Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone have two iguanas that live together in the same habitat? If so, what sex are they both? I have a five and three year old iguana, and the five year old was thought to be a male, so I kept it separated "him" from the other which I believe is female. Well, he isn't a male, so that makes me wonder about combining them into the same enclosure which is large enough to house both of them. Any ideas or suggestions?

How long do they "know" each other?
Have they ever free-roamed at the same time?
Do they head-bob to one another?

2 males spells trouble.
2 females not as bad, but still can spell trouble.
male/female is theoretically fine, but does not always result in romance or friendship...

Let them free-roam at the same time in a secured room and see how they behave.
Over a weekend, when you can stay at least for nearly a full day at home, put them together and observe, without interfering on behavior.

If hissing, snapping, and constant head-bobbing goes on the whole time, separate them.
Remember, they will bob and his and puff their bodies at first to establish who's who and who's the boss etc. Some snapping and charging may happen too. After one time or two, they should have figured out who's gonna call the shots.
If aggressive behavior persists, separate them, and try when they are more equally matched, and more accurately sexed.

-IJ

I currently have 3 iguanas. I keep the 2.5-3 year old male by himself completely in a spare room. I have two 13 year old females who have been housed together 10 years now. The dominant female is deformed from a bout with severe MBD she had before I got her. She can not climb steep ramps or ladders. Baby is very submissive. Normally they get along great and will bask side by side even though I provide seperate basking spots. I provide seperate feeding but they eat from each others. But Dragon does have her moments when she feels she has to assert her dominance and when that happens Baby will just climb up to her top shelf where Dragon can't bother her--in other words she is able to escape easily. During those times I feed Baby there. Normally it lasts no more than a day and Baby comes back down. In their new enclosure though I am having built I will have a third basking light on Baby's shelf. In the evening Baby will move to her shelf and when night comes sleep up there.

In the 16 months that I've been on the forums I have come to realize that it is not normally a good idea to keep iguanas together and all interaction should be supervised. There have been so many cases of serious injuries and death due to keeping iguanas together or not supervising their interaction. It has happened among babies, juveniles, adults and combinations of the different ages. Some have even had them together for many years and say that they got along together well. Iguanas are not social animals though that need or normally want companionship. In the wild they do get together for potection (safety in numbers) and mating. But in the wild if there is aggression a weaker or a submissive iguana can very easily escape by leaving. That is not the case in an enclosure. Even the best of friends human or iguana can have arguments that lead into violence. With humans and iguanas in the wild there is a possibility of one walking away. That is not so with captive iguanas kept in an enclosure no matter how large it is--even a house is not big enough to compare to the openess of the wild. It takes only one argument for one to snap. So I do not brag about keeping iguanas together and now never recommend that it be done especially by inexperienced keepers. I do feel that yes they can be socialized to us, other iguanas and other animals. But just like they can suddenly turn on us they can turn on other animals and that can and has led to tragedy.

I know that even though they have been together over 10 years that one day Baby may decide not to be dominated and attack Dragon or that Baby won't get away quickly enough from Dragon. I am taking a risk I know even with their special circumstances. I know though also they have been very socialized to each other and want each others company. They even look for the other when one is gone for some reason. I believe after 10 years they may make themselves sick if seperated. So at this point in time I feel that the risk of stress is the higher and more likely of the two. I may in the future put a divider up if there are signs of the situation changing or their special circumstances changing though. Many experienced (a lot more than me) keepers have and do keep iguanas together (so far) successfully. They like me take a risk no matter how very very slight. But each must decide if that risk can or should be made.

And also even if aggression or dominance never happens, accidents do happen. Iguanas have a tendency to just walk over something in their path even another iguana. The one being walked on could move causing the other to fall or the iguana could stick it's claw in the others eye. Dragon has a scarred eyelid from a time when Baby just walked over her. But accidents happen without housing them together.

Breeding can be a very violent event among iguanas. I kept my previous male Sampson with my females but I always had to allow Sampson to free roam during breeding season for that reason. But I did not always catch his seasons on time. I had several very very expensive vet bills. And it wasn't always the female that got injured. Once Dragon was not receptive and Sampson went to grab her neck and she turned and sunk her teeth into his mouth and took a big hunk out that never grew back. She was a lot smaller than him too so size doesn't make a difference. In hindsight I feel I probably lost my 3rd female because of him going into breeding season and me not catching it. She got an abcess from an injury to the eye. She died after removal of the abcess. Even if she had lived she had loss the eye. I believe she wasn't receptive and banged her eye against the wall trying to get away. And she was the biggest iguana I had. So again size doesn't matter. So male/female combination is not good either because you may not catch his mating season in time. Also I believe his death was caused indirectly to him being and wanting to be with the females. He always was very stressed when not able to be with them. Well when my circumstances changed and I had to move them to a garage he was in season so I couldn't move him at the same time. He was by himself in the apartment when the girls and the enclosure disappeared. He got very depressed and wouldn't eat or drink. He died of kidney failure probably brought on directly from the dehydration. I know he had mourned the previous female even though he was indirectly the cause of her death. So I feel he thought the other two were gone for good also. Also I believe (don't know) that Huff was one cause of Baby's back fracture. I had him in a cage inside their enclosure. I got him when he was about 1.5 years. Well some how he was able to squeeze through the 1" bars. During the first week (until he fattened up) I kept finding him out. He'd be lying on either Baby or Dragons back--not next to them or leaning on them but directly on (dominance). Baby probably tried to climb away with him on her back and she fell. The one good thing is I discovered that the UVB setup I had sucked. I had a Powersun that said it gave good UVB at 6'. It didn't. If Baby's bone density was like it should have been then the fall would most likely have not factued her back. I had just started to post to the GIS and had learned of the MegaRay. The people at GIS and Reptile UV got me through Baby's back fracture and Dragon's kidney problems for which I am extremely grateful to them. I regret keeping iguanas together now but I did not know back when I got my iguanas the risks. This is the first time I have admitted it openly though.

Female/female is more likely to succeed but they also get territorial too like the males. My Dragon girl is territorial at times. Sorry for the long posts.
-----
Marie
Baby, Dragon, VLS-Huff, Miss Kitty