Lighting
In the wild, Iguanas spend most of their day basking in the sun. Natural sunlight is the best thing for their skin. I've been told that it's like vitamins for their skin.
Natural Sunlight
In natural sunlight there is a certain spectrum of ultra violet light that is necessary for iguana's to metabolize calcium. See the "food" page to find out more about their calcium needs. You can use an outdoor cage when it's warm and sunny enough. I live in Connecticut, so when it's too cold for him to be outside, special lighting gives him the "UVB" he needs.
Florescent Lighting
For my iguana, I use a 5.0 UVB florescent light from ZOO MED. You can get this at most pet stores. The only problem is that an iguana would have to spend 10-12 hours within a range of 6-12 inches from the bulb in order to receive enough UVB. As you can clearly see, natural sunlight, which would do the job in only a few hours, is a preferable choice. If your florescent light fixture comes with a plastic cover, remove it. The UVB won't pass through it and it will be useless. These Florescent bulbs, even if they still illuminate, are no good to your iguana after 1 year. I know this is a short life span, and can become costly, but you must commit to this if you plan to have an iguana that doesn't have access to natural sunlight everyday.
Windows
You can also put your iguana in a window on a warm day. The window would have to be up as the spectrum of UV he needs will not pass through ordinary glass, or plastic.
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