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COMING SOON!!!
Alrighty, welcome to part one of caging/housing for your green iguana! :)
First off, let's start with the basics and we'll move on from there.
Basic equipment you'll need for your iggy:
A cage (we'll discuss options for this below)
UVB lighting (Reptisun 5.0 or a Mercury Vapor bulb)
Basking heat (basking day bulb unless using Mercury Vapor Bulb)
Night heating (various light options or CHE's (ceramic heat emitters)
Bedding (paper towels, butcher paper or tiles work great)
Temperature gauge and humdity gauge (so you can keep control over both knowing what he temp is constanly and the level
of humditity - both are vital!)
Food dish and water bowl (igs love to swim and need plenty of space to do their busines if they choose in their water.
Make the water dish BIG but not too big so they can't climb out)
Branches and basking platforms (igs love to climb and need it for thermoregulation and their well being)
Tanks vs Home Construction
You are honestly far better off housing your ig in a cage that you constructed for him/her. Bottom line, they will need
NO LESS than 6' tall x 4' deep x 4' long. That is the BARE minimum space for one adult iguana. More is always better.
Tanks don't cut it for a number of reasons:
1. they are almost always longer than tall and are not near wide enough to accomodate the ig's body when wishing to turn
around. There are tanks like 29g highs or whatever size they are and "high" to be taller but again, they are no
wider in depth.
2. They don't hold heat really well. Glass generally does not hold heat very well. Most of it escapes causing you to
buy higher heat producing elements and not only making it more dangerous for the iguana with unstable temperatures but also
making it more expensive for you.
3. they don't hold humidity very well. Screen/mesh lids don't hold in the moisture very well at all. If you cover
them up, you are then producing less air flow and thus, creating a more stagnant habitat.
A tank CAN be made for a BABY iguana but in a few months, he/she'll outgrow this and you will have to upgrade the home
BEFORE they need it, not when it fits the budget. That's why it's usually best to build your own. Finding someone that builds
them for you can also be a way to go.
I'll help with some information on people I know that build them as soon as I can.
Definitely more to come. This page is in its infancy as is all the mounds of iguana info I plan to disperse here. Just
doing it between work, my rescue and the menagerie here is tough. lol!
Check back often!
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