Social Communication with Iguanas

Let’s talk about body language shall we, iguanas do not use verbal language to communicate like most species around the world.

But they will use their space around them with various body movements, such as the way they strut and the use of their head bobbing.

In all of my years of owning an iguana, I have heard none vocal sounds except for the odd hiss or heavy breathing.

But I have learned a lot about their body positions and compositions just like a second language, you can almost tell when they want to be left alone or played with as you get to know your iguana overtime.

Social communicating to us in a language iguanas have known best is ultimately up to you to take the time and have the patience to understand what they are saying, and once you gain their language, you can use their “words” to communicate with them.

Posture Is Key for an Iguana

Usually, when you come across an iguana, they will rest flat on their stomachs but in a particular alert posture.

This means that the front part of their bodies will be upon their front legs and the rear part is laying flat on the ground, kind of like a dog.

In this alert position, it would appear that they were awake but often they’re asleep with their eyes closed and overtime their head well slowly touch the floor resting on their legs or on a rock, etc.

We as humans have a term called REM sleep, and that’s when we’re in our deepest sleep, allowing the body to heal itself.

Iguanas have very similar periods of sleep and you can tell that they are in REM sleep when both of their front legs are at their sides and their back legs at the side of their tail.

“The Swimmer Position”

Also, you can tell if you look closely at their eyes, you’ll see that their eyeballs are twice the size under their eyelids and that I cannot explain why it does that it just looks goofy.

A lot of the times when you pet your iguana, they form this Sphinx–like starting position to greet your hands as they arch their heads way back.

A lot of the times if you see two iguanas, rather two male iguanas who have just battled for dominance and territory, you will notice one of them will be in what they call a “surrender” posture.

You will recognize his surrender posture by noticing that the front of the Iguana is flat on the ground with its legs and it slightly raises the rear side of the iguana above the ground.

This signifies to the winning iguana that the subordinate iguana is of no particular competition or threat to them.

Dewlap of the Iguana

So the floppy skin under the iguana’s neck is what you would call a dewlap, there are various functions for this body part such as a communication device, and as a thermal regulator.

It is a sign of non-aggression, non-threat or as a submission when the dewlap is folded up under the jaw, you will see a lot of juvenile iguanas sporting this look.

If the dewlap is just hanging kind of like a curtain, that’s a good sign that your iguana is in a relaxed mood.

When you examine a large green iguana and you look at the dewlap, you see that it is very wide and long; it is almost like a silky feel to it.

Once the dewlap is flared out to its full potential, it is being used offensively or defensively.

Offensively, the green iguana will use its dewlap to warn someone or something that there is a very large iguana here, this is a threatening gesture or a preemptive warning.

If you see an iguana with a tall stance, flared dewlap, compressed body, with erecting the dorsal crest and nuchal, then pretty much walk the other way because that iguana is intently working hard at intimidating you or something.

The iguana may be above or below the object of its focus and intentions, then it will lean or angle in such a way that you will get his or her posture in full effect that of its performance.

I think it’s funny when you’re above them, and they’re trying to lean to make themselves look bigger to you from below and you keep leaning over them, they will continue to lean until they flop over onto their sides.

Do Iguanas Talk The Talk And Walk The Walk

The male iguana does this walk that is trying to be-friend or to seem threatening to humans and other animals.

This is a stylized walk by standing on straightened legs while they puff the body up with air to make it look taller.

The tale is slightly raised up with an arch behind the hind legs and they may sway it from either side while the dewlap is ridged and fully extended outward.

As you approach the iguana, they will lean opposite from you or circle around you to show off the biggest broadside body look that it can.

Eye for an Eye

Another interesting sign of the iguana’s body language is the eye, iguanas can really be expressive with their eyes.

There are terms that we like to use us iguana keepers that involve the eyes of an iguana, such as the stink eye or the iguana glare.

They stink eye is a very good way of keeping us annoying iguana owners in our place especially if the iguana is disgruntled work pissed off.

A very good way to tell if your iguana is comfortable with you is with the eyes, you will notice the eye that’s nearest to you will be closed well the eye farthest from you will be open.

This just means the iguana can truly trust you while keeping the other eye out looking for danger at the same time.

There will also be times when you notice that both eyes are closed well spending time with your iguana, this is just a way for them to escape from the overall excitement, environment, and reality.

You will mostly see this in new juvenile iguanas or perhaps you will see this on exhausted iguanas.

Once the Iguana has become familiar with you and the environment, you rarely see that they close both eyes.

Head Bobbing for Apples or Just Bobbing

Throughout the life of your iguana, you will notice a lot of head-bobbing and this could mean several things, over time you’ll differentiate what they mean.

