Thoughts on Iguana's

I've been thinking about getting another Iguana or possibly a Chinese Water Dragon or Tegu. Anyone on the forum own or have owned iguana's? Nobody talks about them. I no what I read about them and its been years since I had two that we gave to my husbands brother and they ended up fighting and dying, but more real life experiances/stories might help make up my mind. The Water Dragons are really cool. Anyone care to give their opinion on any of the above. Any Pro's/Con's.

My 2 cents (based on research; not experience):

Iguana ...........No

Chinese Water Dragon..............Yes

Tegu ...........Yes (Depending on the species.)

I love my iguana, but I wouldnt recommend one to anybody. For one they are too big, number two no matter how much you handle them there is always gonna be that little mean streak in the boys. girls have too many medical issues...and trying to house them is just ridiculous, plus I havent found a light bulb thats good enough for them for less than $60. Im sure Ive posted pictures of my iguana somewhere. I would go water dragon out of the options you posted, but I would get a smaller lizard to get some experience with them first, like a yellow throated plated lizard or a bearded dragon.

I agree with Larry. Also based on research and not personal experience.

based off of experience with both iguanas and tegus...DEFINITELY go with a tegu. BUT...it has to be an ARGENTINE tegu, NOT a Colombian. Colombians are way different and cheaper AND MUCH more aggressive. Argentine's can be very tame and awesome pets.

Yeah I wouldn't do an iguana either. We had one and it wasn't a pleasent experience.

Water dragons are great. I built a large enough enclosure that he can spend his whole life in there with temperatures in the low 70's at the bottom and 90 degrees at the top. The pond is large enough to allow diving from up high, deep enough for swimming and keeping humidity high, and keep the water moving ......it cuts maintanance down to almost nothing.

Thanks guys. I don't remember having problems with my iguana's before we gave them to my brother in law and they were pretty big but I usually hear more bad stories than good. Maybe I just happened to have good ones at the time uless they don't get cranky until later in their life.

I'm going to have to read up on the water crested dragon some more I think. I did like the tegus from the last meeting though. More research I guess.........

I agree with most here about putting the igs 3rd on that list. After doing rescue for years, I actually have it on my voicemail now that I take all native and CB reptiles except iguanas. Their size and what I consider difficult and expensive husbandry is a big no factor for me as well as they seem to be the most inconsistent in their behavior. I'm sure that may be the fact that they send all the messages and I obviously didn't read them very well (or it was a trick-LOL), but it seems when they are aggressive it tends to be very aggressive. I haven't worked much at all with the other two lizards but I would rather deal with about anything than a large ig. I know they can be great pets for the right person and in the right situation, but they are definitely not for me and I have the experiences to stand strong in that opinion. Just my two cents worth.

Tandy

Thanks, I'll take 2 cents from you, lol.