Re: How to tell a male from a female?

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Posted by aysel on August 04, 2002 at 19:55:18:

In Reply to: How to tell a male from a female? posted by LindsayMarie on August 04, 2002 at 05:48:29:

well, I'm sure I wouldn't wanna get a cold metal rod stuck up that end, either! lol

I've been on a rollercoaster with Tarzan's sexuality that's left me frustrated and compeltely crosseyed I thought he was male, the old vet (key word being old) said he was female, then he starts leaving plugs left and right and just SHOWING THE WORLD that he is male (must've upset him a bit, lol).

One of the things to look for in an iguana is #1, femoral pores. They're one of the first things that help you determine the sex of your iguana. A male typically has large + very noticable femoral pores. (you'd wanna know what femoral pores are, right? they're the waxy plugs on the bottom of the thighs of an iguana) Females have very small, and sometimes even barely visible femoral pores.

Another thing to look for is bumps on the top of the head. Males have two large bumps on the tops of their heads. It is theorized that they store fat in these bumps for the breeding season when they eat little and have all of their energy and hormones focused solely on mating. Females lack these.
Also, Males tend to don large jowls. These look like big 'ol cheeks. Females again, lack these. In general, a female iguana's head is sleaker (sp?) than the males. Male iguanas have a bulky figure all together. They have massive heads and usually have large spikes.

At the latter end of the iguana, another indication of sex is the hemipenal bulge at the base of the tail. Male Iguana's have this, simply because, they have hemipenes! (yep, thats plural. Iguana's have two penis') And for obvious reasons, females lack this bulge.

In early stages of development, male iguana's can only be determined as male by a few methods: Femoral Pores, everting their hemipenes, and probing.

Sometimes we are so dead set on believing that our iguana's are a certain sex that we completely ignore the signs they give us. Then, one day, you either find yourself with a gravid female or a very ornery male. Neither of which are completely pleasant to deal with, from what I hear. (luckily, Tarzans first breeding season was only noted by seminal plugs and orangey hues )

If you have a young and immature iguana (not in the sense of attitude, silly!), then you'll have to just wait for the sexually mature signs to show up. If not, its pretty easy to determine what sex an adult iguana is if you know what you're looking for

PHOOEY! looks like I got WAY too carried away with this topic, lol.

I hope this helps in some way or another.

I've attatched a link to a helpful website for some further reading and photos.

(the images used in this post are from + COPYRIGHT deviantart.com ...just so you know!)

sexing Iguana's

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