At 6.5 feet in length, green iguanas are among the largest
lizards in the Americas. Their tails, which make up almost half
of their length, can be used to deter predators and will detach
if they are caught. Iguanas can regenerate their tails. Green
iguanas are primarily herbivores and spend the majority of their
time in the wild in the canopy of trees eating leaves and fruit.
Because iguanas don't hatch with the proper bacteria in their
stomachs to digest plant material, they need to eat leaves with
droppings from adult iguanas in order to ingest the bacteria.
While they are extremely agile and quick on land, green iguanas
are also excellent swimmers and will jump into water to avoid
predators. Females generally lay up to 65 eggs about 65 days
after mating, but they can store sperm for quite a long time,
allowing them to fertilize eggs at a later date. The eggs are
deposited into nests in the ground. Mothers do not care for
their young. Instead, juvenile green iguanas are independent
from the time they hatch.