Any iguana owner wants to make poop cleaning easier, so potty training your iguana is a serious step. In this post, you will learn how to potty train your iguana, toilet train your iguana, as well as tips on potty training outside the cage and other useful information on this topic.
Iguanas are smart and clean animals. They also like routines and don’t like making their habitats dirty. This means that we need to read their behaviors and help them become potty trained.
When should I start potty training my iguana?
Start potty training your iguana as soon as possible. If your iguana is a hatchling, then you can potty train it from the start. But if you have bought/adopted an adult iguana, it might be potty trained already, so ask the previous owner.
Even if your new adult iguana has been potty trained, you will still need to let your iguana acclimatize and have some training in its new home.
You will be able to see if your adopted iguana is potty trained. Start with introducing a bucket with some water in its enclosure. Most potty trained iguanas will readily poop in there from the start.
However, you might also find that your adopted iguana has bad habits and is not potty trained. Don’t give up and start the potty training as soon as you can.
Make sure that your iguana has acclimatized and is tame or at least comfortable with your before you start potty training.
How often do iguanas poop?
Healthy iguanas that eat once or twice a day should poop daily. Some iguanas will poop 2-3 times a day, depending on how much they eat. Younger iguanas under 3 years old tend to poop more, around 2-3 times a day, and it is usually less with adults.
Various factors can affect how often your iguana poops – such as impaction, pregnancy, low tank temperatures and more.
Types of potty training for iguanas
- Train it to poop in the bathtub/sink/plastic container filled with some water, outside the cage. When it becomes comfortable – place the dish with some water inside the tank. The most common way of potty training. Your iguana will be able to poop whenever it needs inside the tank, without waiting on you to take it out once it’s trained.
- Teach it to poop in the bathtub/sink/plastic container without any water, but to the sound of running water or shower. Start training your iguana to poop like this outside the cage. After training, you will need to take it out every day and let it poop with the sound of running water. This is suitable for iguanas that hate soaking.
- Train your iguana to poop in the toilet. It would be a good idea to make a ladder for your iguana to climb it by itself, so it doesn’t need to wait for you every day once it’s trained.
- Train your iguana to poop in one spot of the tank, where you will place paper towels/newspaper.
- Teach your iguana to poop in one spot of the house, such as tiles in the bathroom. You can also use puppy training pads like these in one spot of the house. Suitable for iguanas that free roam during the day.
- If you live in a constantly warm climate, you can teach your iguana to poop outside, in one spot. Make sure that it’s your garden, and not the public park. Too much attention will scare your iguana.
How to potty train your iguana?
- Iguanas naturally poop (defecate) in water. Water relaxes them and stimulates them to poop. Knowing this, you can use a place your iguana in water to make it poop when you want it to, usually at same times of the day.
- Create a training schedule. Iguanas love consistency and routines. They love eating and pooping at the same time every day. If you have had your iguana for some time, you might know what time that is. Try to take your iguana out before its normal pooping time for training. If you don’t know the exact times, you can choose your own time, such as early in the morning after you wake up. This can also be few times a day if your iguana poops few times.
- Prepare a place where you will soak/bathe your iguana. This is the step where you will potty train your iguana. This can be a tub or a plastic container that you will fill with some lukewarm water (up to iguana’s side). Do this every day, at the same time. Please note that your iguana might become nervous in the bathtub, because its big and slippery. If you decide to use a bathtub, place a designated towel on the bottom and sides of the bathtub. Sink might be a better choice.
- Soak your iguana for as long as needed. If it’s a normal poop time for your iguana, it will most probably poop straight away in the tub. But if not, try to soak your iguana in the water until it poops. If it takes too long and it doesn’t poop, take your iguana out and try again later.
- Be consistent and patient. Potty train your iguana outside of its cage until you can see that your iguana poops in the water shortly after you put it in the tub. Take your time and be consistent and it should work out soon.
- When your iguana is trained, place the dish with water in the tank. Once your iguana is potty trained, you can place the water dish in the cage. Your iguana should be pooping there now consistently.
- Your iguana will associate the tub/shower with pooping. Once your iguana is trained, it will know that this is the place for pooping. If it free roams the house, you will often find your iguana waiting by the tub to be lifted inside. Same goes for toilet trained iguanas (see below).
- Never fill the tub with cat litter, soil or anything else. Fill it with lukewarm water, instead. You can also add another water dish in the tank, with drinking water.
You can even train your iguana to poop in the empty bathtub/plastic tub by turning on tap/shower. When your iguana hears the sound of the running water, it will start pooping.
This method is more suitable for iguanas that hate soaking. This training can take longer, but results can be great.
If your iguana hates soaking, you can choose to train it to poop in one spot of the room, outside (only if it’s always warm) or even toilet. Read below for more information on this.
Toilet training your iguana
If you want your iguana to poop in the toilet instead of a tub, you can train it to do so. The only disadvantage of your iguana pooping in the toilet is that you will have to physically put your iguana on the toilet everyday so it can poop. Secondly, the toilet hole must not be too big, so that your iguana doesn’t fall inside.
The best thing to do if your iguana is free roaming at certain times is to place something under the toilet so that your iguana can climb on it by itself. Also, you can place a toilet seat with a smaller hole so that your iguana doesn’t fall inside.
