Iguanas: Vivarium or Pauldarium?

NecroDancer

NecroDancer

Member
Hello everyone! I've been looking to the answer to a question i've had for a couple of months now, but I can't seem to find any real information on...well, anything to do with Green Iguanas really, aside from basic care and bare bones enclosure setups.

My Iguanas are still very very small, and I'm not 100% sure how old they are other then at least a few months to a year old. They are small enough that two of them fit inside a 20 gallon lizard enclosure (temporarily) until I can get their big enclosure ready.

Green Iguanas aren't a popularly owned pet since as they grow they get very aggressive, but I'm comitted to doing my best for them. But enough rambling!

My question is thus:

Would it be better to have a paulderium enclosure for them, or a vivarium? I know they like to soak in water which is why I was thinking paulderium, the enclosure I am planning for them has room for one, as they are primarily aboreal climbers, but I cant seem to find any real elcosures that arent bare bones with just a few sticks and rocks.

The new enclosure is big enough to house them for the next 3 years, after that I will have to make a bigger enclosure for their adult size. Any suggestions would be appriciated.
 
I've never seen iguanas kept in paludariums. You're going to have to build them an extremely large enclosure, especially if you want to have multiple together. The easiest way to allow soaking would be to add a plastic tub that could easily be removed and cleaned. There are lots of Facebook groups that can teach you about proper iguana care. The best option would be to turn an entire room into an iguana enclosure, if you have the possibility to do that.
 
EsserWarrior said:
I've never seen iguanas kept in paludariums. You're going to have to build them an extremely large enclosure, especially if you want to have multiple together. The easiest way to allow soaking would be to add a plastic tub that could easily be removed and cleaned. There are lots of Facebook groups that can teach you about proper iguana care. The best option would be to turn an entire room into an iguana enclosure, if you have the possibility to do that.
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The adult enclosure will be built after we move to our new house sometime in the coming year and will be around 1,000 gallons. As you can see here
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they are still suuuuper small, but when they get to maturity they will be seperated since iguanas are violent during breed season. Right now I have them in a 20gal tank, but there isnt as much climbing room as I would like for them.

I've seen a few enclosures that are pauladarium like from youtube videos, but its mainly just a small soaking pond which is what i figured they would need. Im planning on using live plants and adding a kind of waterfall or dripping system to help with the humidity, but i'm not sure what the best plan for that would be. My two seem to like to be misted rather then soaking.

I think I have a male and female pair but its too early to tell just yet. Id like to add a few over hangs and some really big branches into the new enclosure as well. Any wood reccomendarion types, bioactive substrate types and good hardy plants that can withstand iguanas would be good to know as well.

Also any tips for rearing young juvie iguanas as well. They are a handful and so far do not like being handled other then to be gently moved elsewhere when i need to clean their enclosure.
 
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Here are some somewhat slightly better images of the current setup. Its night right now so I apologize for the bad lighting. Also the glass gets cleaned every tuesday, when I mist the tank it tends to leave streaks on the glass
 
I'm not an expert on Green Iguana care, so you'd get the best information from people who have experience working with them. I do know, however, that red lights are extremely bad for them. It doesn't make the animals think it is dark, it just makes it seem like the day is neverending. I use Ceramic Heat Emitters on my animals, they're wonderful due to the fact that they produce heat but not light.
 
EsserWarrior said:
I'm not an expert on Green Iguana care, so you'd get the best information from people who have experience working with them. I do know, however, that red lights are extremely bad for them. It doesn't make the animals think it is dark, it just makes it seem like the day is neverending. I use Ceramic Heat Emitters on my animals, they're wonderful due to the fact that they produce heat but not light.
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I didnt know that. what kind of lamp hang do i need for a ciramic? The one I have says not to use ciramic bulbs with it
 
Keeping green iguanas in a paludarium will require efficient filtration and water heating systems that have to be inaccessible to the iguanas.
Waterfall systems get polluted easily and, unless you've got a good ventilation system, will further fungal growth.
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You should get a bigger tank and install apt HID lamps for heating & UV-B.
 
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