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The costliest initial mistake made by iguana keepers is starting off with too small an enclosure. Enclosures aren't cheap to begin with, but you save nothing by buying less expensive small enclosure. Kept properly, iguanas grow fast and need lots of room to move around in while they are doing that growing. When you start off with the usual 10 to 40 gallon enclosure, it may look large enough to you, but it isn't large enough to provide the thermal gradients the iguana needs. It cannot provide the open space they need just to move around in without constantly banging into food bowls, water tubs, branches, etc. Finally, as you will find later when reading about taming and socialization, iguanas are highly territorial. Keeping them in a too-small enclosure at any age intensifies their reaction to their territory being invaded, even when the "invader" is your hand and arm putting in fresh food and water. This territorial response kicks in about the time that the iguana finally realizes that you aren't going to eat him. So, to give both of you the best opportunity early in the relationship, start off with a large enclosure, even if the iguana initially looks "lost" in it. Hide boxes and visual screens during the first couple of months will give him secure places to go when he's feeling over-exposed to prying eyes. Start with a least a 60 gallon US (50 gallon UK) tank with a secure lid or a similarly sized wood and glass/Plexiglas top-, front- or side-opening enclosure. Glass enclosures are available with a securely fixed screen across half the top of the tank and a hinged glass lid securing half of the top. These tanks are easily cleaned and disinfected. While a 60 gallon tank may seem huge for that teeny baby iguana, a properly cared for hatchling will outgrow that enclosure by the end of its first year, and outgrow a 100 US (83 UK) gallon tank shortly after that. Enclosures not suitable for iguanas are those that are primarily mesh, as mesh does not hold in the heat. While this may not be a problem during hot summer days when the room air temperature is in the mid-80s, it is a problem the rest of the year as you have to heat the entire room to tropical temperatures--day and night--in order to keep your iguana warm enough. If you aren't the one paying the electric bill, or have no idea how much the additional heating and lighting equipment will cost, you can run some calculations before you get your iguana to see if the monthly cost is something you can sustain. Mesh is also a problem if the wrong type of mesh is used. Fine mesh, such as window screening material, will shred under persistent iguana claws--and iguanas are very persistent. Poultry wire (also called chicken wire) has large holes. The wire itself is stiffer than window screening, but thin and sharp enough to cause serious injury to iguana noses and toes when they rub against it (that persistence thing again) and climb it. Hardware cloth (woven wire), especially the plastic-coated ones, are suitable for ventilation panels or outdoor enclosures. You can also use it to make a "convertible" enclosure, one that is mostly hardware cloth to take advantage of the summer heat, with easily attached solid wood and Plexiglas panels that will hold the heat in during the cooler nights and seasons.
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