Iguanas Habitat
One of the most important things to remember when choosing an iguana as a pet is that they are extremely dependent upon their environment for many things. For example, they get the heat and wavelengths of light, which helps with body chemistry, metabolism and humidity.
All of these things can be challenging when an iguana is kept in captivity. By educating yourself on an iguana’s habitat, you will be able to create the perfect home for it, keeping it safe and healthy.
Cage
The bottom of the iguana’s cage should be covered with clean newspaper, although other things such as butcher paper or indoor/outdoor carpet tiles would also work well. Any of these materials can be changed out easily and quickly. The things you want to avoid include pea gravel, wood shavings, cat litter, sand, sawdust, moss, ground-up corncob.
These materials have a number of problems being they can soil easily, which means the cage will not have the sanitation needed and they can be eaten by the iguana, which can cause impaction of the intestines. With moss, you want to avoid this in particular since it stays moist, promoting skin infections in the iguana.
When you think of the iguana’s cage, you need to think of two words: dry and clean. Remember that your pet will be urinating in its cage, meaning that dishes, toys, food, and so on that should become soiled needs to be taken out of the cage immediately. Does this take more time? Yes, it does but it also ensures you have a happy and healthy pet.
When you clean your iguana’s cage, your best bet is to stick with good, old-fashioned soap and water. Since both male and female iguanas in general do not do well with cleaners made from pine oil, which includes the two most popular brands of lysol and pine sol, you should avoid them.
Size
While you need to ensure your iguana has ample room to enjoy the sun, the sunning enclosure does not have to be as large as the iguana’s regular cage. Just make sure your pet will have room for a branch to soak up the sun and a little climbing room. And that you will be able to handle your iguana inside the cage.
Another thing to keep in mind when choosing an enclosure is the materials in which it is made. For example, it needs to be sturdy enough to withstand wind, along with being made from weather resistant material for sudden downpours.
When you place the sunning enclosure outdoors for your pet iguana, make sure it has both sun and shade. This way, the iguana can enjoy the sun for a while and then cool off in the shade when it needs to. If you like, you can even choose a misting system for the enclosure. With this, your iguana would be misted with cool water every so often. Regardless of the setup that you decide to use, just make sure you provide supervision for your pet at all times.
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