A guy in my apartment complex has a pet iguana?

Well, I don't want to sound snooty, but I (part-time) am a professional reptile handler. I work with The Reptile Family in California, and my 18-year-old son is their main handler. There is a reason I'm telling you all this.

Among the many creatures we bring to the reptile birthday parties, summer camps and libraries where we do our presentations, we work with a lot of very large lizards. This includes Tegus and big monitor lizards. However, we never work with iguanas.

Here's why. Pet iguanas bond very closely with their humans. They require a ton of attention and if they do not get held and played with frequently, they can become vicious.

Other lizards, the monitors for example, are friendly with a large crowd of people and we have nothing to worry about. But the green iguanas have a bad reputation for being hard to handle. If the cute little green lizard you bought at the pet store grew to be over 6 feet from nose to tail, and you kept it in a cage full time with no human contact or attention, you would indeed have a very mean and dangerous lizard.

Successful iguana/human relationships are tremendously rewarding, if you choose the right lizard and care for it properly. Is it worth it to turn off the air conditioning? Yes - iguana owners can love their lizards that much and more.

I know of one woman (yes, a female human) who has a large tree branch suspended by chains from her ceiling. Her iguana, when he is not in his vivarium or on her lap, jumps from the back of her sofa and onto the tree branch to bask and "hang out" with her. An iguana such as this will not only bond with the owner, it will most likely come to recognize friends and neighbors and they too can have a very cool iguana encounter.

Don't forget the manicure. They have very long, sharp claws that are designed to help them climb trees. As far as diet is concerned, check the Internet for a complete list.

They are vegetarians. You ask, "Would you have one? " Probably not.My corn snakes would be jealous.

I know very little about keeping iguanas as pets, so I have done some research and apparently a lot of people that choose to buy to buy one, fall into the same category. It appears that iguanas are the number one dumped reptile in the united states|US and around the world. The pet shops are not always very forthcoming with care information about these creatures, sometimes being more interested in making a sale than telling the prospective owner that iguanas can reach a length of five feet and can be aggressive.

They need a fair amount of care and attention to ensure that they are healthy. Although they eat mostly green vegetation, they also need protein in the form of eggs or insects such as crickets. I am not suggesting that your neighbour is in any way neglectful in looking after his pet, just that to do so successfully requires more time, trouble and effort than most people are prepared for.

The cute little miniature dragon in the pet shop can quickly turn into something which is far less cool to keep as a pet. If people are not prepared to look after any animal in the correct way, they should never consider having one. For me, I'm happy to stick with cats and dogs, although iguanas are impressive looking creatures, as a pet, they would not appeal to me.

I personally would never get an iguana. I do not typically like lizards, snakes, rats etc. I am into dogs. I am not certain if iguanas would make great pets, but to each his own.

I imagine they do not take much work and if you are in an apartment, perhaps an iguana would be easier to have, then say a dog. I would not be able to keep my apartment hot just for a pet. That would be completely out of the question.

On the other hand, if you do not mind the heat, I guess it would not matter much. An Iguana in not a pet I would ever consider getting. I would rather have no pets.

Again, to each his own. I am sure there are plenty of people who would never get a dog. flickr.com/photos/nick_land/3423650151.

I have always thought I wanted a pet iguana. When I bought my leopard gecko, I looked at those cute little dragons and my heart so yearned for one. However, before I get any new type of pet, I research the care and the size it will be when an adult.

Every time I researched an iguana, no matter how many times I looked, they said that a pet iguana could get possibly 5 feet long. Well I’m 5’ 4” and I don’t think I would want a pet that was almost as tall as I was. Can you imagine trimming his nails?

From what you have written, I can’t for the life of me figure out why he wouldn’t run his air conditioning. I realize that iguanas require certain warmer temperatures, just like most reptiles. However, basking lights, heating pads and heating lamps should sufficiently keep the iguana healthy and at the right temperatures.As long as your neighbor kept the iguana’s enclosure at the correct temperature, I would think he could still cool the rest of his apartment.

Anyway, I do think iguanas are really neat creatures, even though I’ll never own one.

To answer your first question: no the apartment does not have to be hot, how ever the iguana should be kept in an enclosure such as an aquarium with a cover and the equipment needed to maintain temperatures roughly between 85 and 85 degrees during the day and no cooler than 75 degrees at night. A basking light should be provided during daylight hours and the animal should be exposed to natural sunlight several hours a week to aid in vitamin d production. They are herbivores and their primary diet consists of dark leafy greens, collard and turnip greens are examples of good iguana food.

I have known some folk who had their iguana ride around on their shoulder but other than that have not seen much that one can do with them. Iguanas are also labor intensive pets needing their enclosures cleaned regularly and need attention in order to keep their socialization and training up. As far as it being a guy ting I've known more girls that have them than guys but this is only my experience.

A far as the attraction I havn't a clue unless its the challenge or the unusualness of owning one. No I would not have one myself, I am a mammal person preferring dogs above all else but would have a cat or other small furry animal if owning a dog was not possible.

I know that my friend Ed who used to have one of these would crank the heat in the winter and leave off the ac in summer for Honey. He said she loved the heat, and I am betting that is why your neighbor’s ac is off. Honey was an iguana that pretty much ruled his house.

She would sit on the couch with him and watch television. I met Honey when he brought her to the nursing home where I worked as a nurse’s aide. The some of the residents loved her while others seemed to be afraid.At this point, she was only almost 2 foot long and was heavy.

I held her for a little bit but I did not like the feel of her skin or the fact that he tail was moving and kind of tickling my arm.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.