Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Most people believe that the sun does damage to albino reptiles. This is not true. It is true that with a baby albino iguana you can damage the eyes when it is under a year old by close exposure to powerful uv light either artificial or sunlight. I maintain babies in Fresh Air Habitats outside in direct sunlight and the wire acts as shadecloth protecting the eyes. When their young the eyelds aren't thick enough to protect the cornea. Once the're bigger like the ones pictured the sun does NO harm at all and in fact is beneficial...TC

Noody says the sun is harmful to albino reptiles, if so they could not possibly survive at all.
They simply face a higher danger of over-heating and getting burned.
Also, at any age reptile eyes are prone to retinal burns if exposed too close for too long periods of time to UV light, which is what timers are for, as well as shading through use of objects etc. Even with the mesh, your iguanas should have a shaded areas for protection and security.

By the way, beautiful specimens!

-IJ

Actually the first question I'm asked by almost everyone is the effect of sun on them. Other than your statement about the eyes your wrong on the burn and skin part. They DO NOT burn in the sun. They thermoregulate like any other lizard. In the morning Iguanas are at their darkest color. As they heat up they get lighter and prettier. The reason is that dark colors facilitate heat absorbsion and as they become the temperature they want to be they lighten in color. This slows the process down and allows them to stay out longer. Because these lizards are much lighter than normal they stay out longer but they DO NOT burn. Of course shade areas are available but this is more for thermoregulation than protection from the sun. AGAIN IT IS A MISTAKEN CONCEPT THAT THE SUN DAMAGES THE SKIN.thanks....TC

To go into more detail about the eyes, I stated in the original post that the eyelids of very small ones are too thin to offer adequate protection. What I mean is that even when they close their eyes they can be damaged by prolonged exposure. Once they get about a year old this is NOT the case and they can be kept like any other iguana would be. Forced exposure to powerful uv could and would damage any lizards eyes albino or not.thanks...TC

It could be that a lot of people believe albino iguanas have eye problems when exposed to sun simply because albino animals of any kind tend to have worse vision than normal specimens.

For instance, if you've ever seen an albino rat sway... their albino eyes make it difficult for them to see well, but they can see better when things are in motion, so they sway to put it in motion. You'll notice that non-albino rats don't generally sway.

People who are unaware of the effect of albino-ism on vision can easily conclude that the sun or bright lights damaged their eyes.

Just my two cents
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~Sara~
4 Leopard Geckos
3 ball pythons
1.0 Black-lined plated lizard (Lizzy Butt)
0.1 Burmese Python (Pixil)
7 Rats
1.1 Gerbils
1.1 Dogs (Ozzie and Mandy)
0.1 Cat (Isis)
0.0.1 Synodontis Catfish (Big Spotty Fish)
0.1 Convict Cichlid
0.0.1 blood parrot cichlid
0.0.1 African Featherfin Catfish

You are absolutely correct...TC

You have lovely iguana by the way!

Thanks again!

Thank you!TC