Chester Zoo 

Lesser Antilles Iguana

A fascinating feature of this reptile is its ability to change colour. Dominant males will turn from green to dark grey and in the mating season their jowls will flush pink and the scales on the sides of their face will turn pale blue. Males also have enlarged scales along their backs and spikes on the dewlap – the loose fold of skin at the throat. The most dominant male in a locality is a darker grey than the rest. Females have a bright green body, pale head and brown tail. Young iguanas are also bright green, with the addition of white flashes from the jaw to the shoulder line and three vertical white bars on their sides. They also have brown flashes which go darker in times of stress in a bid to camouflage themselves. As they get older the white flashes fade, tails start to turn brown from the tip upwards and iguanas lose their ability to change colour.

What they eat

Nuts, fruits, flowers, leaves; they will also eat meat opportunistically.

How long they live

Up to 25 years.

Biology

When competing for females, male iguanas stage elaborate contests, involving males pushing each other in a head on challenge, with their tails arched. Each dominant male controls a territory of up to seven females, warning other males off by bobbing its head up and down. Females will scour the region for the most favourable warm and sandy nest site, sometimes laying eggs 900 metres away from ‘base’. They lay between eight and 18 eggs in a dug-out about a metre long and ending in a chamber big enough for the female to turn around in. Eggs incubate in the sun’s heat for three months before the young hatch and disperse into surrounding vegetation. The reproduction process is carefully timed to ensure seasonal plant growth and, therefore, food is at its must abundant for the hatchlings. They reach sexual maturity at about three years of age.

Did you know?

When two male Lesser Antillean Iguanas are kept together in an enclosure one will quickly display the traditional characteristics of ‘dominant male’, but if he is moved to another location, the remaining iguana will change colour and ‘upgrade’ its appearance to take on the traits of dominance which were previously the preserve of its one time companion.