I was feeding him and there were little baby-looking roaches along the lid. What should I do. Oh by the way I didn't have any kind of roach before?
Answers:
I'm seeing some disturbing misinformation in these replies.
Never, ever, ever use a "hot rock" with an iguana. They cannot sense heat well through their bellies, and can get third-degree burns without ever realizing that it's time to move. My vet has a collection of really shocking pictures of iguanas whose owners used "hot rocks".
If you're getting roaches, you've got a lot bigger problem than your iguana. You've got roaches. If you're seeing them in the daytime, you've got roaches BAD.
Why is your iguana in an aquarium? He needs a large, airy cage with plenty of room to climb. The cage should be at least 50% longer than the iguana in every direction -- so, if your iguana is two feet long, the cage should be three feet in each dimension, etc.
Iguanas are NOT aquatic lizards, nor do they have moist skin. They will get some very nasty fungus diseases in too damp of an environment. This is another reason why aquariums are bad. You can't keep a good enough air flow through them.
As for how to clean the cage: The best substrate I ever found was newspapers. Fold up the newspaper (with iggy poop in the center) and dispose of it daily, or more often if needed. Your roaches are probably coming to eat the leftover bits of food the iguana has dropped in the cage. (they can be very messy eaters) Using newspaper makes it much easier to keep the cage clean.
What did the petshop say when you bought it? He/she must have said something about it's care.
caring for your iguana
http://www.greenigsociety.org/kc1.htm.
If you bought him with the tank I suggest you get a new enclosure..preferably a wood one with a screen front since those are best for air flow and such. Sounds like you got him from some dirty place because iguanas do not draw roachs. They eat only vegetation so there not baby crickets. Oh and iguanas need a heat rock and a water pool. They are a "wet" lizard so there skin needs to be moist and make sure you always cover the heat rock with a piece of cloth like a heavy washcloth so it doesnt get a burn on its belly from laying wet on the bare rock.
I have a 9 mnth old iggy, i keep mine in a viv ( aquarium) aswell, i usually clean mine out about once every 3 weeks. I have never had an infestation of roaches thats really weird, my iggy gets the occasional breakout of mites which look like tiny red bugs. you can use a solution for your iggy and his vivarium that you spray on both which does clear up any infestation. The stuff i use is called 'FOUR PAWS, NATURES REPTILE, PROTECTOR' its a really popular spray. I live in the u.k so depending on where you live ask your local pet store for something similar. Good luck
I agree with the person that said try visiting the green ig society, also, here are a number of other places you can go to answer not only this question, but, practically all your iguana questions. i would and have trusted these folks with my 2 green igs.. good luck and please, please, don't use a heat rock, it can literally cook the ig to death.very, very painful for them. I would suggest you get another enclosure, but make it much bigger as they grow to be rather large lizards. And about the one you are currently using, i would find a temporary place for your green guy to be put in and take the enclosure you are using now and clean it real good using a mixtue of water and a small amout of bleach, clean it thoroughly, rinse well, then take it outside to air out and dry, when dry, bring it back in, warm it up and then put newspaper or a couple layers of paper towels down on the bottom. that should take care of the immediate problem and hopefully you won't have anymore problems in the future. you can join yahoo groups that have tons of information, two that come to mind are babyiguana, and iguanaden. both of them are yahoo groups and are awesome.. these folks really care and will help.
here are the links i promised you.
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/iguan.
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/babyi.
http://www.anapsid.org/
http://www.greenigsociety.org/careinfo.h.
http://www.baskingspot.com/iguanas/igboo.
also,
you can join the #iguanas chat group on mirc.com and there are some pretty smart folks that will help you in any way they can.
it is great you are taking an active roll in your igs care and good luck. they are very very rewarding and can be a ton of fun
Pull EVERYTHING out of the aquarium. Use a 2:1 water:bleach solution and clean the entire aquarium. Rinse well and allow to dry. This will help destroy any eggs that may have been left behind. If you have any natural wood, soak it in the same type of bleach solution for 30 mins or bake it in the oven at 250 degrees for 20 mins. If you have bark.it shouldn't be in there anyway.so ditch it and go with newspaper.
These should get rid of the nasty little beasts.
Well, first off, they don't make aquariums big enough for iguanas, maybe it's big enough right now but you're definitely gonna need something bigger in another couple of months. I recommend some thing room size to keep him in. You can put a shelf about 2.5 to 3 feet from the ceiling that goes the length of the wall, and hang his heat lamp above the shelf for best results. Cover the top of the shelf with astro turf. This is the easiest to clean. As far as the tank, well i recommend lining the bottom with some type of astro turf that can be removed and washed on a weekly basis. Does he have a water bowl big enough for him to sit in? he needs one of those to go to the bathroom in. So astro turf and a couple of branches along with the water bowl should be all that is in the tank. Don't put so much food in there that he doesn't finish it. anything that is left over should be removed that evening after you feed him. This should solve the cockroach problem. If you can't provide him with a room then I recommend building him a cage at least 6 feet by 6 feet by 2 feet, this is minimal requirements for housing a full grown iguana. they like to be up high so they can look down over everything, it makes them feel more secure therefore lowering their stress level. this is why i recommend putting up a shelf. It takes a lot of work to own an iguana, that's why they are not recommended for beginners. You should have really done some research on iguanas before purchasing one. people that don't do that are being cruel to the animal. If you can't meet these requirements for the next 15 to 20 years of the iguana's life(which is how long they live in captivity if taken care of properly), then I recommend taking it back to where you purchased it so they can find it someone that will house it properly. For the iguana's sake, not yours.
Owner of a 4 year old, 6 foot long, male green iguana
