Question
Ralph
I have had my green iguana for almost 15yrs now. He is active and healthy. I was wondering how long can they live in captivity?
AnswerHi Dan,
Congrats on having your iguana for 15 years!!! That's wonderful! If he is in good health you can have him for another 5 plus years! With all the new knowledge of the proper uvb, uvb distance, temperatures, diet and humidity iguanas are living into their 20's. I've included a few excerpts from my caresheet so you can see some of the new findings, if you aren't aware of them and also links to up to date info on their care.
Again, its so wonderful to hear that you have had your Ralph for 15 years so far!!
LIGHTING:
Supplying uvb can be done in a few ways. By special lights
that come in fluorescent tubes or special screw in bulbs
(mercury vapor)that are designed to produce uvb and heat.
The tubes do not produce heat. UVB is needed by the Iguanas
to be able to absorb the calcium in the foods they eat.
With out the uvb, they will develop metabolic bone disease.
With the tubes, they must say that they produce BOTH uvb and
uva. The uvb needs to be 5% or higher. Repti Sun 10.0 and the Repti Glo 8.0's
are a great source for uvb. The old "favorites" are the repti sun 5.0 or the
Iguana light..which are the same tube, just different package.
There are tubes
that say ''full spectrum'' but they do not produce any uvb.
These need to be positioned 6-8 inches over the iguana for the 5% and 8%
and 8-10 inches for the 10% so
that they get the uvb that is needed. The tubes need to be replaced every 6-9
months as that they stop producing UVB long before they stop producing
light.
Using a fixture that holds two uvb tubes of at least 3 feet in length will
provide adequate uvb for your iguana. Do not use coil or compact tubes as they have been proven to cause eye problems.
On the mercury vapor , they also produce heat. They also
produce the uvb and uva. The best on the market now are the
Mega Rays.(http://www.megaray.com) The distance from these are greater
than the uvb tubes and the directions must be followed that
are listed for the light. When using the mercury vapor
lights, you don't need to have one light for uvb and one for
heat. The Mercury vapor lights provide both.
For daytime heat, if using the tube uvb, regular household
incandescent light bulbs produce heat. The wattage will
depend on the size of your iguanas enclosure. and the room temperature.
Of course, the best uvb is from the
sun and if you are in an area that you are able to take your iguana outside in
a proper enclosure, (Never a tank or enclosed, solid cage)
The basking area temps must be maintained at about 92 to 96 gradient ...no
lower..no higher...
they NEED the heat to digest their food!! If the temperatures are too low,
digestion is slowed, too high and the food digests too fast and nutrition is
not utilized as it should be.
This, again, is for 12 hours of daylight (the same time your UVB lights are on).
You can place this bulb in a silver dome fixture(be sure it has the ceramic
socket)
DIET:
Iguana Iguanas are herbivores.... They DO NOT need animal
protein, they cannot digest it... it will KILL them!! (Kidney disease)
Basically, the diet needs to consist of Collard Greens, mustard greens, turnip
greens,
dandelion greens,escarole, endive, chicory, arugula,(torn in pieces smaller
than
their head) winter squash (butternut or acorn squash), parsnips
(grated or shredded) all placed in a shallow dish. (This is not
a complete foods list, but is a good start.)
There are 'good' foods and foods for treats (those
used only once in awhile). Fruits are treats..to be given a few
times a week. (This doesn't mean that you cannot give your ig a
piece of fruit every day..one small piece a day is fine.) Again,
I cannot stress enough the importance of diet. NO COMMERCIAL
prepared ig food..no bugs, worms, tuna, chicken, monkey biscuits,
dog or cat foods, eggs, cottage cheese... NO animal protein!!!!!
They will be with us for 15-20 plus years with proper care and
a little luck. Providing them with the proper needs will help them live
a long, healthy, and happy life.
Remember, we are the ones that pulled them out of the natural
environments..
it's our job to give them as close to a natural habitat as possible.
http://www.iguanaden.org/
http://www.greenigsociety.org/
http://anapsid.org/ (contains some outdated information on uvb)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BabyIguana/ a yahoo group dedicated to
raising baby iguanas
Find a Vet before you need one!!! Reptiles need Vets trained to treat them..to
find one in your area:http://www.arav.org/Directory.htm
http://www.anapsid.org/vets/
The information contained in the caresheet was originally written by me for
use at the iguanaden website(2003) and also in the book"The Iguana Den's
Care and Keeping of Giant Green Iguanas"(2005)
If you have any questions, or don't understand something please let me
know.
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