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1.) Make sure the iguana's enclosure is in a quiet room of the house, ideally a backroom or bedroom. Keeping a new iguana in a high traffic area of the house is counterproductive; people walking to and fro in front of the cage will stress it out.
2.) Try not to handle the iguana unless necessary for the first week or so. Let it adjust to its new surroundings.
3.) After a week or so, start the interaction process by leaving your hand inside the enclosure for several moments. This is to get the iguana used to being in close proximity. It may be ideal to do this around feeding time, so he will begin to associate you as the "food bringer." Note: DO NOT pick up the iguana at this time!
4.) Somewhere in this period, the objective is to get close enough to your iggy that he may even hop into your open palm. Note: grabbing the lizard from above is counterproductive. Baby lizards instinctually run away from things from above as a defense.
5.) hoepfully by a couple weeks, the iguana trusts you enough to climb on your hand/arm within the cage. Let him do this, but leave your hand/arm inside the enclosure.
6.) Week 4-5? -starting handling your iguana outside of the cage, but in the same room with no one else around.
....from there, each week, you can systematically start adding more into the room and start moving into other more active parts of the house. Eventually, the iguana will grow accustomed to being around other people.
Another tip during the "taming" process is to wrap up the iguana in a small towel, and turn him upside down in your lap, and talk to him in soft voices. IN theory, this technique helps enforce the idea into the lizard's head that while you can overpower him, you do not intend him harm, while also getting him used to your voice. Never tried this, but I have heard it works well.
Hope all that helps. Taming one of the most behaviorally-problematic lizards out there is no easy task, especially when the goal is to have a family-friendly 5-ft lizard. Remember that every iguana has a different personality and some never seem to like being handled. Kinda like cats; some are lapcats, and others are perfectly content being stroked while lounging on top of the couch. As the late Bert Langerwerf said, "Let the lizards be lizards." Do not force your iguana to do something it doesn't want to do or be something its not. ALthough movies and television depict otherwise, iguanas will NEVER be as tame as a dog.
I certainly hope you have done your research, and I REALLY hope this is not your first pet reptile. Green iguanas, IMHO, are not for beginners. They get large FAST. Glass tanks do not cut it.
Also do not be surprised if after a year or so, your little iguana starts reverting to the ornery, moody, tail-whipping mouth-gaping terror you brought home from the pet store. At about the 2 yr mark, iguanas hit sexual maturity, and all the new hormones can throw you all for a loop. Most inexperienced iggy keepers assume this phase will go away on its own, and do not handle their iggy. Mistake. The behavior only gets worse, and before long, you have a 6-foot green monster that no one wants to get near. You MUST continue routinely handling your iggy during this time.
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Help taming an iggy
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