulb as soon as possible and buy one that is a little higher in wattage.  Find the one suitable to you based on the guildlines stated in the beginning of this page.   Look up.

The bulb should be screwed in a reflector dome that you can purchase at the pet store.  This way more light is reflected down can makes a great basking site.  

Some incandescent bulbs say they are "full spectrum" but this is not true.  All incandescent bulbs can due are to produce light and heat and maybe UVA.  This UVA is not enough for the iguana.  Iguanas need UVB to synthesize Vitamin D3.  I recommend buying a incandescent bulb that produces UVA for psycholocial benefits.

Along with the incandescent bulb, a reptile UV bulb needs to be supplied.   It is very important that you not use an industrial UV bulb or any other type of UV bulb other than what they sell in the reptile section of the pet store.   Any other type of UV bulb will hurt or kill your iguana as well as hurt you.   Industrial UV bulbs produce way too powerful UV rays that are used to kill bacteria. ONLY BUY A UB BULB THAT IS SOLD IN THE REPTILE SECTION OF THE PET STORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For information of UV bulbs look under Lighting.

Ceramic Heating Elements

Another method of heating the cage is the Ceramic Heating Element.  ZooMed makes them in several wattages.  Find the correct wattage suitable to your iguana's enclosure using the same method I have recommended for incandescent bulbs.  Please don't get these confused with human ceramic heaters.  The kind that you need for your iguana may be purchased at that reptile section of a pet store.  Ceramic Heating Elements produce infrared waves.  Infrared waves are simply heat.  In small cages they tend to produce a lot of heat due to the infrared waves bouncing off of the sides of the cage.

I recommend you use a incandescent during the day time and a Ceramic Heating Element during the night time.  These CHE's (Ceramic Heating Elements) are great for nightime heating because they produce no light.  Light during he nightime disrupts the iguana's sleeping just like it does to some humans.

CHEs are kinda expensive but worth it.  CHEs last up to 5 years!