Giving an iguana a bath has lots of benefits for your pet iguana. Benefits of bathing your iguana include extra hydration, help with shedding and cleaning your iguana. Bathing your iguana will also help it spend some time in a high humidity area (which they need) and possibly drink water. In this post, we will give you the full guide on giving an iguana a bath as well other bathing tips and tricks.
Do iguanas like water?
In the wild, iguanas are usually seen living near water and they are often swimming in lakes, rivers and ponds. Most iguanas enjoy swimming, and can naturally swim in deep waters. But swimming in the wild is different than in captivity. You should always have a leash on your iguana if letting it swim in a deep pool.
Iguanas are often scared of bath tubs, especially in the beginning. This is because baths are deep and slippery. Most iguanas will try to escape when you put them in the bathtub – but it doesn’t mean that they are scared of water. Start slowly, with shallow water, and build iguana’s confidence.
Can iguanas drown?
Even though iguanas are natural swimmers and can hold their breath for long period of time, they can still drown when panicking. Make sure to approach bathing calmly and don’t fill the tub with too much water before your iguana is confident and laid back about bathing.
Start slowly – and start bathing your young iguana as soon as possible. You can start bathing your young iguana in a plastic tub, before moving to a bath tub.
In fact, you don’t need to fill the bath with too much water unless you want it to swim. Only after your iguana is fine about being in the bath, you can let it swim in the pool for some exercise and activity. You can find a list of interesting activities such as swimming for your iguana in this post (opens in a new tab).
What helps clean an iguana in the wild?
Iguanas in the wild don’t properly groom themselves. Various objects in iguana’s natural environment in the wild help clean them. These include rocks and bark. Iguanas also tend to swim in the ponds and rivers to clean themselves.
How often do you need to bathe an iguana?
You can bathe or soak your iguana every day if it poops in water. If you have trained it to poop in the plastic tub that’s in the tank, then you can additionally soak your iguana in the bath few times a week. Make sure to change the water daily and have a separate bowl with drinking water.
Giving an iguana a bath – full guide
Let’s now discuss how to give your iguana a bath, step by step.
Step 1: Choose the place for bathing your iguana
First of all, you need to decide where you will be bathing your iguana. You can choose the big plastic dish or tub for bathing and soaking younger iguanas. If your iguana is large, you will probably have to use the bath tub. Never soak your iguana in the kitchen. If using the plastic tub, make sure it’s only used for your iguana.
Bathing your iguana can also be a part of potty training, and later – actual daily pooping. Most owners potty train their iguana to poop in the plastic tub with water, or in the bathtub.
In this case, bathing will be a daily task. If you don’t want to do that – potty train your iguana to poop in the plastic tub with water, and then move it to the cage. But it is still a good idea to bathe your iguana few times a week.
Step 2: Prepare the tub for soaking and bathing
As we have mentioned, your iguana is very likely to be scared of a deep bathtub at first. To make your iguana less scared of a bathtub, make sure to place an anti-slip mat like this on the bottom of the bath.
What is more, choose a designated iguana towel and leave it on the side of the bath. This will give your iguana some sense of security. Your iguana will know that there is an exit, and that it’s not going to get stuck in there.
Then, fill the bath or the dish with warm water. The water level should not be higher than iguana’s hips when standing. It is a better idea to fill the tub with water before you put your iguana inside. This will minimize the stress from feeling the running water.
Step 3: Make sure the water is warm enough
Your iguana is a cold blooded lizard, and it relies on the heat from the environment to stay warm. This is why you will need to make sure that the water in the bath is warm enough before you put your iguana in.
Your iguana is also likely to be basking before you put it in the bath, and sudden drops in temperature will scare it. The optimal water temperature in iguana’s bath should be around 84-85 degrees Fahrenheit (or 28.8-29.4 Celsius).
If your iguana is staying in the bath for more than 10 minutes, you will need to add more warm water. This is likely if your iguana hasn’t pooped – for example when you are potty training. Fill the cup with more warm water, add slowly add it to the bath.
Please do not use any soaps or shampoos for your iguana’s bath. The chemicals will irritate the skin and eyes, as well as dry out the skin. You can only use medicine prescribed by the vet or some reptile conditioner.
Step 4: Let your iguana soak
If your iguana is mainly soaking for hydration, you will not need to do anything. You must never add human soap or shampoo in the water. This is because these products will dry out iguana’s skin. What is more, your iguana might drink the water.
If you need to add any medications in the water, let your iguana drink water from the bath first before adding medications. You might be asked by your vet to add some medications in the water to treat iguana’s infection etc.
You might want to add some reptile shedding aid like this in the water, that will condition your iguana’s skin. This is useful when your iguana is shedding.
Let your iguana soak for around 20-30 minutes. If your iguana is new to baths, then start with 5 minutes and increase the timing. If there is any dirt or poop that you need to clean off your iguana’s skin, use and old toothbrush or a washcloth. Gently rub the skin – this should remove dirt and shedding skin.
If your iguana poops in the water, then let it poop first, and change the water before allowing your iguana to soak for longer. This is to make sure that your iguana doesn’t drink the soiled water.
Step 5: Let your iguana come out
After the soaking is finished, you can let your iguana come out of the bath. Your iguana can try to climb out if you put the towel on the side of the bath. This will also assure your iguana that there is nothing to worry about. And the next time it will know that the bath is not a scary place.
You can also lift your iguana out of the bath. Place your iguana on a towel and let it dry. You can gently dry iguana’s skin, to let extra water soak in.
Step 6: Wash the towel and the bathtub
After your return your iguana in the cage, make sure to disinfect the bath tub. Also, wash iguana’s washcloth and the towel in the washing machine. Make sure you add some disinfectant to the washing machine to disinfect the towels. Clean all the other accessories and dry them for the next use.
Thank you for reading this post! If you would like to learn how to potty train your iguana (to poop in the bathtub or the toilet), you can read this useful post.