I have had eight Iguanas: Iggy, Charles Darwin "Chuck," Catherine Darwin "Carrie," JR, Spike, Norman, Igthamus, and Mister Dino Greeno. Iguanas do make great pets if you take the time to set them up right. The initial cost can be very expensive (caging, lighting, heat sources, accessories) but the maintenance after that (food, supplements, replacing a light here or there) are minimal, barring emergency vet visits!
Iguanas can be allowed access to an Iguana-proofed room, the same way a ferret or a toddler can be allowed to roam a ferret-proofed or toddler-proofed room. Dino had free roam of my room; Chuck and Carrie were allowed out for romps in the den while supervised (though they had to learn not to stand on the ferret cage... ferrets can bite!).
Iggy was my first Iguana ever, and I was far from prepared to deal with caring for him. I was twelve years old and had kept snakes for about three years, but quickly found that they required much simpler care than this little guy. My mother got him for me for Christmas and the pet store people gave us an aquarium flourescent light and a hot rock, told us to feed him any lettuce that was on sale and have fun. Poor Iggy didn't last a year before he succombed to a digestive infection.
I decided not to get another Iguana for a while after that, as my mice and kingsnakes provided all that I needed without the heartache or large expenses. It was several years before I brought home my next Iguana, and he brought two others home with him.
Charles Darwin was my sweety pie Iguana. "Chuck" was a two foot Ig who belonged to the school along with a two foot Catherine Darwin, "Carrie," and a foot long JR. The trio came home with me over the Christmas break of 1997 and ended up staying as my teacher said I was the only one who showed any interest in them. They had previously not had the nicest of homes and Carrie was completely devoid of any dorsal spines. It had been five years since my last Iguana experience.
Norman and Igthamus were just average iguanas measuring two feet and just under one foot. Norman was a nasty guy who was given to me by a teacher because all her kids were scared of him. I had to carry him home wrapped in a blanket with him whipping and clawing the whole way. He calmed down eventually and I gave him to a friend with more room because as iguanas grow, you realize how little space you actually have in your house! Igthamus was a pet shop rescue who went to live with another class after I spent tons of money on vet bills and calmed him down a bit. Last I saw him he was just over two feet and a beautifully sculpted lizard.
Spike came to live with me as a donation by a local classroom because he had stopped eating. Spike was a nice looking little Ig who gave me my first Iguana bite ever, almost ripping the tip of my right ring finger off (I had to push the flesh back together and bandage it). He did get nice after a lot of handling, though I only had him for about a month before he died. I think this had something to do with the fact that the food given to me consisted entirely of iceberg lettuce. The teacher told me they had been giving him no supplements whatsoever, though they gave him crickets occasionally... He was dehydrated when I got him so my vet gave him saline injections, but I think the fact that they had had him for almost two years and he was still under a foot long spoke volumes about the care he had received.
The last Iguana I acquired was Mister Dino Greeno (I didn't name him), and he was an itty bitty perfect baby, and was such a sweety to boot. Dino lived in my room despite his small size. He hung out mostly on my wrought iron headboard, but would climb to the top of my bed and bask under my overhead light, or sit on a bouquet of dried roses and bask through the open (screened) window.
Someone -- be it room mate, housekeeper, or sibling -- thought that Dino was "loose" in my room and took him to the downstairs viv that housed my two now 3+ foot Iguanas, Chuck and Carrie (they grew quite a lot with two years of care!), and put him in there. Dino disappeared and I don't know if they ate him or if he was taken (my roommate was moving out under duress and she really liked him), but there was no way he could have escaped the viv and he was not in there that night when I went to look for him :-(
