How to Find a Lost Iguana?

JUST LIKE THAT!  You turn your back and your iguana is gone and you’ll never know how hard it could be to find him until he is disappeared from view. 

Iguanas naturally just blend into their environment so well, and they instinctively know how to hide, right in plain sight. Yes, you can be looking right at him and if your eye is not trained, you’ll miss him. I can tell you one thing, he can see you, his eyes are on you.

Steps to Find a Lost Iguana

Here is a roadmap to finding your lost iguana. Remember, it’s not an easy process, and it’s totally fine to feel overwhelmed. But trust me, stay persistent, keep your spirits up, and before you know it, you’ll have your iguana back safe and sound.

1. Immediate Actions

First things first, close off all exits from your home to ensure that if your iguana is still inside, they don’t venture out. Check all the rooms and especially look out for warm, humid, and dark places – our scaley friends love those spots!

2. Searching the House and Yard

Iguanas are experts at hide-and-seek, particularly favoring high spaces. Look up in closets, on bookshelves, and even behind curtains. Remember how Iggy loved sunbathing by the window? Yeah, they can get creative. When searching your yard, check trees, shrubs, and garden sheds. I once found my Iggy lounging in the gutter, enjoying the warmth!

3. Check the Plants

For a more knowledgeable, older iguana, the first thing on the list is to explore the area to taste and find new food. If confined to an outdoor cage, they have been looking at the yard, staring at those delicious looking treats out of their reach.  They will be looking for flowers and delicate greens. Look for trampled leaves and half eaten vegetation.

4. Engaging the Neighborhood and Community

Now, this might feel a bit awkward, but you’ll be surprised how helpful people can be when there’s a missing pet involved. Knock on doors, hand out flyers with your iguana’s picture, and a way to contact you. You might even get a few interesting pet stories along the way.

Don’t spare a moment, put a flyer on your neighbor’s doorsteps and on a telephone pole so that everyone can see coming and going. Make sure people know and if they see him, who to call.

5. Utilizing Social Media and Online Platforms

Post about your lost iguana on your social media accounts and ask your friends to share it. Join local community groups on platforms like Facebook, Nextdoor, and even on specific reptile forums. When my iguana vanished, it was a tip from a fellow reptile enthusiast online that led me to her favorite sunning spot!

6. Reaching Out to Local Animal Shelters, Vets, and Pet Stores

Contact your local animal shelter and nearby vet clinics. They often have a lost and found pet system in place. Let pet stores in your area know about your missing iguana too. Who knows? Someone might come in looking for iguana supplies after having found one.

7. Think About Their Personality

Is your iguana happy, sad, adventurous, outgoing, shy, or lonely, what will motivate them, put yourself in their shoes, and what would you want to do first?

Are they usually confined and not happy with their “territory”?  Have they been forced to be in a  small area for a very long time? (SHAME ON YOU!  Give up your iguana if you cannot care for it properly and give it love and attention).

A confined iguana is more timid and unsure, and most will limit its travels to a smaller area. They will be more likely to hide in order to escape and will have the patience of a saint in order to avoid being returned to the life they had worked so long to escape from.

8. Think Like an Iguana

Are they brave and inquisitive?  Have they been outside before?  Are they content and happy with their life?

If they have, they will be more confident, most probably they will climb high and be more adventurous, exploring the yard and possibly the neighbors as well. They will be looking up, trying to find a tree that is to their liking.  They will be looking at fences to climb up and over, so look for claw marks all the way around.

In the day they may stay at the top of a tree. Many iguanas go up a tree and then either find that they are unsure on how to come down, or maybe they just like it up there, I really can’t say. So they stay up there for a very long time, going without food and water, just content to be free and watching life go by.

At night, they find shelter within the branches. His weight will bend the branch and with the wind blows it will move less than the others, so keep that in mind as you walk the neighborhood. Think: “Is the tree comfortable? Are the limbs big enough to rest on without effort?”

