Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey- I have an 8x8x4 foot tortoise pen in Melbourne Beach, FL. We stay warm here almost all year. I'd love to get an iguana. With adequate heating, could an adult possibly live in a pen that size year- round? Is there a chance it would injure my tortoises? They're all adult Redfoot/ Star Tortoises. What about transmitting disease? Thanks. Brooks

It sounds roomy enough for an ig, but I'm not sure it's tall enough at 4 feet. Igs love to climb - the higher the better - and you might need more height to allow him enough separation from the tortoises (see below). You'd probably need to incorporate some basking shelves and other stuff to climb on.

I don't know how an ig would do with a bunch of tortoises (how many and how big?), but an iguana can be quite territorial and might resent their presence. I suspect the ig would take the high road and the tortoises would keep the low road, and never the twain shall meet. It might be interesting, though!

You will need supplemental heat for an iguana to live outside year round, even in central Florida. It was in the 40s there yesterday morning - much too cold for an ig.
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MichaelB

The height, like the other guy said... is WAY too short. But there is hope. You already have 2 of 3 dimensions right. So just make it 8 feet tall, and it will be perfect size-wise for an adult iguana. 4 feet is still not tall enough for a youngster either.

As for the two species living together... yes and no...

Until the iguana is de-wormed and checked and treated for all possible endo-parasites (as well as external ones) you must never combine two animals in the same enclosure.

You see, the iguana might enjoy the high-life up on the tall area of the enclosure, but you can bet its droppings will go straight down where the toitoles roam about.

Since tortoises aren't the cleanest of animals, coming into contact with anything on the ground, there is a very good chance they will come in contact with the feces of the iguana, and if the iguana has endo-parasites, well, you can figure it out.

SO what I suggest is if u do go ahead with the iguana, quarantine it for a month (depending on health of course). As soon as it checks out and is treated/de-wormed, you can try to introduce it in the converted turtle habitat (make sure it will be at least 7 feet tall). But keep an eye on those feces dropping from above and landing right on the turtles or on the grounds they feed or drink on......eeewww...

Keep us posted. Regards,

-IJ

Good point, Joe - I forgot about the poop. That could nix the whole idea. Even if the iguana gets a clean bill of health, you'd end up with ig poop on the ground, ig poop on the tortoises, ig poop in a lot of places youd rather not have it in terms of the overall welfare of the tortoises.
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MichaelB