my baby iguana

Question
Hi, Sara, me and my boyfriend got our baby iguana about 3 or 4 weeks ago. He's very energetic and eats well. Normally he stays at my boyfriends house but he had to come to my house for the past week because my boyfriend was out of town. He seemed fine the whole time, but now that he's back at my boyfriends house he is attacking my boyfriend. Frankie (the iguana) tries to bit his hand/fingers when my boyfriend tries to handle him. With me he hasnt tried to attack at all. Is it because he hasnt seen my boyfriend in a week and is feeling a little sketchy about him? while he was at my house he had a little bit of a different routine schedule because of the time of day I had to work. Could he be having troubles with that and feeling grouchy because of it? He also seems to be growing very fast and recently has been eating much more than usual. Could this be a growth spurt? We are worried parents and any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Jasmine and Rick.

Answer
Jasmine and Rick,
This is so cute! Yes! Your baby iguana is very overwhelmed! Hatchling iguanas are very frantic creatures and are very threatened that everything and everyone that moves will try and have it for lunch. Keep in mind, this is an animal that is made for self defense. Think about it, they have all these spiky projections and long tails for whipping, sharp claws, serrated teeth, they were made for survival in nature and act primarily on instinct. 3 or 4 weeks is such a short period of time for a baby iguana to adjust and he was probably just getting used to the environment at your boyfriend's and then he got moved and moved back, he is probably feeling uncertain of his surroundings and that he can't relax. The good news is that your baby is eating very well and is very feisty...you WANT this in a baby iguana. The iguanas who are calm and docile are usually sick. Also, keep this in mind, biting, thrashing, whipping and attempting escape are common actions for an iguana of any age and this will probably never go away, like I said, iguanas act on instinct and it's instincts will override their conditioned feelings, so even if an iguana is used to a particular person, if that person makes a sudden movement, approaches from behind or overhead, attempts to handle the iguana improperly, then the iguana will snap into survival mode and become a terror. Sounds like you are doing good with the little fellow and just spend some time observing him and learning his body language. Iguanas have no vocal cords so they have a very complex body language in exchange. You will notice certain postures mean certain things, head bobbing, and plenty of other behaviors exist for the iguana to tell you how he feels. Give him some time and don't overstimulate him, he is just a baby and is probably very scared. Finally, make sure he is getting adequate UVA and UVB radiation. Most reptile basking bulbs in pet stores do not emit both types of radiation, and mostly only UVA. If your iguana does not receive 10-12 hours per day of UVB, he will be unable to digest the calcium in his diet and will develop Metabolic Bone Disease which leads to deformed bones, paralysis and even death. Finally, make sure he is receiving a good diet of either collard greens, mustard greens and or turnip greens with orange fleshed squash, green beans, sweet peas, etc. Avoid spinach, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots because they have a high phosphate content and will block your iggy's calcium absorption and this could cause a calcium deficiency as well. Good luck to you and if you have any further questions about iggys, please call upon me again.

Sara