Taming an Iguana

Im interested in getting an Iguana, I know they can be tamed so they can be part of the "family" one could say. Any idea on how to go about this?

You should rephrase that to read "Some can be tamed"...and even then they may not be good with everybody. I'll let the iguana fans take over from here, but it's a process.

Well Ive read that as long as you are social with it and let it roam around your room once and a while, they can be tamed. I figured not ALL of them could be tamed.....

Step 1 is getting them to the point where they aren't afraid of you. Lots of gently handling, and handfeeding special treats helps.
Keep in mind that when you let it roam, it will likely do things like climb the curtains and/or furniture, defecate on the carpet (or down the curtains - ewww!), knock things over, etc. And if you have any other loose pets, it could get interesting.
Oh, and male iguanas have a tendency to be aggressive toward women during "that time"

I have to say something here. I have a male iguana that I've had since I was 10 years old. He hasn't had a cage since he was 2. When he was a year old, yeah, he had his aggressive behavior, but ever since then, he's like a cow. He's never bitten or whipped anyone. And btw, I'm a chick, and I don't buy that mestrual aggression thing. He's great around my daughter and niece. The only person he's ever hissed at was the mailman through the livingroom window.
My parents bought him a Natuzzi recliner all for him (which you can see him sitting on in the pic below). That's where his lights are set up and that's where he is about 60% of the day. He is potty trained (a kitty litter pan), and once was literally potty trained (a little kids training potty) until he outgrew it. He has a heated sleeping bag that he goes to sleep in. He has been hands down the best pet I have ever owned.

How did we tame him? A lot of time and patience. Of course being a 10 yr old kid, I had plenty of time to spend with him. When he threw a tantrum, we didn't put him down, we just held him until he stopped. He hasn't done that in over 12 years. He's always had plenty of attention and is calm around anyone, even little kids. He doesn't squirm when picked up, so he doesn't scratch anyone.

Sorry if I'm being a little defensive, but all I seem to read on these forums is how horrible iguanas are. I'm starting to feel like an iguana advocate. I know of at least 3 other people who have raised their igs the same way with the same results.

Nothing to be defensive about, I have been a part of a few threads here, so I will have your back. In my case, I rescue one iguana at a time, I used to have a few at once but it was too crowded so I now have my "one only" limit. I have many friends with iguanas, some so tame that you can just about step on them they they do not move.

So from my experience I will share some insight. Iguanas are great pets and can be extremely social around people. I have had iguanas sit on my lap for hours sleeping while I petted them. It does take a lot of patients, but I think they are somewhat similar to boas, when they hit maturity they do seem to settle down a lot. With a lot of patience and gentle handling, many will calm down and be as big of a sap as cats that want attention. Three rules do apply to iguanas 1) patience 2) PATIENCE 3)PATIENCE

On to the dark side, which is usually the iguanas I take in. Mean as all get out, I have been bitten by iguanas, whipped, scratched, pooped on, and charged at by them. A very interesting thing about iguanas that are similar to a lot of birds, some are gender sensitive. I have had some that will not let me touch them, but my wife can handle them without a fuss. Also I have seen this same reaction with me being able to handle them and my wife cannot.

Being as I have dealt mostly with adults, I would not be surprised if this is a post traumatic stress thing, they may have been abuse by one gender and loved by the other.

My current iguana, the local animal shelter called us up wanting to know if we can take her in. She had just arrived and was very aggressive, the shelter was only going to give her 3 days to settle down or they were going to put her down(though they give cats and dogs almost 3 weeks, go figure). When we picked her up she was not happy at all, she was in a large bird cage with the bottom being full of water, which she could not reach because of the metal bars on the floor keeping her away from it. She was so dark that she was almost black, aggressive is a nice term to use describing her. We believe she is about 10 years old and was probably never handled.

So the learning of us and her started. We have a large cage we kept her in for a while, I was not able to open the door without her wanting to kill me with her tail. I only reached in to give her fresh food and water. After about one month she decided I was not too bad, I always had fresh food and water for her. Instead of putting in a bowl full of food, I started breaking it up in front of her and placing it in her food dish, this moved up to her allowing me to hand her the food. She then would not eat unless I handed it to her, I though "what a spoiled little brat" But it was so much fun to do every day.

I upgraded her to a large dog kennel, she has a lot of room now to move around and bars to climb(they love to climb), I gave her a perch with heat and I cut up a old bathroom rug that was soft and fuzzy, now her favorite spot in the world. She still loves when I hand feed her. One month ago, she allowed me to take her out and and hold her on my shoulder, a first for the two of us, this led to allowing her to run around the room and chase the cats(she has become friends with one of them).

I was always gentle and I was always around, I always had something good for her when I opened the door. When she sees me in the kitchen she automatically jumps(literally) to the door of her cage because she knows I have food for her. We are not quite ready for her to run free outside her cage, but we are getting close, we keep her under supervision and she hates when I put her back. Her color is now a perfect green with black stripes at the base of her body as she should be. We have had her for six-eight months now.

In time, just about any iguana can be tame.

Thank you! Finally someone else understands that igs aren't vicious animals. I am constantly getting yelled at for allowing my ig to be around me 3 yr old daughter, people telling me that iguanas are unpredictable. I'm sorry, but after 16 yrs of having an animal, you should know what his habits are, although I still do supervise, mostly for the iguana's safety. When my daughter was maybe 1, she patted my ig a little too hard. All he did was lick her forehead. He didn't even react to the occasion tail pull and what-not. He's a good boy, more than I can say about some dogs I know.

Ahh, a forehead lick! Nothing funnier than an ig licking you, I think it is a way of expression for igs like dogs. Mine loves to lick the cat, we have three cats, but she has decided the long hair one is her favorite Maybe he tastes better?

Just for the record - I very much understand that iguanas are not vicious animals...but I have seen both sides of the coin. I only made one comment regarding aggression, and you have chosen to discount it...your option, of course. I will say that when I was active in the local herp society, that was the chief complaint about the majority of the males turned in. And I have had the same story related to me times uncountable during presentations, lectures, displays, etc. So the tendency is there...but should it be attributed to the specific iguanas, or the specific women?????

Originally Posted by Junkyard

Ahh, a forehead lick! Nothing funnier than an ig licking you, I think it is a way of expression for igs like dogs. Mine loves to lick the cat, we have three cats, but she has decided the long hair one is her favorite Maybe he tastes better?

My ig has become friends with one of my cats. He'll sleep right next him. I think it's just because cats are like little heaters though.