Reptile & Amphibian Forums

how big should a 2.5year old female rhino iguana be?

thank you

Can't help with the gender part but my male that was hatched in early November, 2001, is over 36 inches in STL and weighs almost 7 pounds. Comparing his growth rate to those of my 2 older Rhinos I feel that he's growing very quickly.

Jane,
Do you have an exact date for Loofah's hatching ? Most of the Florida rhinos hatch in September and October.

I will have to go dig out the scrap of brown paper that Bob included when he was shipped but it said either November 1st or 5th and had his parents listed on it.

At 2-1/2 years of age males and females are usually growing at the same rate. With mine, it is not until the 3rd summer, when the female starts using her energy to produce eggs --instead of growth -- that the males start getting bigger in size.

Growth rate is influenced by alot by environment and how often the animals are feed. Given equal space, light and heat, solo animals tend to grow faster than groups. Growth is also influenced by the size of the female that produced the eggs. I have found that first year offspring tend to be smaller for their age, even if the mother came from large parents.
An extrapolated value for 6 of mine at age 2-1/2 years of age ranged from 12" to 16" SVL. The majority were about 13" SVL.

thank you
can you tell me where you got yuor lizard? cuz mines only 10inches SVL and i got mine at KWE

Hi, in my opinion it has less to do with where the animal came from. It has more to do with it's living conditions, diet, heating and lighting.

What are you feeding it?
What kind of lighting and heating is it under?

While some size issues can be genetic a lot has to do with how the animal is kept.

Carole

My female rhino (Kharma) that was just under 3 years when I got her was 12 1/8" svl and 32.5" overall. Now 7 months later she is 14" svl and 35" overall. When she got here she weighed 3.4 lbss. Now she is 6.5 lbs.

Reptilecare

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Check it out. www.reptilecare.com

Carole,
Good to see Kharma's success continue. It brings up a major growth consideration: When an Herp, goes from being in a low attention side cage, to being a center piece.

In 2/98, I bought a same age male(Croyd)to breed with my female. When Croyd arrived, he was only 3lbs,5oz -- too small. By 1/99 he weighed 8lbs, 2oz -- before being feed.

I agree with Carole that environment is the primary influence in growth rate. I mentioned origin because it is often not consider, and 5 years later it makes a noticable difference.
Having seen Kevins igs, I would say that you need to work on your environment. Try feeding her twice a day with fresh food. She needs to be atleast 80 degrees to digest her food, so do not feed her just before her heat goes off. try putting her in a bigger environment, outdoor is best. There is more than one story of a cyclura that grew to fit the cage.

Why hurry to make her grow big ? They are the most fun when they are half grown. Once big, they will stay that way for a long long time.

Good luck