First Impressions on Green Iguanas as Pets

So I really never wear gloves while handling reptiles, but my hands are so perfect right now. There’s like, no cuts. They’re just smooth and don’t cause me pain every time I touch something, so I’m gonna keep it that way.

They’re really not comfortable. And it’s gonna be really hard to grab it. But I like my clean hands.

Okay, welcome to first impressions on green iguanas. This is a series I used to do where I would basically tell you about an animal that I’ve only had for a few months, and what my first few months has been like. So here’s the newest installment.

I guess this works. It’s not what I had planned, but this is a green iguana that we have had for either, we got it either late 2018 or early 2019. Given to us by somebody that watches the channel. They were not the primary care, or the original caretakers. They got the iguana from someone else that was basically abusing or neglecting it. They fixed him up quite well. He still wasn’t quite there, so we’re kind of doing the last little bit. And then we’ll rehome him to the final home.

So we’re kind of the third home. And then he’ll have a fourth home. Some people don’t like the idea of that. They say that we should keep him permanently since he’s been around to so many places already, and it’ll be a bit more stressful. But for one, I shouldn’t keep an animal that I’m not actually really interested in keeping myself, which kind of gives you an idea of maybe what my first impressions have been like.

But there’s a lot of details that I’ll go into. But it also takes up a ton of space and resources. This is a pretty large enclosure. And he’s still a very small animal. He’s gonna need something way bigger than this. He also consumes a lot of food and a lot of time. So if we had unlimited space, I would love to keep him around. But because we can use this space for…

Just this spot could have a shelf with, I don’t know, 10 more geckos or something that we could help out. So we wanna kind of keep things moving. Again, if I was really interested in him, I could get him for myself. But it’s not something I plan on doing at this time. So why is that, and what’s the experience been like? Well, right off the bat, as you saw, I had some trouble getting him out of the enclosure. I’m not the only one that does that. It happens a lot. He’s hard to deal with.

He just takes to it in no time. Oh, god. — And admittedly, I have not handled him recently. So I’m sure that made it more uncomfortable for him since he wasn’t used to it these past few weeks. So for those of you that don’t know, green iguanas are a species that are very readily available. I just went to Petco because I was out of insects, and it would take too long to order then online. And they have green iguanas there now.

It’s their new animal. $60 for a baby iguana. There were like a dozen of them in a little enclosure. Right next to the leopard geckos and all the other little easy animals. So although, of course, people should do their own research, a lot of people just read that label on the thing and that’s their care for the next 30 years.

Anyway, that’s not really related. So my experiences with this animal. As expected, green iguanas are not super simple. They’re not the most tame, just right off the bat. They love you. No, they’re not like, and a simple little ball python or leopard gecko that might take a few weeks to adjust. Now, some things that I adore about him.

This was my very first impression, which was a good thing. He doesn’t poop or pee on you. That is like, the worst defense mech… Well, worst for me, best defense mechanism for any animal in my room. Because I don’t like being pooped or peed on.

Maybe you can relate, I don’t know. But he doesn’t. He poops a lot. You see his bowl right now, is like, brown. Because you have to change it out daily because he poops so much. But he doesn’t do it on you and it’s so nice. So if he wanted to, hopefully he’s not listening. I don’t think he understands me.

If he pooped on me, I would not be handling him as comfortably as I am or letting him in my nest of a head. But because he’s not a Savannah monitor, he doesn’t do that. He just tail whips and scratches and hisses. He doesn’t even bite, actually.

Green iguanas get super big. Including their tail, they can get like 6-plus feet as adults and they grow pretty quickly. He was underweight when I got him. He’s still underweight and he eats so much food. He is always consuming food. I learned it’s a bit harder to get weight up on an animal that is completely herbivorous because…

Say a leopard gecko, we have some underweight leopard geckos right now that we got in. They’re very easy to deal with. Usually we feed them dubia roaches. Or just give ’em some superworms and wax worms and horn worms or whatever else and they gain weight super fast.

You just mix those in with the dubias, their tail gets thicker, and then you’re good to go. Just wax them, wane them off? Wax them off, and then slowly take them off of those fatter insects and then they’re all good. Iguanas on the other hand, it’s not as easy.

Because although there are things with more calories, like fruit or whatever, you don’t wanna just completely sugar them up and give them diabetes. But thankfully, he’s on his way. And hopefully he’ll be available very soon. Just rip the BAND-AID off, get it over with, get him to that next home that can actually really work with him super close, one on one and get him used to them.

Because unfortunately, based on what I’ve been told, even if an iguana gets used to you, it doesn’t mean they’re used to people. Because they know who you are. So, yeah, attitude wise, he’s pretty much fine in the room now. He doesn’t freak out every time you walk in. I honestly don’t even remember he’s in here because he’s just so quiet now.

Because he used to, when you come in, he would be hissing and jumping and freaking out. But now it’s chill, which is nice to see. Until you open it up and wanna work with him. But even then, just putting food in his bowl, he’ll kind of go to the back of the enclosure.

Maybe jump around a bit. And then once it’s closed, he’ll start eating after a few minutes, no problem. And like I said, once he’s out… He’s not happy right now, but he’s not freaking out. He’s not running away. He just kind of keeps his place and fights you if he needs to. Which is purely defense, because I’m the one who took him out of his home.

