Know More About Desert Iguana

The desert iguana is a very common animal in many deserts. It has been mostly spotted by people in their backyards or found concealing itself behind the large rocks. The main food of desert iguana is flowers and leaves of many bushes. In order to control its body temperature, it will change its color from gray to clear white. It will have a darkest color in the morning when it is cold and gradually it turns its color to whitish in the afternoon to avoid feeling very hot.

The scientific name for the desert iguana is dispsosaurus dorsalis. It is most commonly found in Mojave deserts of South Eastern California, Southwest Utah, Sonoran deserts, Southern Nevada, California, Baja, Northeast Mexico ,South Central Arizona, and gulf of California Islands. It is fond of living in sandy and arid dwellings, generally under creosote bushes and rocks as its shelter. Desert Iguana makes it habitat in abandoned burrows of kangaroo rats. In southern parts, it is mostly found in deciduous forests or subtropical areas.

Desert Iguana Features:

Matured desert iguana is between 10 inch and 16 inch in length. It has a roundish and large body and a long tail. It has a brownish head with a special reddish brown outline like a net. The trunk and the neck have a tan and grayish spots over it. Its tail also has a few whitish and grayish spots. Desert iguana climbs up the bushes in extreme hot days to find solace in cooler places. However, it can sustain to be active even at 115 degrees Fahrenheit in the hot desert climate.

The desert iguana mostly finds refuge in bushes and it is lives on vegetables, fruits, buds, flowers and leaves of perennial and annual plants found in the desert. It is categorized as herbivores. It relishes the yellow flowers on creosote bush. It is also known to eat the insects, worms and feces of desert lizards, mammals as well of carrion.

The desert iguana can move very fast. You may spot them often crossing the roads or running ahead of your car. They possess powerful hind legs to move swiftly. Foxes, weasels, rats, bird of prey, snakes and human beings are their enemies. Most of the animals destroy or eat their eggs. The desert iguana is not and endangered species.

The Breeding Season

During middle of the month of March, the desert iguanas begin to get out from the long period of hibernation. They have their breeding season during April and May. The female desert iguana lays eggs, which they hatch in July and August Throughout the entire breeding season, the adult desert iguanas will have pink stomach during the breeding season on the sides.