Clueless:

Iguanas grow pretty quickly, so a 50 gallon tank will do for awhile. I kept having to build bigger ones to accommodate mine.

evanescence_fr3ak:

Before you get your green iguana, please read over the links below … Make sure that you are truly ready to be a slave/owner to a green iguana for at least 20yrs of it’s life. They are not like a cat or dog that you can just lay some food out for and call it good, they do require a lot of time and a lot, and make sure that you do have money available if you ever need to go to the vet, too many people say I dont have money for vet. Just truly make sure that you are ready for one. They are wonderful to own.
Iguanas will either be dominate or submissive, you have a 50/50 chance if your iguana will allow you to be around him/her. Get ready for tail whips for a good few months. It can take 6 months to a year or more to truly know if your ig will actually accept you as it’s owner. Do try and find an iguana in a rescue group, before buying from a pet store.
A young iguana should not live in anything smaller then a 55 gallon tank, the smaller tank will not process the proper heat/cool … A 55 gallon tank will only hold a young iguana under a yr old for 8-12 months.
Enclosure:
A young ig can only live in a 55 gallon tank 8-12 months, after that you will need to build a custom enclosures … enclosure needs to be at least 1.5-2 times it’s total length … an adult you will need a space of 6-7ft tall x 8-10ft long x 4ft wide
Temps (use a thermometer w/ a probe at the end not those worthless stick on glass types at the pet store, the probe thermometer you can place more where you ig is basking/laying and under the heat)
basking 33.5C-35.5C (92F-96F) if temp is too low digestion is slowed too high food digests too fast and nutrition is lost
medium/middle 31.5C-33.5C (88F-92F)
cool 23.5C-28.5C(75F-84F)
night never let go below 21.5C (70F)
** having a temp gun is the best to truly know what your igs body temp is
UVB:
UVB is very vital for your igs health and growth … UV ray can not process threw glass, do not have your igs tank sitting next to a window, it do no good
UK: Arcadia distance 6-8 inches from your igs body
USA: ReptiSun distance 10.0 8-10 inches from your igs body
USA: Repti Glo 8.0 distance 6-8 inches from your igs body
USA: ReptiSun 5.0 distance 6-8 inches from your igs body
… you will need to adjust the lights or the basking shelf as your iguana grows
** You should use a shop light fixture from a home repair type place, you should use at least 2 UV tubes
** You need to change the UVB tubes every 6 months, they do lose the UV ray … Summer time you can allow your ig to get natural sun light, but make sure he/she isn’t in a tank, can cause the green house effect … You can use a collapsible dog carrier for outside if he/she is young, you should build an outdoor enclosure by the time he/she is at least 2 yrs old .. watch the heat igs can overheat
** those compact coil type do not process the the correct amount of UV that your ig needs also they can cause eye damage to reptiles
Please read: http://www.uvguide.co.uk/index.htm – http://www.uvguide.co.uk/fluorescenttuberesults.htm – http://www.uvguide.co.uk/whatreptilesneed.htm
Floor Covering:
BAD floor covering: bark, dirt, moss, sand, pellets are all bad … at some point your iguana will try and lick swallow and then possibly cause blockage which will then need to be surgically removed or possibly death … SAFE floor covering: newspaper (unprinted), paper towels, towels, vinyl flooring, indoor/outdoor carpeting – if you have any lose fibers from the carpeting or the towels please remove and replace – unprinted newspaper if you possibly can use is safer just in case your ig likes to try and eat the newspaper some ink may contain soy
Food:
daily food should have 5-7 good staple greens (2-3 cups a day if not more young igs might not eat more then a tablespoon for awhile) … collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion greens (if you can find), endive, radicchio, arugula, mache (if you can find), watercress … some greens to give occasionally kale, bok choy, escarole … romaine is mostly water no nutrience, you can add small amount and occasionally in w/ the good staple greens (collard, mustard, etc) but do not make romaine just your iguanas choice of greens (or any other type of lettuce most of us humans eat) … some things to add (small amounts) snap peas, bell peppers (every now and then), parsnip, sweet potato/yam, acorn squash, butternut squash, buttercup squash … fruits should only be given every now and then once or twice a week type of thing fruits are like junk food to iguanas … some fruits to try papay, kiwi, mango, raspberries, strawberries, grapes, honeydew (great water source), canalope (great water source), 12 grain wheat bread … if anything has seeds make sure you remove seed before you give it to your iguana anything w/ small seeds like strawberries wait like 3 days before giving anymore … watermelon (seedless) can be frozen and then shaved onto your iguanas food helps w/ hydration everyday … there are some foods that aren’t good for your iguana: spinach has oxalate acids bind to the calcium, so even though spinach is high in calcium, almost none is actually available for the iguana to use, also the oxalate acids can form oxalate crystals which can and do build up in the kidneys causing kidney damage/failure … some ig owners do give there ig spinach but in very small amounts and only once a month … corn igs can not digest … carrots can block calcium absorption … bananas are low in calcium best to give another type of fruit … apples too much acid – appetite suppressant … food should be cut/chopped/diced no bigger then the iguanas head, if they are small having a chopper chop them up, or slice them into very small pieces … spray/mist food to help w/ water/hydration
Humidity:
Iguanas are from tropical climate they need humidity … While living in a tank you can use a spray/misting … Your ig may dislike the spray bottle sound so he/she will not like that for awhile … add fake leaves (bigger then your igs head), if you see your ig trying to eat the leaves please remove, if you see any exposed wiring please remove and replace … daily baths of course are wonderful, plus will hopefully train him/her to use the bath tub as his/her restroom … you can place a humidifier or vaporizor next to the tank to help add some humidity … after you get a custome enclosure built think about safety for the humidifer or vaporizer and figure out a way to keep it outside and piped in
Sites for you to read and look over:
http://www.greenigsociety.org/
http://www.iguanaden.org/
http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/index.html
A great book to read and have on hand:
Iguanas for Dummies by Melissa Kaplan
Yahoo has some great groups for iguana owners, if you’d like to join, these are some helpful groups for new and old iguana owners:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/BabyIguana/
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/IguanaDen/