Re: Help With Research Project

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Posted by PH Meliss on December 08, 2002 at 12:51:27:

In Reply to: Help With Research Project posted by EBolian on December 07, 2002 at 18:40:48:

Ed, have you read biologist Gordon Rodda's study correlating SVL with dorsal (or was it nuchal?) spike height and femoral pore diameter? (1991. Sexing Iguana iguana. Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 26(8):173). He worked in the field, examining wild iguanas. He found that the earliest visual sexing could be done was at 8" SVL. There's some more data on size and sexual maturity in some of the chapters on green igs in Iguanas of the World: Their behavior, ecology and conservation (Gordon Burghardt & A. Stanley Rand, eds), such as Harris's The phenology, growth, and survival of the Green Iguana, Iguana iguana, in Northern Columbia.

Are you recording the SVL of the iguanas in your study group and in the data you are requesting from others? Since iguana tail length naturally varies from 2 (usually 2.5)-3 x body length, going just by STL alone is going to skew the data as an iguana who is 8" SVL may be anywhere from 24-32" SVL.

FWIW, from the time I started working with iguanas, especially doing rescue and education, I've only encountered a couple of individuals, out of literally hundreds, that I've not been able to accurately assess at 8" or over 1 year old (as some poorly cared for igs may be less than 8" by the time they are one year).

I'm with Iguana Joe on gender not really mattering when it comes to choosing an iguana for a pet, especially if it is going to be the only iguana someone has at any given time. Both sexes come complete with their own sets of sex-linked behavior and health issues, so one isn't any more or less work or problem than the other. If one already has an iguana and is thinking of getting a second one, knowing the sex of the second one is one of the criterion important to the decision-making process, but not a fool-proof way of avoiding problems. Two females may not get along together, and some females are more territorial than males, so while one can make some assumptions based on males and females in general, one still needs to be prepared to house each iguana properly and completely separate from all the other iguanas if they decide to get more than one.

All that being said, it will be interesting to see what you come up with! ;)

--
PH Meliss
Pet Hobbyist Volunteer * Iguana Forum
Iguanas for Dummies
Anapsid.org: Herp & Green Iguana Care, Herp Societies/Rescues & Vets

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