Iguanas In The Wild

Unlime many reptiles, iguanas are particularly interesting as a result of the many obvious fascinating behaviour patterns one will see when observing them.

A green iguanas behaviour can include gaping (standing with the mouth opening) which is usually a threat display. When approaching or handling untame iguanas you are quite likely to observe this behaviour which can be quite fearsome - particularly if the individual is 5 or 6 feet long!

Iguanas also inflate their dewlaps - the flacid skin under their jaw, and bob their heads rapidly up and down. There is still some dedate about the exact meaning of this, though there seems there is some evidence that this is involved with the mating ritual of iguanas, and possibly in protecting a female or territory.

I once kept an adult pair of iguanas in a large cage measuring roughly 10 feet in each direction and when I approached the cage to feed them, the male would often display to me like this, acknowledging my presence, and I feel saying "keep away from my girlfriend!".

"Bobbing" is another green iguanas behaviour in which whilst the rear legs of the iguana stay stationary, the front legs of the lizard are pulled then then pushed out, as though he were doing press-ups, causing the front half of his body to "bob" up and down.

Please note, that it is common to see several of these interesting behaviours at once. An iguana may bob and gape at the same time, for example.

Iguanas In The Wild Including adaptation of iguana life, the green iguana third eye, green iguanas behavior, iguana habitat and iguanas life history.