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One Iguana

22 13:36:12

Question

Sugar
What causes my one iguana to have a shinny blue face and spikes ??

Answer
Hi Hilary,

There can be alot of variation with colour with iguanas depending on their country of origin, temperature, shedding cycle and gender. Their natural green colour is a combination of yellow and  blue chromatophores, the colour producing skin cells. Variations in the amounts or activity of these cells can shift a colour from green to more bluish.
My juvenile male's face and head also takes on a bluish/shiny look just prior to his shedding when his skin layers are starting to separate underneath.  
Any changes to how the skin absorbs and reflects light directly affects the colour that we perceive it to be. Our colour perception is based on light reflected back from an object.   
 

These two sites discuss it in much further detail if you are interested.

http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/skincolor.html

http://www.greenigsociety.org/colors.htm  

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