Iguana & Dog?

Question

Alright, so I, personally, am planning on getting an Iguana fro my cousin, who can no longer care for it. It will be living in my room, and I'll be providing for it personally. My family had a dog, that roams around the house freely (save my mothers room), and I could easily shut it out of my room too.

My question is, is it common for dogs & iguanas to get along? I know canines don't exist in the natural habitat for iguanas, so idk how it'll cope.

The dog is a St. Benard & Aussie mix (lol) but he weighs around 50 pounds, but the vets say he wont' be getting much bigger if you needed to know.

Answer 1

NO!!! That is an accident waiting to happen! If your dog bothers it, and the iguana gives it one good whack with it's tail, the dog could be injured and then go after the lizard. The iguana should be kept in a cage, with proper heat and UV lights provided. That iguana, if you care for it right, will reach 6 feet depending on the s*x.

Answer 2

One whip from an iguana's tail can break a dog's bone. Not so much a good idea. Try finding a separate room with a cage, UV lights, and heat lamps for the iguana.

Answer 3

I have a terrier, my dog doesn't come into contact w/ my iguana (who is ruffly 2 yrs of age). My terrier does see my iguana, but don't let my terrier and my iguana roam together. I allow my iguana to roam w/ my 3 cats, BUT ONLY w/ my supervision.

I know many cases where dogs and cats have attacked iguanas, in the end the iguana has had expensive vet bills or death of the iguana. Yes iguanas can tail whip some animals and cause major harm to the dog or cat from tail whipping.

It really depends on the temper of the dog and iguana before allowing the iguana to roam w/ the dog. If the dog can see the iguana in it's enclosure this can also cause stress to the iguana.

A question I would ask you, since you don't say how big the iguana is, is your room going to be big enough to have an enclosure the recommended size of 6-7ft tall x 8-10ft long x 4ft wide for an adult iguana???

Sites for you to read:

http://www.greenigsociety.org/ - http://www.iguanaden.org/ - http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/index.html

A great book to read and have on hand:

Iguanas for Dummies by Melissa Kaplan

Yahoo has some great sites for Iguana owners... these groups helped me and still help w/ questions .. if you'd like to join:

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/BabyI... - http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Iguan...

Answer 4

Sometimes this can work, most times it can't.  Really it depends on the temperament of each animal.  I had an iguana and a cat who were fast friends and slept together.  Never had a problem out of either.  That being said, I have read many horror stories of cats/dogs totally mauling iguanas.  You just really have to see how the animals react to each other.  However, as long as the animals are interacting, there is always going to be the risk of one "going off" on the other and causing an incident.