Iguana Care Sheet

If you've been looking at little baby iguanas, you've probably thought to yourself "Oh, this things so tiny, I can just use my old aquarium to keep him in".

Yeah.. not.

That might work for 6 months, or even a year, but that cute little eight inch juvenile iguana is going to grow up into a six foot Godzilla (assuming you give it proper care and food!)

There are commercial reptile cages that you can buy that will house your iguana for a couple of years, but once your iguana is more than 2-3 feet in length, you're going to need a custom built cage. If you live in a warm climate, you can give your iguana an outdoor home that will allow it to get plenty of fresh air and sunshine. But during the winter months - especially if you live in a cold climate! - your iguana will need a place that is indoors, warm and secure.

How big is big enough? Take the size of your iguana, and multiply that by 2. Your enclosure should be that wide. It should be at the very minimum 1/2 your iguana's length from the front to the back of the cage. And it should be 1-1/2 times your iguana's length in height.

So, if you have a 2 foot iguana, you should have a cage that is four feet wide, one foot front to back, and three feet tall. Those are the minimums! Keeping in mind that iguanas love to climb, I like to give my iguana a cage that's at least four feet tall, with branches and shelves to sit and bask.

The important thing to remember is that the iguana must have space to climb, and should be able to move and turn around freely.

One of the most difficult aspects of iguana care is providing it with a habitat that mirrors it's native jungle home.

Iguanas come from a place where there's lots of sun, warmth and humidity, so it's no coincidence that they need those things to thrive.

A proper iguana habitat will provide these three things:

1 - Sun light - or at least UV rays. Your iguana needs to get exposure to natural sunlight as much as possible in order to metabolize its food. If it can't get natural sunlight, you can purchase UV bulbs to provide the UV rays needed, but as much as possible, you should try to let your iguana be exposed to the sun for part of the day. Just make sure that they can move into the shade, too!

2 - Warmth - like we mentioned, iguanas are cold blooded. They need to have a warm spot to sit and keep their body temperature regular. The best enclosure will have cooler areas and warmer areas so the iguana can move around and warm up or cool down as needed. An iguana that is too cool can't digest its food properly.

3 - Humidity - The jungle is humid, y'all, that's no secret! And iguanas need to have a humid environment to stay healthy. Automatic misters, tubs of water (not too deep!), daily baths - it's all a part of keeping your iguana healthy and moisturized!