variety introduction
green iguana (Green iguana) is native to Central and South America Mexico to Paraguay and other countries. It is one of the most popular reptile pets in the United States. Green iguana can be seen in most pet stores in the United States. The artificially raised green iguanas have a lifespan of more than 20 years.
Chinese name: Green iguana
English name: Green iguana
Latin scientific name: Iguana
: Animal
: Chordoma 4
subphylum: Vertebrate Subphylum
class: Reptile
order: Scaly order
subphylum: Lizard subphylum
species: Green iguana
distribution: Origin: Central and South America Mexico to Paraguay and other countries
photo album
3 body characteristics
Green iguana is a typical arboreal lizard and has always been one of the most popular pets in the United States. When adults, its body length can reach about two meters and its weight is about eight kilograms. Their colors vary from age to age.
The bodies of young green iguanas are generally green, which is used to avoid the sight of natural enemies; as they age, the green will slowly fade away, and the replaced color will be light yellow, light blue or brown. The main physical characteristics of the green iguana include comb-shaped scales on the back, black ring-shaped stripes on the tail, and large and sagging throat fans for adult male individuals. In the wild environment, the lifespan of green iguanas is generally between 10 and 15 years, and some will be longer; the lifespan of individual artificial green iguanas can reach more than 20 years.
4 Nursing knowledge
5 Living environment
Green iguanas are heat-resistant and not cold-resistant reptiles. They grow faster and are larger in adulthood. Family raising requires enough space to raise them. The layout of the living environment for raising green iguanas is particularly important.
Usually most people use fish tanks as feeding boxes for green iguanas, because this is the easiest to buy and the most ready-made. You can also use an iron cage to make a feeding box, and you can also use wood and glass windows to make a feeding box. If you use the fish tank directly, ventilation will be poor. Using an iron cage is not conducive to insulation.
1. Size of feeding box If you have enough space, you should provide as large feeding box as possible. Green iguanas are arboreal animals and spend most of their time in the wild in the trees. When they were still young, they were relatively more active on the ground, so as they grew, they would climb more and more. Therefore, the feeding box should be made taller, not longer. Below is the minimum size of the feeder: the height is equal to its body length (including its tail), the length is 1.5 times its body length, and the width is 2/3 of its body length. This way the green iguana can crawl, walk and turn more freely. If the space is too small, it will become listless.
2. Ventilation The ventilation problem is often overlooked. If it is a feeding box made of barbed wire, ventilation is of course not a problem. Even if you use a glass tank with a glass lid, you can't use a glass tank for fish farming that completely seals the cover. If you want to use a cylinder, it is best to use a cylinder with ventilation holes next to it, so that there will be good ventilation.
3. Humidity Green iguana is a lizard that lives in high temperature and high humidity in Central and South America. Higher humidity is beneficial to their skin, but it is difficult to maintain high humidity in artificial breeding environments, not only because the device to maintain high humidity is more complicated, but also to maintain hygiene in such high temperature and high humidity environments. Because bacteria are easy to grow under the effects of high temperature and humidity, as well as food, excrement, etc. Humidity maintenance: You can place a large and small water basin in the feeding box, or use a humidifier, etc.
4. Temperature: During the day, the sun is 32~35 degrees Celsius, and 32 degrees is more suitable, with a maximum of no more than 35 degrees. The temperature in other places in the box is around 28 degrees, and at night, with a maximum of no more than 30 degrees; humidity: above 60%~80%.
5. Climbing Providing branches in the box so that the green iguana can climb.The branches are better to be a little thicker than the body of a green iguana. Place branches diagonally in the box.
