Wondered Why Iguanas Change Colors?
Why do they change colors? Well it’s because of the environment playing a huge role in the process. Those colors on Iguanas mimic the rain forests of Northern Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean islands, and Southern Brazil. Iguanas start off green at birth and hide high up in the trees on thin branches between foliage. As they grow they move onto thicker branches with less foliage because their color changes from bright green to grayish – brown, so on and so forth. And you guessed it, their color changes to protect them predators.
When Iguanas are cold, they usually turn black, and that’s a sign of temperature changing and they need to find somewhere that is much warmer to setup camp. The species are temporarily yellow and orange during mating season and most of the time will turn back green after the season. They turn a noticeably light green to even white color when they get too hot. During that process they often open their mouths in an attempt to cool down. If you have a pet Iguana and this happens, remove it from the heat source and offer him water. Many owners who confirmed that their iguanas overheated at least once and thereafter always moved away from the heat source before it happened. A male Iguana in season is dangerous and you cannot dominate him or any reason! Something as simple as the change in the environment can even cause stress and they HATE change! Did you know that Iguanas have mood swings like us, the only difference is that they change colors. The moral to this story is, if one Iguana is having a bad day, everyone can see it.
