Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just wondering if anyone knows of any good places to get a good harness for my small iguana.
He's only about a year old and about maybe 2 inches in girth I'm guessing.
He stays with my bf so I'm not sure of his exact size. I know he's about 17" long and about 2 inches wide.
I would like to find a good harness that will wrap around him.
But I can't seem to find any good ones anywhere in stores or online. Does anyone have any suggestions? thanks.

I've used almost every type of harness for my iguana, and I can tell you one thing, they aren't exactly a good idea, especially for small iguanas. I had the ZooMed harness that was specially made for iguanas, but the top plastic part actually wore on part of my iguana's spikes on his back, and the rope wore on his scales. He never regrew the spikes either, so now there is an inch that has none. I even tried the harnesses that were made for rabbits/ferrets, figuring they would be less abrasive, but he was able to get lose from those quite easily. He's full grown now, and when we take him to the vet we use a harness that is made for cats, because there isn't exactly a travel cage that is big enough for him, unless we use a small dog kennel.
The one big problem we had when he was smaller was the "alligator rolls" that he would do when he didn't want the harness on anymore. He would get so tangled up, we usually had to cut the harness off of him.

Now if you are looking for a way to transport a very large (or not so large) iguana to the vet for example, I've found the best way is a very large and long underbed rubbermaid container with locking top. You can get a clear one so he can see out, and you can poke ventilation holes in the sides using a heated butter knife. I heated one by slipping it under the heating element of an electric stove and handling it with an oven mitt.

I put heating pads inside, and blankets on top of the entire thing once it's positioned in the back seat of the car. The heating pad cords just snake up and out underneath the locking top, with the controllers on the outside of the container. I use a power converter in my car's cigarette lighter to power the heating pads. It's worked very well for me.

For basking and short walks, my iguana's leash is the least expensive, most valuable investment I've made towards his care. I have not had any spine or scale problems with this type of leash, which secures tightly around the hips of the iguana. It costs less than 3 dollars to make. We live in a big city, and the leash has prevented him from jumping or running where he should not and probably saved his life.

Get a length of cotton cord, similar to the cord that cinches the hood of a sweatshirt. I got mine from the craft/sewing section at Walmart. You will also need a barrel clasp. This is the kind used in sweatshirt hoods, also. It looks like a tube with a hole shot through the middle. You squeeze the top and bottom of the tube to release and lock the cinch cord on the sweatshirt hood. Also can be gotten from Walmart or a sweatshirt you don't want anymore.

It's also useful to have a caribbeaner (maybe spelled caribiner) hook like climbers use. This way you can clip the leash to your belt loop and the iguana can sit on your shoulder, leashed, and your hands will be free. They sell them at the hardware store as keychains.

Tape the ends of the cotton cord so it's like a shoelace. Depress the top and bottom of the barrel clasp to open the hole in the middle, and snake both ends of the cord through the hole. It's not easy. I poked them though with a safety pin or a match. You should now have a loop of cord closed by the barrel clasp.

Knot one end of the cord. Tie the other end to the hook. Pull and adjust the cord so the long end is the one with the hook at the end. The hook end with clip to your belt hook, and the loop will go around the iguana's hips. Adjust the loop to fit your iguana. The knot should be right up against the barrel clasp. The loop should be tight, but not too tight. Your iguana should not have trouble breathing, but you should NOT be able to slip a finger between your iguana and the cord.

Now, the way I see this leash is not as a fool proof device, but as something that's going to give me a few extra seconds to grab my iguana if he spooks or tries to jump on an interesting looking stranger.

Do not leave your iguana unattended while he is on the leash. Don't let him run around. The best thing to do is to let him climb around on you or sit in your arms and bask.

You should not put your iguana on the ground outside on the leash. They are more likely to run and gator roll, because the ground is not where they want to be and everything looks huge to them from down there. If your iguana is gator rolling and misbehaving when he has the leash on, you may have to acclimate him to the leash indoors using treats and positive reinforcement. Perhaps take only short trips outdoors and lengthen them until he doesn't mind the leash.

Good luck!

Yeah, I don't recomend it either... Mt opinion though, cuz If I'm not wrong, girlzila's ig wear it without any problems...

It really doesn't matter if you don't let them walk on the ground or not. My iguana would be fine in his harness while I was holding him, but usually, without warning he would try to squirm free and get himself tangled up. And my cousin's iguana had a completely different issue. His iguana's one claw got caught on the rope (which was a cotton rope), and in the effort of trying to free him, the iguana pulled back so quickly that he pulled the claw back. He was in a cast for a month, and still has never healed properly. So, one of the claws is extended. I really don't recommend harnesses at all. I don't even like putting mine in the cat harness now to take him to the vet, but my vet (which is only across the street), has a cage/harness policy. My iguana is 6 1/2 feet long and 20lbs, and I'm not about to put him in a huge container which would probably take 2 people to carry.

I love mine, and it's the safest harness you can put them in. It cost me less than $1 to make. The directions to make one (with a picture) are here http://iguanaden.com/care/outdoors.htm

Here's a picture of Xander in his harness back in June. Pardon his feeble-lookingness; he was recovering from being sick. He's quite a bit bigger now, and takes the the harness like it wasn't even there.

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~Alika~
1.0.0 green iguanas
0.1.0 cockatiels
1.0.0 senegal parrots
0.1.0 blue-fronted amazons
0.0.1 red belly piranha

Great picture! I think it really takes a picture to be able to see how to put the thing together... I can never get a good picture of mine wearing a leash.

Here's a newer one. I really don't like that last one...

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~Alika~
1.0.0 green iguanas
0.1.0 cockatiels
1.0.0 senegal parrots
0.1.0 blue-fronted amazons
0.0.1 red belly piranha

Ugh! Try again...

I've heard about people having problems with them. I really think it depends on the ig. It's just like bird or cat harnesses; some birds/cats will wear them, and some will not. We live in an apartment, and in order to get Xander some summer sun, we have to take him outside without a cage. The harness lets us do that safely. We had one of those "iguana harnesses" originally, but I like this one so much better. If you're gonna use a harness at all, this is the way to go. But not all igs will be able to wear any kind of harness.

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~Alika~
1.0.0 green iguanas
0.1.0 cockatiels
1.0.0 senegal parrots
0.1.0 blue-fronted amazons
0.0.1 red belly piranha

Just my opinion & we all know how that saying goes but Forest's previous owners used one on him when he was small & he got tangled in his too. Ended up breaking a leg bone & was also in a cast for months.

But...some people have great success.....dunno....I just wouldn't/don't.