A bit about the enclosure in between. Like I said, it’s pretty big. This is like a ferret enclosure or something. I think it’s made for small mammals. It’s been working, overall. But humidity is just crazy. There’s plastic all over it right now. It’s just like floor plastic, like while you’re painting or whatever. That was an attempt to keep more humidity in. It’s not really working. It still gets sprayed all the time, like multiple times a day.

If you saw that reptile ASMR, you got an idea about that. And it still just dries out so fast. And this is a pretty humid room. There’s a huge bowl in there. He’s got his leg in everything. It’s all covered in plastic, but that moisture just does not stay in. So that’s been the biggest difficulty. Other than that, everything’s been going well with him. Or going consistent with him. So their intelligence is definitely at a whole ‘nother level.

Because generally you think of reptiles as not the smartest animals on earth. Please see ranking my lizards smartest to dumbest. That’ll prove that. But the iguana’s definitely up there. He is crazy aware. He knows what’s going on. He knows really how to communicate with you. Get across what he wants. He probably thinks I’m the stupid one because I’m not getting what he’s saying. Well, most of the time I am getting it, I just have to ignore it because we have to work with him anyway.

Like if he starts hissing or tail whipping or backing away, he’s like, Just stop and I’ll stop tail whipping you. But I can’t stop because I gotta get my work done. His claws are, by far, the strongest in the room. Thankfully, I have not felt a bite from him. A bite from an adult iguana can take your thumb off or whatever. A bite from him would probably tear pretty well but nothing that would need medical assistance. I don’t think. But either way, he does not try to bite. He just scratches, which isn’t even a defense mechanism. It’s just him climbing.

Because five minutes of handling, like I said I’m wearing gloves this time, but five minutes of handling, usually your hands just look crazy, like you went through a briar patch or something. And it feels pretty good on my head, I’m not gonna lie. It’s kind of like a head scratch, just a little sharper. It’s like acupuncture in my scalp. So the future for this guy would be pretty interesting. I’m trying to think what my impressions would be if he stayed like this the entire time. Like he stayed this size, basically.

And that would be pretty different. I still wouldn’t be too keen on keeping this one myself right now, it’s just not in the right place or time. I don’t have enough passion about iguanas at the moment. But if he were like beardy size forever, it would be a little different. Just knowing what he’s going to become is crazy. And that’s one of the reason it’s important to stay consistent with working with them because if you slip up and start forgetting like I have, they’re gonna be seven feet and they’re gonna wanna kill you.

If you don’t take advantage of every moment you can to really work with them, you’re probably gonna regret it. So that’s why we’re trying to work quickly with this dude without just completely power feeding and voring him to the point of exploding. Do I regret at all taking this animal? Well, no because we’re helping it. But what if I had bought this for myself and I was keeping him full time.

I think that would be super exciting in a way knowing that you’ll get to grow up together. And see him change, and he’ll really get used to you if worked with properly and if he’s works back with you because it’s more of a mutual thing with iguanas. Like a lot of common, just easier lizards or animals, it’s all up to you. But it’s a little bit up to him when it comes to actually forming a relationship with the animal. So year, diet wise, it’s been an easy diet. Just lots of different types of fruits and veggies and greens. It’s definitely a lot of it, but he loves it.

Thankfully he’s a very easy eater. It would be crazy if he wouldn’t eat well, and you had to assist feed him or something. That would not be fun. So green iguanas are pretty crazy species when it comes to size and care and attitude and color. Like, it’s a crazy color, it’s so bright green. And it’s a really cool looking animal. But there’s certainly a lot that comes along with it. It’s kind of just all the hard things about reptile keeping that people don’t really expect when getting into it.

So I can’t imagine what keeping an adult iguana all by myself would be like right now. If he had the attitude of this little thing, which is why I’m very glad that he is not that big. There’s a lot on the line for his future and how he is cared for up until this point. Super glad that we got this experience with him. And we’re gonna continue having this experience up until he’s at his final home.

So, yeah, I was really excited when we got him. But I was excited for the fact that he was going to be more difficult. So he is pretty much what I expected because I’ve learned about them a good bit. But now that he’s here, I’m still glad we got this experience. And I don’t regret taking him in or anything. First impressions are, yeah, they live up to their name of what green iguanas are known for, being difficult and potentially dangerous as they grow.

And fast growing, because he’s grown a lot. Definitely some unique things that stand out that I didn’t expect. Like the fact that they don’t poop on you. And they really don’t lash out and bite if they’re angry or whatever, at least this individual. Of course, it’s all gonna be different. Don’t take this guy as an example for the whole species. But that’s another one of the cool things is that they are so individualized between them.

Because, I don’t know, every corn snake, you can pretty much predict the personality. Maybe a little nippy as babies. And then pretty chill as adults if you work with them. But iguanas are just so different and so individualized with so much unique personality. It’s very cool to see.

So I do kind of hope that we get to work with more iguanas so we can really compare this experience. ’cause I’m sure it’s gonna be different. Maybe better but also could be a lot worse. What do you think of the species? Do you have any tips on the stupid humidity in this thing?

I guess it should really just be like a full wooden or glass enclosure or something. But I really thought the plastic would help, but nope. It’s also pretty ugly now. But, oh well. This is the green iguana. And before I end the video, now I have to get him back in the enclosure.

Yeah, I’m also impressed I finally had to succumb to using gloves. I never thought I’d do it with an animal. I can’t, I have this very tiny viewfinder on my camera. And that’s all I have to go off. I’m just gonna let him hop in the enclosure. Did it work?