Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a three year old female iguana. She has had a male companion for the past week. Altho she will be laying her eggs within a week or two. Was it to late to mate her or is there still a posability her egs will hatch?

why would you want to breed iguanas? are you aware that there are more iguanas homeless in shelters then there are homes for? they are breed and sold to pet stores as little iglets. for a very cheep price. parents buy them for their kids later to find out that they get 6 foot long and are not good pets for kids. so if they live they go to an already crowded rescue. please dont bred your iguanas. if you want more iguanas rescue one and give it a loving home. dont put more in that situation.
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brandy

i like large lizards, but i think it's usually best to buy them as hatchlings and raise them yourself. most adoptions are sickly, need special vet help, are missing tails and toes and what have you. so if you want a really nice show animal even if it is large, you will usually need to pay some bucks for it. i don't think breeding animals increases the depletion of animals in the wild. i think just the opposite is the case. most petshops prefer to sell captive bred, especially captive bred from petowners with whom they do business. this keeps them from having to sell wild caught animals. there are certain breeds of parrots that are exctinct in the wild yet are thriving in captivity and will not be going extinct anytime soon. conservationists buy some of these captives and use them to try to reestablish colonies in the wild. many times efforts to stop the depletion of wild animals has just the oppsoite effect. when it was legal to harvest box turtles in louisiana, box turtles were everywhere and very cheap. now that it has become illegal they are never seen and they are expensive.

Not all rescue iguanas are messed up. Many are flawless with good manners. Even so, I'd take a sweetheart recsue who has some flaws If I were looking for another green iguana.
When you raise your own, you don't know what kind of breeding-season personality it will have. Many lovingly home-raised iguanas become monsters during breeding season. Many do not. It's a crapshoot. But a rescue ig has a life history for you to see.

Typical demon iguana:
"Yes during breeding season my ig lunges at me into the wire on the side of his cage when we walk by and he gets abscesses on his face from it. It's a two-man job to get him out and to the vet. But it's for only 4 months a year. I lovingly raised him since he was a a baby."

Sweetheart ig:
"Yes my ig responds to breeding season by expanding his territory and patrolling the house, and he eats less, and turns orange, but he never bites us. During his Season he'd rather we don't get into his cage but he can handle it. His Season lasts about 4 months a year. I raised him since he was a baby."

Through the various rescue organisitions you can interview a hundred iguanas and their personalities.
http://www.greenigsociety.org/rescue.htm
...is one that I helped out for a while.

Roger

i do not think its wrong to breed all animals. but i do think it is wrong to breed iguanas for many reasons. #1 the number of homeless iguanas it would be takeing homes away from. #2 most new iguana owners buy them with out doing any research. because they are so cheep to buy. so the animals dont get the proper care. #3 most people that breed iguanas breed them many many times and produce hundreds of iguanas to sell to pet stores where they are either sold to kids that dont know how to take care of them. or die from the horrid conditions their in at the pet store. #4 how many people do you know personally (not online) that own an iguana? too many are being breed then there are homes for. i am the only person i know in my area that owns healthy igs that are peoperly taken care of. #5 honestly they dont belong in captivity. there is no way to completely simulate their natural environment. i think they should be illeagel to keep as pets with out a permit and proper housing for them. sorry this was so long just my two cents if any one cares lol. -brandy
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brandy

I agree with you Brandy, as do many people I am sure. There are so many homeless igs out there! Many igs, homless or not, meet untimely demises because they are improperly cared for, or tossed out when the owners lose interest.

It is a sad story...and the world is certainly not hurting for anymore green igs right now
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

I agree that is almost impossible to create a proper environment for them, unless you have $30,000 to blow on the project and also to run the heater/chiller/humidifier for several years. IMO most if not all pet iguanas are chronically dehydrated.

Roger