Green Iguana Facts

 

 

 

 Latin Name: Iguana iguana

Length: 1.2 – 1.8 meters (4 – 6 feet)

Lifespan:  15 – 20 years

Distribution of the Green Iguana:

Diet:

Green Iguanas are classified as omnivores feeding mainly on leaves, grasses, flowers and fruit with up to 5% of the diet including insects.

Young iguanas feed mainly on insects.

Reproduction:

After mating the female will carry the eggs for up to 2 months.

She will lay between 20 - 60 eggs in sandy soil where they will incubate for 3 – 4 months before hatching.

 

Habitat:

 

Green Iguanas are found in forested areas where they spend most of their lives living in the canopies of trees close to water.

 

 

 

 

Interesting facts on Iguanas  

They are also known as the Common Iguana and by the nickname “Ig”.

 

The Green Iguanas digestive system harvests salmonella bacteria which aids it in the digestion of its food. Traces of salmonella can be found in their excreted waist which can be passed onto their bodies making it very important for people that keep them as pets to wash their hands after handling them.

 

Many Iguanas owned as pets don’t live past their first year in age as their owners are not able to care for them properly.

 

Iguanas can hold their breath under water for up to 30 minutes.

 

Green Iguanas can drop 40 - 50 feet from a tree onto solid ground without getting injured, they can also drop from great heights into water.

 

As an escape tactic an Iguanas tail can break off, it will then re-grow a new tail. This physical process is known as “Autotomy”.

 

Another interesting feature on the Iguana is the “Third eye” known as the parietal eye found on the top of its head. This eye does not function the same as a normal eye as it is only capable of detecting a change in light which may help in the detection of airborne predators.

 

The dewlap (large flap of skin on throat) helps to regulate the Iguanas body temperature.

 

Just like a camels hump, the Green Iguana can store large amounts of fat in their lower jaw and neck region. These fat stores will be burnt off during times of famine.  

 

Green iguanas are eaten as a rare delicacy, this meal known as “Bamboo Chicken”

 

The collective name for a group of Iguanas is a “Mess of Iguanas”.