6. Lamps (UVA heating lamp, UVB lamp, night lamp or ceramic lamp)
Heating and lighting (UVA heating lamp) Many people solve the two problems of heating and lighting at the same time. Use an incandescent lamp to heat and illuminate. Setting the lamp on one corner of the box can create an environment with temperature gradient changes in the box. Just below the light is equivalent to a sunbathing place, so that the i-green iguana can warm up the body here in the morning. It is best to place a thermometer in different locations in the feeding box to grasp the temperature of the entire box. Generally speaking, the coldest place in the box should be around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Generally speaking, a green iguana needs at least 10 hours a day to have an internal temperature of 88 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure that it can perform normal digestive functions. It is best not to put the lamp directly into the box, because this will easily cause the green iguana to crawl on the lamp and cause burns. Green iguanas rely on bacteria in their bodies to digest food, and bacteria need to be relatively high in temperature to work, so they must ensure sufficient temperature, otherwise green iguanas will suffer from malnutrition due to indigestion.
UVB lamp (UV light) It is very important to allow the green iguana to burn ultraviolet rays. They need to synthesize vitamin D3 in the skin by irradiating ultraviolet rays, which promotes calcium absorption. Sunlight is the best choice. If you really can't shine on sunlight, you must prepare ultraviolet lights (especially UVB lights) for them. It should be noted that you should not irradiate ultraviolet rays to your green iguana through glass or plexiglass, because these substances attenuate ultraviolet rays very much. A thin layer of glass can remove 95% of ultraviolet rays. You should not look at the ultraviolet light with your eyes, because too strong ultraviolet light is harmful to people. UVB lamps are used during the day and have a daily exposure period of 6-8 hours. UVB can be selected from 5.0 and 10.0.
Night light The night light is a moonlight lamp with soft and weak light and does not affect sleep. It is suitable for placement in all night feeding environments. Provides basic calories for reptiles to live and digest, so it can be used to heat the green iguana at night.
Ceramic lamp Ceramic lamp does not emit light and only heats up. It can also be used for heating at night, but since ceramic lamps will reduce the humidity in the feeding environment, you should pay attention to ensuring humidity.
Light cycle Light cycle simply means how long does a green iguana need to light a light every day. It is generally recommended to irradiate them with lights and ultraviolet rays for 14 hours a day. However, it must be guaranteed that the night time is dark and dull. If the lights are on for a long time, it will make the green iguana nervous.
mat material The principle of choosing mat material is to facilitate cleaning and drying. Many people like to use newspapers as mats, because they can be thrown away after using them. In short, don’t use other substances such as wood crushed or sand that are easily swallowed by green iguanas. Reference for mat materials: floor leather + PVC tarp; reverse tiles
6 feeding points
Green iguana Green iguana is a typical herbivorous animal. In the wild, they only eat plants, mainly relying on the leaves, flowers and fruits of the plants. Then, in terms of diet, family raising has become a problem that many owners are more troubled by. Below we will describe in detail how to feed green iguanas artificially. 1. Food diversity. Unfortunately, in case of artificial breeding, the green iguanas cannot eat the food they eat in nature. So we must provide them with enough and the right food to ensure that they grow up healthy without getting sick. When providing food, you must pay attention to the diversity of food, so that the green iguanas can get balanced nutrition. If you feed a single food for a long time, green iguanas can easily become ill due to nutritional disorders, such as calcium deficiency. Therefore, providing the right food is very important in feeding.
2. How to feed The food should be cut into small pieces. As for how small it is, it depends on the size of your green iguana. In short, don’t choke them.In addition, the food should be mixed well, because green iguanas will be picky about food. If they do not mix the food well, they will choose what they like to eat, which will lead to malnutrition.
3. Feeding time Green iguanas should be fed every day, and the best time to feed is from 9:00 to 11:00, because green iguanas need to bask in the sun (natural or artificial) in the morning to increase the body's temperature before they start eating. But in nature, green iguanas eat in the afternoon, but it doesn’t hurt to prepare food in the morning, so that green iguanas can eat food at any time.
4. Calcium powder Calcium powder is the best source of calcium for all reptiles and amphibian pets. Calcium powder includes phosphorus-free and D3-free. It is recommended to use calcium powder containing D3. Grind the calcium slices into powder and stir together with the food to feed.
5. Food pot is used to place the food required by the green iguana every day.
