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Green Iguana Vivarium Information And Instruction

25 18:04:03

When you decide to own a green iguana as a pet, you must also provide them with good housing. A great way to house an iguana is to place it in a vivarium that almost mimics its natural habitat. This way, the iguana can grow to like its new home, like you as an owner and can live up to its full life potential. Iguanas don't make great pets for everyone but they can be great pets if the owner is fully prepared with the right set of information and materials.

Iguanas may be small as babies but they do grow to be longer and adult iguanas will not be able to live in the same vivarium that it was in when it was younger. The vivarium you might receive from the store might actually be too small for the iguana after it grows within four to five years. The vivarium should be around 60'' x 48'' x 60'' at the least. Iguanas need ultraviolet light for about eight to ten hours a day. The ultraviolet rays help them digest their food and keeps their metabolism going. In order to provide this light, you'll need to purchase things like a 15-watt bulb, bulb holder, spot bulb and a watt starter unit. You must also purchase an element, reflector, and reflector guard and all three absolutely must be ceramic.

 

You should use a thermostat to make sure the temperature is always warm. The floor of the vivarium should be covered in safe substrates like orchid bark. Other types of substrates include newspaper and paper towels. Buy bowls for water and food for easy accessibility. You should also place some branches in your iguana's vivarium climbing purposes. The natural habitat for iguana is typically tropical jungles so they are already well accustomed to climbing and they prefer to have that freedom and ability to do so. Don't ever purchase a coffin-styled, telephone-booth-styled or cube styled vivarium for an iguana. They need much more space than what these three types of sizes can provide. Put yourself in your iguana's shoes. How would you feel if you were living in a small closet? You'd probably be stressed and have muscle aches.

There are some other specific things you can do to create a mini tropical jungle right in your own home. Again, with the help of a thermostat, you should be able to maintain a hot temperature of 95 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit and a cool temperature of around 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Right underneath the light, you should place a rock and branch for basking purposes. Don't use a heat rock though; it will burn your iguana's stomach. Normally, you should keep the temperature around the cool end during the evenings. You can use a hide box and that will provide your iguana with a cool temperature for sleeping. Provide a fresh mist of water twice a day for your iguana. Always look to see if there is water in the water bowl and re-fill it if it is empty. In addition to the orchid bark and newspaper substrates listed above, you can also you coco fiber, peat moss and screened pine.

These are all tips that will help make your green iguana vivarium the perfect home. If you don't already have an iguana, feel free to go purchase one and use these tips for its vivarium.