Talk:Green iguana

The last photo, is not a green iguana? Or is it? This isnt a green Iguana? Its a Gecko.. PLease some on else help me out I thought people eat them. bleck. Its Mitternacht90 not logged in.

Is there a credible source on the 29 year age record for this? I had a vet that specilized in reptiles for years be astounded at my 13-year-old captive iguana, saying it's the oldest captive specimen he's heard of.

I'd say that Vet hasn't seen very many iguanas then! --Mike Searson 23:47, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

Madcat Mech????

Who the heck entered the line, they escape in their Madcat Mech??? First of all, a Madcat Mech is a fictional, walking tank from the Battletech universe, and I dont think an Iguana would know how to pilot one. Also, iguanas are the main cause of the destruction of the rainforest in Mongolia??? Mongolia is a mountainous region, last I heard, lots of mountain goats, but no reptiles. I am not an expert in herpetology but I THINK those two sentences are not right.

Oh gee, you think? It's called vandalism. It happens a lot in an open resource like this. Welcome to Wikipedia - glad you could make it. And thanks for the note about Madcat Mechs being fictional - I never would have guessed. Thank God for you. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 206.223.180.110 (talk) 10:28, 3 March 2007 (UTC).

I removed the Madcat Mech, as that's just fake, and I don't believe there are any rainforests in Mongolia, not to mention, I don't believe many iguanas live there. Lone Lobo 08:57, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

Iguana as a venomous animal????

Green iguanas "mildly venomous"??? I'd like to see the source of that one, considering that the animals have no glands from which to secrete venom. If the author of this means that they have bacteria in the mouth like Komodo Dragons and that this bacteria can cause skin irritation, I might agree. However, iguana iguana is not by definition "venomous". This should be removed at once.

FYI: The edit occurred on 2005-11-02 by a user with IP address 71.114.153.21.

The Green Iguana IS venomous, and any brief search of the internet would reveal this to you. A study by the University of Melbourne discovered that hundreds, perhaps over a thousand lizard species DO in fact produce venom, and the Green Iguana and the Eastern Bearded Dragon, two species popular as pets, are among them. Specifically, it appears that most members of the Iguanians and Anguimorphs produce venom. The key as to why this was overlooked for so long is that they do not produce venom in sufficient quanities to be of harm to the average human. Here's a source for you; run a search on any major search engine and you can find dozens more sources if you need further convincing. http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/dn8331.html As for the date that the information was added, the discovery was announced right about then. Just over a year ago. As such, I have re-added the information to the article. Toroca 18:53, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

I reverted to the previous verion of the page to restore the information regarding Iguanas' recently discovered status as a venomous animal. According to the page history, on 22 March 2007, a user with the IP of 168.184.249.55 edited the page to remove the information about iguanas being venomous. The same user failed to remove the reference that was cited as the source of the information, and perusal of that source will show that they are, IN FACT, venomous. Just because they're not dangerous to the average human doesn't invalidate the fact that they DO produce venom. The very first sentence of the cited source CLEARLY states that they produce venom. I quote: "Monitor lizards – commonly kept as pets – and iguanas produce venom, according to surprising new research that is rewriting the story of lizard and snake evolution." Read it for yourself. It's only been known for a little over a year now, but it IS known. Toroca 03:42, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

I've restored the venomous information. Again. I'm getting tired of doing so, as it is verified fact relevant to this species and with a reference source provided and others easily locatable on the internet. The person who removed the info this time didn't even do a good job of it; they left a hack-job of a sentence behind instead. I made a second, minor edit, to move the info out of the "Sexing" section, where it is not relevant. Missed that last time.Toroca 02:54, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

That is a first for me. My friends mom had an Iguana, and even if it WAS venomous, I never knew it, it was one of the sweetest most docile, loving animals I have ever know. It LOVED to sit on my shoulder and loved it when I stroked its chin, these animals are NOT agressive, this Iguana that I mentioned always fell asleep from this stroking. Venomous, I think not —The preceding unsigned comment was added by ScottForster (talk • contribs) 04:16, 17 December 2006 (UTC).

Read my note above regarding the venom, posted three days before your comment here. It was a widely-reported discovery when it was first announced; I saw it on CNN, Yahoo, and others, and you can still find plenty of references to the discovery if you take the time to run a basic search or two. The source I posted before is still valid: http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/dn8331.html An as I said before, while they ARE venomous, they're not dangerous to humans because the toxins are secreted in such minute amounts.

