How to Train an Iguana

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Tim Cole. I'm with the Austin Reptile Service. I've been keeping reptiles for over forty years. I'm here to talk to you about taming or training an iguana. My personal opinion, it's probably not going to happen. But, I'll give you some ideas that might help you a little bit. But for the most part, iguanas don't make good pets. They get very large, and get rather hard to deal with. If it's a male, and it's breeding season, they can get pretty nasty. But if you've got a baby iguana, and you want to get him used to you, used to being handled, you might start out by feeding him by hand so he gets used to you. And you might try holding him for a little while, short periods of time, building that up to longer periods of time, so they 'll get used to being handled. And do that when they're young, is probably going to help you out for when they get big. When you get a five or six foot lizard that doesn't want to be handled, you've got a lot to deal with...you've got teeth, claws and tail all to watch out for at the same time."