A green iguana can be a wonderful companion. In terms of its demand and needs for attention and space, a well-adjusted iguana is a combination of a large, friendly dog and an independent cat. And when it comes to its ability to destroy household items, an iguana given the time and space it needs is between a two-year-old and a cockatoo.
Because the owner has to pay close attention to detail and learn about animal behavior and the physics of lighting and nutrition, iguanas are unlike any pets they have had or are likely to have. Iguanas are more complex and difficult to care for than any other more “normal” pet. Some parents who keep iguanas consider them on par with raising a human child, except that you can’t send an iguana to boarding school or summer camp, and they never leave home to go to college.
If you are willing to make the necessary commitment to do the right thing with your iguana, you will be rewarded. If you honestly cannot make such a commitment, select a reptile or other pet that is less physically or financially demanding. In the long run, making that decision before you get the iguana is better for you and the iguana.
The first thing to know when considering an iguana as a pet is that several different types of related lizards have the word iguana in their name, including the helmet-headed and helmeted iguana, the desert iguana, the Managascar iguana, the iguana of spiny tail, the rock and rhino iguana and the green iguana. Because green iguanas are the best selling of all iguanas and the most likely to be in shelters and rescues.
Some of the information about the iguana is just plain fun, but most of it is critical to you as you make the decision whether or not to have a green iguana as a pet. Before deciding on an iguana, you need to know everything you can about it, how to care about one, what to expect in terms of temperament, and other things so you don’t join the ranks of those who also discover. late that a green iguana is not the pet for you.
Many people think that the modern lizard we call iguana got its name from the dinosaur called iguanodon. The fact is, it is the other way around. Paleontologists named the dinosaur because its fossilized teeth closely resemble the teeth of today’s iguanas. The name iguanodon comes from the Spanish word iguana and the Greek word for tooth.