Furthermore, being poisonous has nothing whatsoever to do with an animal's temperament or aggressiveness. Tarantulas are more dangerous to humans than Iguanas are, from the venom perspective anyway, and I know people who have "tame" pet tarantulas that will sit contendedly in their hands or on their shoulders. I also know a man who has a pet rattlesnake that he's had since it hatched, and he's never been bitten, nor does the snake seem to have any fear or aggression toward him. It's as docile as the iguana you describe, but being docile doesn't mean it's not venomous. Toroca 23:42, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

That study mentions lizards of the Iguanid and Varanid families...not the Green Iguana in particular. Furthermore, at this point in time it is nothing more than a theory. That article appears to be the only source, provide links to other sources if they exist and or any print references. It is mentioned and referenced in the Lizard article but really deserves no mention here unless Iguana Iguana is mentioned specifically and as of this time, it is not.--Mike Searson 21:12, 26 August 2007 (UTC)

When the story was first made public, there were articles everywhere on major news sites, and SEVERAL of them mentioned the Green Iguana specifically, along with the Bearded Dragon. There was one article I read that was titled "Two Popular Lizard Pets Are Venomous" and the text within mentioned both by name, though maybe not by species. It's not MY fault that those articles no longer exist, and that the less detailed New Scientist one is the only one that seems to remain. But you know what? I'm tired of arguing about this. I give up, I don't give a damn anymore. Remove it, readd it, whatever floats your boat. Toroca 21:07, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

Threatened?

The sidebar lists the Green Iguana as "least concern", yet in the body of the article it states that they are considered to be "threatened" because of their status as a throwaway pet. Can anyone shed some light on this? Other than the fact they are green and totally rule, I don't know anything about Iguanas. --206.223.180.110 10:30, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

This is very concerning. There are alot of green iguanas, as their range is very wide and there are many feral oolonies in Florida. However, native populations are under extreme pressure from urban sprall, deforestation, defoliants, pollution, chemical use, and exploitation from pet runners. The answer is native populations are very threatened. Populations of the other "Iguanas" as the Cayman Blue are nearly totally gone (25 pairs in the wild). There are many different kinds of "Iguanas," and all are very much threatened, endangered, or near extinction. Cayman Blue Iguana —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Adio11 (talk • contribs) April 23, 2007.

Reverse Editing

--Adio11 04:50, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

Please be very careful about reverse editing this page. I found critical errors as to weight of iguanas and diet errors of vitamin ratio vs mineral ratio. Please, I have spent many hours on this page, and I am an expert on iguana care. Adio11

Unencyclopedic

The captivity section is largely unencyclopedic in its tone and has a lot of subtle POV statements. It's important to note that Wikipedia is not a guide for chosing the right pet for you. Atropos

Moved section on captivity to its own lemma at Green Iguana in captivity. Lycaon 12:45, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Rewrite

I've done alot of work to this piece over the weekend. I'm ready to pull the "Godzilla" stuff unless we can get that sourced, according to the Wiki article, IMDB, and Godzilla fansites the animals in question are Marine iguanas not Green iguanas (I have not seen the movie so I don't know which is correct).--Mike Searson 13:39, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

GA Review

The article is quite well written and interesting. I believe it meets the Good Article criteria, and can be promoted pending one major issue resolution. Please find a source for the Godzilla movie information, or remove it if it in fact turns out to be a marine iguana and not a green iguana. Other than this, the article looks very good, quite well sourced, and includes useful photographs. Cheers! Dr. Cash 04:32, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

Article looks good, and will be listed. Good work! Dr. Cash 04:48, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

Behavior

Consider adding, when angry lashing at people, etc. with the tail? Mine used to do that when people it didn't like tried to touch it. Repeated, powerful strokes with the whole length of its tail. Alpha Ralpha Boulevard 04:43, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

It's here: Green_Iguana#Anatomy_and_morphology second paragraph.--Mike Searson 05:34, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I see, good. It's small potatoes, but reading the "Behavior" section might lead a reader to think that the iguana's only defense is to posture and bluff. Perhaps this part of the sentence might be moved to the "Behavior" section? "Their whiplike tails can be used to deliver painful strikes..." As an owner, I for one, was very surprised to see it attack someone. So it's not common knowledge. At least to the ignorant. Lol. Alpha Ralpha Boulevard 07:58, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

I added a bit more about iguana defense in "Behavior".--Mike Searson 14:38, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

Perfect! Alpha Ralpha Boulevard 21:54, 4 November 2007 (UTC)

Merge with Green Iguana in Captivity

I think the major elements from the Captivity article are here. I would not be against moving more from that article here as I've worked on both and the primary author for the captivity article has contributed to both. However, I don't want to do that right now for a few reasons. Here are my reccomendatins before doing it:

• Green Iguana in captivity finishes going through text cleanup
• Green iguana in captivity makes use of more print sources as opposed to web based articles.
• Green iguana in captivity gets promoted to GA status, or at the very least gets reviewed and the reviewer reccomends a merge.

My ultimate goal is to get Green Iguana promoted to Featured Status. So I'd rather work on the captivity article and improve it...then do the merge. Make sense?--Mike Searson 14:45, 4 November 2007 (UTC)