Heating & Lighting Tips
Iguanas are cold-blooded animals who need to absorb their heat. In their natural habitat they would do this by lying in the sun. Unfortunately, they can’t do this in your home. Exposure to unfiltered sunlight or a UVB-producing bulb, is necessary to facilitate Vitamin D3 production. This is the vitamin that turns calcium into a usable material for bone and nerve cell building and repair. So, without it, an iguana will quickly end up with a condition similar to osteoporosis, and possibly nerve damage. Sunlight that passes through glass or Plexiglas does NOT transmit UVB, and cannot be substituted. When using a UVB bulb, it must be placed 12-18 inches from where your iguana will spend the most time, and it must NOT have glass or plastic between the bulb and the iguana. (The glass in the bulb is a special glass for this reason).