So, to toilet train your iguana, you will need to take it out of the cage and place it in the tub with water. Right before your iguana starts to poop, you need to take it out of the tub and put it on the toilet.
Observe your iguana and you will know its body language when it is about to poop (moving its backside and poop dance). You will need to catch the moment, and swiftly move your iguana on the toilet.
If your iguana holds it poop when you put it on a toilet, try again. Put it back in the tub with water. When it is ready to poop, put it on the toilet again. After some time, it will start associating the toilet with pooping. With time and consistency, you will teach your iguana to poop in the toilet. Consistency is the key when toilet training an iguana.
Generally, you will know that your iguana wants to poop if you hear it trying to climb the toilet. This will happen once it is fully trained. Most toilet trained iguanas will hold their poop until you put them on the toilet to avoid creating a mess.
Potty training your iguana outside the cage
You can also teach your iguana to poop in one spot outside the cage. This can be outside the house, if for example you have a garden and it’s always warm. Another case would be training your iguana to poop in one spot in the house, which you would cover with paper towels.
Potty training your free roaming iguana
To train your free roaming iguana to poop in one spot of house, for example on a ceramic tile in the bathroom, smear the paper towel (with its poop/pee) and put it in that spot. Make sure your iguana can see it. For the first week or few, you will need to catch your iguana before it wants to poop, and take it to that spot.
Come to your iguana from the side, gently lift and take it to the spot. You can even place puppy training pads like these to make cleaning easier.
In some cases, your iguana will have already chosen a spot for pooping, and you will just need to place paper towels in that spot.
You can also teach your free roaming iguana to poop in the toilet (read above). Iguanas are clean animals, so once your iguana is toilet trained, it will always wait for you to put it on a toilet (if it can’t climb it itself).
What is more, you can place the plastic tub (potty) with some water in that spot, for your iguana to poop in there. But it might be easier to use towels, and the cleaning will be easier.
Training your iguana to poop outside the house
Training your iguana to poop outside the house is similar to training it to poop inside the house, in one spot. Make sure that you will be able to let your iguana out to poop everyday after training, as it will become a routine. Don’t do it only for summer, while the weather is warm.
If you would like to train your iguana to poop outside every day, use the method described above. You can smear the paper and take your iguana to the spot that you wish before it poops somewhere else. You can also place a tub there, if your iguana used to poop in there inside the cage.
Be persistent, patient and gentle, and you will be able to train your iguana companion. Most trained iguanas wait for their owners to open the house door to poop outside, even if they have to hold it in.
Potty training and change of the circumstances/environment
If circumstances change, start a new training. This is for example, when you used to place your iguana on a toilet at the same time every day, but now moved houses or became busy at that time. Don’t worry, and start training your iguana again, for different timing or other type of pooping spot.
When you have trained your iguana to poop in a dish, you will be able to leave the dish inside the tank and it will poop there consistently. But if you teach your iguana to poop in the toilet, it can be harder to teach it to poop in the tub if circumstances change.
Think about possible changes that you might have in the future and make plans.
Why does my iguana poop in random places?
Sometimes, potty trained iguanas might start pooping in one or few random spots. This is very likely during the breeding season, when iguanas mark their territory with poop. You will have to be patient at that point and wait for it to pass. This is is especially common with male iguanas.
Also, sometimes your iguana might be unhappy with the training and might poop in random spots to show dissatisfaction. Be consistent, patient and make sure to show some love to your iguana.
How long does it take to potty train an iguana?
How long it will take to potty train your iguana depends on few factors. If you want your iguana to poop inside the cage in the water dish, it can be achieved quicker. Some baby or adult iguanas will readily go in the water dish from the start, not requiring any training. But it can be harder to train iguanas with bad habits.
But if your iguana has not been potty trained at all, it will take time and patience. Toilet training can be even harder, but it will depend on your iguana. Generally, it can take somewhere around 2-6 weeks to potty train your iguana.
What are alternatives to potty training an iguana?
If you don’t want to potty train your iguana, there is something else you can do. But it is more likely to work well if your iguana is always in the cage. Most iguanas prefer pooping in one spot in the tank. If your iguana poops regularly in one spot, you can place some paper towels or newspaper in that spot. This will make the cleaning easy.
You can start by placing paper towels in one spot of the tank. If your iguana already has a spot where it defecates, use that spot. Make sure that the spot is away from food and basking spots. Start placing iguana urine soaked paper towels in that spot. With time, your iguana will come to that spot to defecate.
But if you let your iguana free roam the house, it is better to teach it to poop in the toilet or tub. Especially good is training your iguana to poop first before it can roam the house/room. You can even train it to poop outside, or in a specific spot.
Does iguana’s poop smell?
No, iguana’s poop shouldn’t normally smell too strong. There should be a little to no smell (it can have a slight sour smell of old vegetables). But if you don’t clean the poop straight away, it will smell much worse.
Make sure to clean the poop and uneaten food from the tank regularly, as it will help to control the smell. If your iguana’s poop smells very bad, it might be suffering from an internal infection. In this case, collect the poop sample and take it to the vet for an examination.
Thank you for reading this article! Read more on iguana care on this page of the blog.