Do Iguanas Make Good Pets?

One of the hardest parts of becoming a pet owner is deciding on what pet you want to have in your home. When you are doing this, you are typically going to hear all kinds of advice from everyone under the sun as to what is going to make the perfect pet. Invariably, one of the pets that always seem to come up as a good choice is the iguana. "Do iguanas make good pets?" can be a difficult question for some people to answer. This should not be one that is made on the spur of the moment. That being said, there is some simple information that anyone should have to be able to make the proper decision.

• Personality: When they are younger, iguanas are wonderfully well behaved. Many people, when they hear about this, think that this just fine. There is a problem with this though. As an iguana gets older, they are going to undergo a serious personality change. In many ways, an iguana is going to act in a similar manner to a male teenager. An added problem with this is that iguana's have a whole lot of natural weapons, from claws to teeth to the rather large tail that they have. When considering this animal as a pet, do not consider taking this one into your home if you have smaller children (say around the age of 6), since when they begin acting like a surly teenager, they might just lash out like one. They don't take well to rough handling.
• Cost: Depending on the choices you make at the time of purchase, you might be looking at a minimum of $400. This cost is just the initial cost at the time of purchase, and does not take into consideration the ongoing cost that is associated with the ongoing care that such an animal might need.
• Care: On average, the price for feeding alone is going to cost you about $1,100 per year. This price is the most basic of the costs associated with this pet, there is also the cost of replacing the "flooring" of its habitat, which is going to be roughly $250 a year, and a low-end estimate of another $250 for visits to the pet doctor. When you stop and think about everything that the iguana is going to cost you, you are looking at a cost of at least $2,000 for the first year alone.