Iguana pet owners will often set up iguana nests and start breeding and making money from their iguanas. Adult iguanas are used for breeding and the iguana babies are sold. But the downside of this is that today iguanas are sold very cheaply therefore giving the impression that iguanas are disposable pets.

Pros and Cons of having iguana nests and breeding them.

Breeding iguanas is such a wonderful thing to enjoy and experience. The mother iguana tries its best to be resourceful enough to find a good place to lay its eggs and wait until they hatch. With natural or artificial iguana nests, the mother iguanas care for their babies. But on the other hand, as the reptiles increase in number, more space is needed by the owner to house them. Feeding them likewise becomes a problem. Controlling the rapidly-increasing number of iguanas tends to be difficult... very quickly there seem to be too many. Only those given proper attention and nutrition are likely to stay healthy and fit and be able to survive.

Preparing an Iguana Nest

So as to ensure reproduction, iguanas of the opposite sex must be housed together, especially during the breeding season. Group iguanas according to size. The ratio should be one male to one or more females. Male iguanas are typically smaller than female iguanas. If the males are bigger, the female may end up killing the male during mating.

Try out different media for the iguana nest you are creating. The female iguana buries her eggs, so you can try out 100% potting soil, 50% play sand and 50 % potting soil, or better still, 100% play sand. The latter is much easier for the female iguana to dig into and prepare the pit where she will lay her eggs. Also keep in mind that the iguana nest must be safe for your pets. The iguana nest should keep the reptiles safe from possible abrasions, scratches and other injuries.

The nesting box must be durable enough to hold up to 200 pounds of the soil or sand that you will include in the iguana nest. You can use a planting tray with an end cut off so that there will be some area for the iguana to play on. If you would like to use some cheaper alternatives, wooden boxes or thick plastic trash containers may do. Just ensure the safety of your iguanas.

It is important that you monitor the egg laying process. At times not all the eggs are laid which may mean the female iguana has some health problem. A word of warning: Do not interfere when the female iguanas are guarding their nests. Natural instinct makes them very defensive.