Rhinocerous Iguana!

[Hakai]

Hey guys. My friend is tryna get a new friend and we've been lookin over our options and we've come to a decision of either a Chinese water dragon or a rhino iguana. It's easy to find care sheets on the dragon but difficult for the rhino because theyre endangered and pretty hard to come by. Does anyone have any experience or know of any sources I could get some info on their husbandry? Our biggest concern atm is cage size. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Olimpia]

Shoot a PM to member Dr. O, one of his best friends keeps these guys and he may know about them just by association, or perhaps can point you towards more info.

I took care of one but I couldn't give you a super detailed care info, unfortunately. Essentially we treated them like green iguanas, with the same diet, same temps, and we'd mist them down daily. I don't know if this is the most up to date, successful info however. But we did have a male that was a decade old, so it had to be working.

I found them to be great iguanas!

 

[Hakai]

Awesome! Thank u so much! Idk what we'd do without these forums, probably just end up killing everything we get our hands on. thanks again!

 

[symphonica]

Have these guys been successfully captive bred, or are they all wild-caught? Just wondering because you mentioned that they're endangered. If they're bred, I'm sure the breeder will be able to answer any questions you have about them. If they're wild-caught, do you really want to financially support the capture and sale of endangered, wild animals?

 

[Olimpia]

There are breeders, and these babies start at around $300 last time I checked. But yes, that would be an obvious person to ask, I hadn't thought of that lol.

 

[fluxlizard]

I've kept both. I had several adult rhinos at one point.

There is no comparison if you are looking for a pet.

Hands down, go with the rhino. They are awesome. They mellow with age, they are very intelligent and just plain super cool. Even after years of being around them, they gave me a thrill just to look at them/interact with them. A couple of my adults became super mellow and tame and would go to me on educational presentations at public schools and the like and were great with the kids. It was like having living dinosaurs for the kids to touch and get up close with. They really look and feel prehistoric.

Care is very very similar to green iguana care. Some feed them a bit more protein. Otherwise they are about the same. They also have a very long lifespan. up to several decades.

But they are not in the same price range as water dragons, and they get really big (larger than cats, more heavily built than green iguanas) and require suitable accommodations with respect to their size. So they really aren't in the same category of animal, really as an water dragon. Water dragons are much smaller insect eaters (still large compared to a chameleon though).

There is no need for any unfounded concern as far as conservation goes- you can't get them from the wild...

All in private hands are the result of captive breeding for decades over multiple generations now.

 

[Hakai]

I've kept both. I had several adult rhinos at one point.

There is no comparison if you are looking for a pet.

Hands down, go with the rhino. They are awesome. They mellow with age, they are very intelligent and just plain super cool. Even after years of being around them, they gave me a thrill just to look at them/interact with them. A couple of my adults became super mellow and tame and would go to me on educational presentations at public schools and the like and were great with the kids. It was like having living dinosaurs for the kids to touch and get up close with. They really look and feel prehistoric.

Care is very very similar to green iguana care. Some feed them a bit more protein. Otherwise they are about the same. They also have a very long lifespan. up to several decades.

But they are not in the same price range as water dragons, and they get really big (larger than cats, more heavily built than green iguanas) and require suitable accommodations with respect to their size. So they really aren't in the same category of animal, really as an water dragon. Water dragons are much smaller insect eaters (still large compared to a chameleon though).

There is no need for any unfounded concern as far as conservation goes- you can't get them from the wild...

All in private hands are the result of captive breeding for decades over multiple generations now.

Lol I don't see how he can not get one now. Thanks so much. He's getting supplies from lowes today to build the enclosure, what dimensions (in feet preferably) would you suggest? And screen or glass?

 

[Hakai]

There are breeders, and these babies start at around $300 last time I checked. But yes, that would be an obvious person to ask, I hadn't thought of that lol.

I've seen 'em on a website for 260, but then 40 for shipping so yeah $300 total...but hopefully we can find a local breeder

 

[itz me cg]

I've kept both. I had several adult rhinos at one point.

There is no comparison if you are looking for a pet.

Hands down, go with the rhino. They are awesome. They mellow with age, they are very intelligent and just plain super cool. Even after years of being around them, they gave me a thrill just to look at them/interact with them. A couple of my adults became super mellow and tame and would go to me on educational presentations at public schools and the like and were great with the kids. It was like having living dinosaurs for the kids to touch and get up close with. They really look and feel prehistoric.

Care is very very similar to green iguana care. Some feed them a bit more protein. Otherwise they are about the same. They also have a very long lifespan. up to several decades.

But they are not in the same price range as water dragons, and they get really big (larger than cats, more heavily built than green iguanas) and require suitable accommodations with respect to their size. So they really aren't in the same category of animal, really as an water dragon. Water dragons are much smaller insect eaters (still large compared to a chameleon though).

There is no need for any unfounded concern as far as conservation goes- you can't get them from the wild...

All in private hands are the result of captive breeding for decades over multiple generations now.