The times an iguana moves on a normal day is about 10 am when it begins to warm and he seeks sun, 2 pm when he becomes warm enough to look for food to eat, and 4 pm when he seeks nighttime shelter.  Those times should be adjusted to the weather and length of days, but you get the idea, THINK LIKE AN IGUANA.

Keep in mind that an iguana is cold-blooded, a cold iguana doesn’t move.  So the temperature plays a crucial role in his well-being. So as the sun rises and he begins to warm, he will seek out the sunshine, either moving to the top of a tree or finding a  patio, rocks, or asphalt.  This will be the time to hang out, sit still, watch, and listen for rustling.

Young iguanas are more fearful and inexperienced at finding food. Freedom is wonderful, but when they don’t get fed, they really don’t know how to forage yet.  They make less movement in the trees and bushes, some go high, some stay low, and once in the yard they will be very hard to spot. If you lost a small baby or juvenile, they are the most difficult to find and especially to catch. It will take a lot of time and patience, but you can do it.

9. Let Your Iguana Find You

The best way to find a lost iguana is to have them find you.  Running your fountain or pond, making it splash with water noise will definitely get his attention, and putting out food, colorful and fragrant cantaloupe will tempt them. 

Be present in the yard. Sing and call sweetly to him, mornings, afternoons, and especially in the evenings. In about a week, he will be desperate for food and water and should be looking for food. Hang out when the sun warms up about 10 am – 2 pm and you will be more likely to find them foraging around.

If you are lucky you will spot them on a  contrasting color, like warming on the pavement, or on a bare branch.

10. How to Catch Your Iguana

Now, you see him!  Just how do you catch a fast iggie? I find the best way is not to approach him,  just watch him from a distance. Watch and wait to see where he goes. Once you think he has found a “resting” spot,  go search out the area. 

Better to have friends with you, the more eyes to search and watch the perimeter the better. Carefully comb the area, looking in branches that would be the right size for his little body. If you find him and he is hard to get to, consider waiting it out until the sun goes down and the temperature drops.

Iguanas don’t see well in low light and are calmer to catch at night and in the early dawn. It is also easier to catch an iguana in a tree than on the ground.

My Babe was a male iguana.  I believe the males are more territorial. Once they have explored their territory, marked it, and are completely happy with calling it their own, they are more likely to stay and protect it.

At first, I let Babe explore his territory, spending an hour a day letting him roam free under my watchful eye, getting down on his level, laying on the ground, and seeing the world thru his eyes.  At first, he would get away from me and the words “Babe’s missing again” became a mantra. 

A search of each square foot of the house and the yard was done repeatedly. But after some time, he became trustworthy. By the time he was 5, I could leave him out all day and he would stay in his territory. That is the key, letting them “claim” their territory. 

A territory to protect, to guard, male iguanas take the task to heart, it is what they do, it is their nature. Babe had two territories, one in my house and one in my parent’s house.

My parent’s yard has 1/3 of an acre.  He knew all “his favorite spots” all the way in and out of the house in both locations. He played all day and came in on his own at night, though sometimes, on warm summer nights, he preferred camping out. But I could never sleep without my” Babe” by my side, so camping out was not allowed!

Gaining the trust of an adult iguana and having a true bond of love and respect is the key to allowing them the freedom they deserve. It takes time, a lot of time, and patience, so much patience. 

Owning an iguana has to be a labor of love. Iguanas are not something that you can just put in an enclosure and feed. They have dreams and desires and naturally want to explore and have fun, just like we do. 

Once given proper instruction and training, they will be able to flourish in the sun, at times hiding in the bushes and difficult to find, but still in their territory, just hanging out as lizards do. Iguanas don’t seem to have a sense of humor, but when it came to playing hide and seek, Babe seemed to enjoy my antics of searching for him, I think he found it amusing and yes, funny, as he would watch me search him out,  It think it fed his lizard ego, watching me spending hours of my time, devoted to finding him.