How long do iguanas grow

An iguana shows that they are stressed by breathing more heavily, opening their mouths, thrashing their tail, and generally trying to escape from the activity. Baths are more important during shedding periods. Like other reptiles, iguanas periodically shed their skin.

When they are about to shed, you want to mist and soak them regularly. If some skin is still stuck, contact your local reptile vet to avoid complications from improper blood circulation. Providing the Right Climate for Your Iguana.

Make sure you also have a designated cool area in your tank so that the iguana can thermoregulate itself. Iguanas should have a light cycle of 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. Keeping these times steady allows for proper hormone production and regulation. Reptiles Like it Steamy! This kind of humidity can be achieved with consistent misting and a high ambient enclosure temperature.

To help keep a consistent humidity level, you may want to invest in a commercial misting system, such as the ones made by ZooMed and ExoTerra. Be sure to include a hygrometer in your tank to measure humidity. Electric fogger and monsoon systems can also be used.

Gravity drip systems can also be utilized but multiple may be necessary in a larger enclosure. An Important Note about Electricity. Reptiles and iguanas in particular require many different electrical systems to maintain their proper living conditions.

When utilizing all these systems, it is crucial as an owner to monitor the systems and do the maintenance necessary to prevent any potential malfunctions. Check on your iguana and his habitat each day to ensure that your pet does not overheat, drown or fall ill due to any of these electrical systems. What Do Iguanas Eat and Drink? In the wild, iguanas live near a water source.

Therefore, there should always be clean water available in the enclosure so that they can keep themselves hydrated. What Do Iguanas Eat? Iguanas are herbivores, meaning they eat only fresh plant matter. Feed your reptile a wide variety of vegetables and some fruits as well. In captivity, a ratio of calcium to phosphorus is critical.

One of the best ways to achieve this is to make sure that your pet iguana gets a mixed salad sprinkled with high quality calcium powder.

When choosing greens to feed your iguana, use foods high in oxalates sparingly as these can affect calcium absorption in your pet iguana.

Without proper levels of calcium an iguana can develop metabolic bone disease. Hatchling and young iguanas should be fed at least two times a day. Once the iguana is over 2 feet long, feedings can be done once daily. Some will keep on growing until they are seven or eight years old. Also, iguanas grow at different rates and speeds.

Initially, they start to grow a little fast but slow down considerably after three to five years of their age. In some cases, iguanas can stop growing for a couple of months before they resume again.

Therefore, it is wise to keep a chart showing their growth progress. Your iguana growth chart should look like the one below:. The chart is definite since it does not include all iguana species that can be kept as pets. Iguanas are known to grow at a fast rate at the beginning of their lives. This means that they grow incredibly fast during their early years.

You will easily notice how quickly these pet lizards grow immediately after they hatch. For example, a green iguana grows at an average rate of 2 meters until they reach maturity. As a matter of fact, green iguanas are part of the largest iguana species.

Their growth slows down at the age of 4 years when they start to fill out as opposed to increasing body length. There are currently 35 existing species with many available to keep as pets, so it is important to be aware of the species you have, or plan to adopt.

Many owners like to keep their iguana in a 55 to 70 gallon tank for the first couple of years. They then go on to build a custom cage as their lizard increases in size. If you have space in your home, you can prepare a room, where they are able to freely roam. Of course you will need to ensure that this is a safe environment, with no potential risks and opportunities for escape. Iguanas grow at an incredibly fast rate; where much of their growth happens in the early years of their lives.

They are sexually dimorphic — which means that male iguanas are considerably larger than their female counterparts by the time they reach adulthood. When speaking about the size of these creatures, we must be aware of the following terms:. These are the two standard measurements used when understanding and interpreting the size of any reptile; including iguanas.

The green iguana is perhaps one of the most common to adopt as a pet. Let us now examine their growth rate to give you an idea of what to expect from this species of reptile. You will notice how quickly they grow from the time they hatch to just a couple of years old.

Green iguanas can grow up to 2 meters in total and are considered one of the largest species of iguanas. The following table you help you to understand the type and size of enclosure that will accommodate your growing iguana throughout the various stages of their lives:. The average large adult iguana over the age of five will reach a length of feet and weigh about kg. Many people prefer their reptiles to be larger, as this indicates that they are healthy and will be able to handle more petting than a smaller sized lizard.

Green iguanas are very interesting and can morph into a variety of colors, including red, blue, albino, and blizzard. The average lifespan of an iguana varies between the different species. Each one takes different amounts of time to reach maturity. Some species only last a few years, while others can live up to sixty years. Again, a domesticated iguana will have a different lifespan to those that live in the wild.

You can compare it to others, and it could let you know if your pet is unhappy if it falls too far behind. The reward for your efforts as an iguana can live up to 30 years.

We hope you have enjoyed reading over our guide and have learned some new information you can use. If we have helped convince you to give one of these amazing pets a try, please share this guide to how big your iguana can get on Facebook and Twitter. She has a strong love for all animals of all shapes and sizes and particularly loves a good interspecies friendship and wants to share her animal knowledge and other experts' knowledge with pet lovers across the globe.

Skip to content. Sep 21 Iguanas have excellent eyesight and can detect color shadows movement, and object from extremely far away Iguanas use their eyes as communication tools Iguanas have ears that are timpanium, which is similar to an eardrum Iguanas give birth by laying eggs There are only two species of iguana: Green Iguana and Antillia Iguana Green Iguanas are quite adaptable and listed in many areas as an invasive species Antillia Iguanas are a threatened species due to the decline of habitat Some lizards like the Sea Iguana, Black-Tailed Iguana, Blue Iguanas, and several others are not iguanas.

Nicole Cosgrove.