Wow first post Anyways. I'm the friend spoken of here. The price difference really doesn't matter to me, it would just take a week or two longer to get the iguana over the dragon. The biggest concern is cage size. I can build whatever I need to and as long as I know how to, I can take care of whatever, but I only have so much space in my room.

Where the enclosure is going, a foot would make all the difference in the world. Right now I have in mind building a 4x5x7 enclosure. I could POSSIBLY go up to a 4x6x7, but that's the absolute limit and I think even that is pushing it a little too far for my room size. So basically, if I can fit a rhino iguana in a 4x5x7, I'll go with that happily. If not, I'm gonna have to go for a water dragon because that'd be cruel to stuff an iguana in a cage if it's just too small.

You've made me want a rhino way more now though. I'm very tempted, but I'd like to know before I start building. Thanks for all your help peoples

 

[GilaTequila]

I think as long as the hight of the cage is the 4' you would probably be alright. They need more floor space than green iguanas.

 

[fluxlizard]

I used outdoor pens in the summer when temperatures were above 50 at night and indoor pens the rest of the year.

Floorspace was 8x8, obviously the pens were walkins so height was 6' outdoors, ceiling indoors. 10x10 would have been better for these big lizards.

Your other option would be free roam of a room. We keep our family's pair of green iguana's this way- free ranging in the house. We have a south-facing bay window that gets lots of light and heat from the sun and set them up with a couple of basking spots in and near the window. I don't know if the rhinos could be housetrained though- the greens are really easy- we just haul them off to a plastic tub with a couple of inches of warm water once a day and they poop and we then wash the iguana in the shower and then the tub, pouring the iguana mess down the toilet, rinsing, repeating and then washing the container. Once used to the routine they go within a couple of minutes of being put in the plastic tub and the whole routine for one lizard takes about 10 minutes including cleanup and washing up.

But rhinos- I don't know. Green iguanas are clean- they usually leave where they bask to poop, given the option. My rhino iguanas were more like bearded dragons- often they just crapped where they happened to be sitting when they got the urge. LOL So I don't know if they could be house trained or not. Probably though- they will poop when introduced to water and that is the key.

So- if the size of the adult enclosure doesn't scare you off- it will take a couple of years before they can really use a big enclosure like that. They are best started in something much smaller- Mine stayed in a 30x30x4' long and then 30x30x8' long before being moved into something larger. Adult size enclosures for iguanas usually are best about the time the lizards reach 30 inches or so. Not coincidentally, that's when people usually dump their green iguanas into rescues. So think carefully before you leap into it, and commit to the long term- these lizards deserve that.

 

[itz me cg]

I used outdoor pens in the summer when temperatures were above 50 at night and indoor pens the rest of the year.

Floorspace was 8x8, obviously the pens were walkins so height was 6' outdoors, ceiling indoors. 10x10 would have been better for these big lizards.

Your other option would be free roam of a room. We keep our family's pair of green iguana's this way- free ranging in the house. We have a south-facing bay window that gets lots of light and heat from the sun and set them up with a couple of basking spots in and near the window. I don't know if the rhinos could be housetrained though- the greens are really easy- we just haul them off to a plastic tub with a couple of inches of warm water once a day and they poop and we then wash the iguana in the shower and then the tub, pouring the iguana mess down the toilet, rinsing, repeating and then washing the container. Once used to the routine they go within a couple of minutes of being put in the plastic tub and the whole routine for one lizard takes about 10 minutes including cleanup and washing up.

But rhinos- I don't know. Green iguanas are clean- they usually leave where they bask to poop, given the option. My rhino iguanas were more like bearded dragons- often they just crapped where they happened to be sitting when they got the urge. LOL So I don't know if they could be house trained or not. Probably though- they will poop when introduced to water and that is the key.

So- if the size of the adult enclosure doesn't scare you off- it will take a couple of years before they can really use a big enclosure like that. They are best started in something much smaller- Mine stayed in a 30x30x4' long and then 30x30x8' long before being moved into something larger. Adult size enclosures for iguanas usually are best about the time the lizards reach 30 inches or so. Not coincidentally, that's when people usually dump their green iguanas into rescues. So think carefully before you leap into it, and commit to the long term- these lizards deserve that.

As much as I'd love to say I'm not scared of that, I can't because I literally do not have the space to give a lizard like that. Oh well. I'm glad I found out now and not later. Thank you for your response Flux, that's exactly the info I needed

 

[fluxlizard]

Chinese water dragons are cool too. And more appropriate for your cage size.

 

[ChameleonFan1989]

Chinese water dragons are cool too. And more appropriate for your cage size.

Agree, beautiful animals but don't like the idea of having an endangered animal as a pet and shouldn't be allowed in my honest opinion.

 

[lizardgirl]

Iguanas are awesome! They were my first lizards and they are so entertaining to sit and watch and its funny to watch them swim around a bathtub haha. My bf and I are planning on breeding them when they get older to see if we can get color morphs and even if we don't I shall love them all just the same ^_^