Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We have many reptiles currently but thought it would be an excellent idea if we could adopt one or two iguanas into our home...but...

We want to do this right and we are not going to rush into things until everything is built and set up...

We bought the melissa kaplan book (dummies) and we will be building an enclosure this summer to accomodate one or two iguanas. They will be interacted with frequently and given the best possible care we can provide.

My questions are as follows:

An enclosure size for 1 iguana or 2 should be how big???
We currently have a 4 foot long x 3 feet deep x 6 feet high enclosure previously used with basilisks...would this be suitable??

Also, I saw a picture of a bearded dragon being housed with an iguana??? (in a phillipe de vosjoli book) the book said it was fine to do this...IS THIS TRUE??? (I would think and iguana could snack on a beardy...

and poop training...how might one do this...

Thanks for your time...
Here's a picture of our baby green basilisk..someday he'll be moved in with two girlfriends when he is old enough.

-----
Chris Vanderwees
REPTILE SALES AND INFORMATION
E-mail Me
1.2.0 Bearded Dragons
1.2.0 Green Basilisks
1.1.0 Crested Geckos
1.2.0 Veiled Chameleons
1.1.0 Corn Snakes
1.0.0 Tokay Geckos
0.0.1 California Kingsnakes
2.5.1 Leopard Geckos

Howdy Chris,
Ill see what I can do about answering your questions. First off I would suggest not housing two iguanas ever in the same enclosure. Very bad idea. I know too many people who wake up in the morning to a blood bath. I will always suggest against this. Now on to your other questions.
>>My questions are as follows:
>>
>>An enclosure size for 1 iguana or 2 should be how big???
>>We currently have a 4 foot long x 3 feet deep x 6 feet high enclosure previously used with basilisks...would this be suitable??
That would be MINIMAL. If you are building your own and want a REALLY cool enclosure, get Hatefields book "Green Iguana: The ultimate owners Manual". It gives nice step by step instructions and great shopping list. 6x5x5 is better as constant housing however if you are willing for roam ability the basilisk cage should work fine. One thing to consider, I know i do this with my rescue. Ask your area rescue if there are any iguanas that come with cages if you are serious in doing 2. If you dont mind taking in an older one, there may be one that comes complete with set up! I have many adults here that I place like that.
>>Also, I saw a picture of a bearded dragon being housed with an iguana??? (in a phillipe de vosjoli book) the book said it was fine to do this...IS THIS TRUE??? (I would think and iguana could snack on a beardy...
That book is horribly outdated. And no they can not live together. Both animals have different requirements for proper husbandry, different dietary needs, and well yes the iguana probably would kill the beardie. More than likely would not eat it, but could very easily kill it. And in my opinion mising species is never a good idea.
>>and poop training...how might one do this...
this is one of the easiest to do. Offer large pans of water in the enclosure or daily warm soaks in the tub should work fine. The tub is a prefered method simply because of ease of cleaning.

Feel free to post more questions or stop by the ks.com chat fridays or sundays.
-----
Cindy
PHFaust

Email Cindy

Land of the Outcasts!

Thanks for the reply...we finally came to the decision of building an entirely new enclosure...(unless a poor iguana comes with one) it will be at least...5' long 6' tall and 3' deep...if not larger...I'm home during 4 days of the week as I only go to school for 3 days...I work at home and nights are free...my girlfriend and I are not party animals...just animal animals...so we hope to adopt 1 poor unwanted iguana and give it a second chance at life no matter how mean, depressed, stressed, or sick...we will do everything in our power to keep one going...and possibly two if we can free up enough room for another...

We bought the Melissa Kaplan iguana book...it seems really thorough...would you recommend it???

Here are some of our chameleon cages...we built in two days...each cage took 3 hours...so we figure we could build an iguana enclosure in 6.

-----
Chris Vanderwees
REPTILE SALES AND INFORMATION
E-mail Me
1.2.0 Bearded Dragons
1.2.0 Green Basilisks
1.1.0 Crested Geckos
1.2.0 Veiled Chameleons
1.1.0 Corn Snakes
1.0.0 Tokay Geckos
0.0.1 California Kingsnakes
2.5.1 Leopard Geckos