So the head bobbing could either mean to attract, to repel, bragging, warning, greeting or dismissal.

So the head bobbing can take different forms from trying to communicate with humans and animals.

Some of these forms include:

The Territory Bob – This will have a slight dewlap flare well slightly raising the body from a prone position.

– This will have a slight dewlap flare well slightly raising the body from a prone position. Annoyed Bob – The head bobbing is much faster than the greeting bob and is repeated several times over and over.

– The head bobbing is much faster than the greeting bob and is repeated several times over and over. The Greeting Bob – This bobbing is generally held for a beat or two then bounced up and down a few times with the head swung up.

– This bobbing is generally held for a beat or two then bounced up and down a few times with the head swung up. Shudder Bob – This is the granddaddy of all bobs, it will start with a side-to-side movement of the head as it rapidly shakes and vibrates then being followed by the upswing and bouncing off other bobs.

I find communicating with your iguana using head bobs is fun but you must take caution because if you have some iguanas that are not tame yet, they may interpret that as a sign of territorial or dominance bob.

Also, when you bob or how you bob is very important because if you use the wrong bob in the wrong context, you may incite your iguana to an undesired reaction.

Hissing Is A Thing

Now let’s talk about hissing, hissing is very common with the iguanas, and they hiss by forcing air back into their mouths.

Just like a cat, the iguana will hiss to basically send a warning to whatever object is in its path or to whatever is bothering it.

You will notice a lot of untamed iguanas will hiss if you get near it or try to pick it up, and you will recognize this when the iguana is puffed up, its mouth wide open, and they arch the tongue, etc.

Some iguanas will do a hissing sound with a clicking noise, and it can be loud and very distinct.

If you have just a single iguana in the house, you may never hear the sound but if there is more than one then you will hear them click hissing one another for territorial spots for example, “a particular sleeping spot”.

In everyday life, we as humans will shush one another to soothe or to hush, if you did this to your iguana they may respond differently as in you’re trying to hiss at them, and therefore they may take it the wrong way.



Iguanas respond well to baby talk in my experience the high-pitched, nonsense, soft chatter does well with them.

Let’s say you’re trying to tame a stubborn iguana and you want to get its attention, then you may want to click hiss in yourself combined with an open mouth threat.

Once the Iguana determines that you’re not a predator or whatever that it thinks you are, you can resume your soft, quiet talk.

Now let’s be clear here that this is no quick taming method, but this will definitely break the barrier once they hear you speak their lingo.

The Open Mouth of an Iguana Is No Joke

As you will learn, iguanas have various intimidation techniques there are employed by many snakes and lizards, and the open mouth threat is just one of them.

When you have a 15 plus pound iguana with a wide-open mouth and a crapload of razor-sharp teeth, it is very impressive and no joke.

“I will link a video that will show the damage that these guys can do.”

Get Ready To Rumble!

What About A Slightly Open Mouth

When you see an iguana with a slightly open mouth, it’s not because they are smiling at you, iguanas are incapable of smiling.

This is a sign of aggression or being agitated and unsure of you, so basically this is a form of an alert posture of the iguana.

This form of posture could lead up to a bite, a nip, or a tail thrash just to name a few options.

You will need to determine the behavior of your iguana with its mouth partly open as a sign of something you need to worry about or not.

Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about, the partly open mouth posture could mean several things like is your iguana waiting for food if it’s hand-fed or maybe your iguana is experiencing breathing problems from a respiratory infection.

Another example may be that the environment that your iguana is in could be way too hot and the open mouth situation could mean that your iguana is panting like a dog would do to stay cool as iguanas are incapable of sweating like humans.

Are Iguanas Brainless

I have concluded that most people believe pets are clueless and don’t have brains per se.

In my experience, it took around two years of spending time with my iguana before I started to notice a personality in her.

Iguanas, in fact, are intelligent because they can recognize things in your hands from a distance like food, treats, etc.

I have in the past throwing grapes across the living room and watching my iguana run for them, most people think these creatures just have a pure instinct that they’re incapable of any learning and thinking, etc.

I believe iguanas have the mental capacity of a 2-3-year-old child, and equivalent to a cockatoo.

So just be patient and allow your iguana to show you just how much of a brain they have, it will surprise you.

Try to Think Like An Iguana

Iguanas do what they do with reasons, but these reasons may not be obvious, so dismissing the incident or behaviors could lead to physical harm to your iguana.

Overall, you will need to test the situations, not only the incidents or behaviors but also what events are surrounding it, for example, iguanas can be very sensitive to their humans and react in abnormal behaviors when humans are stressed or out of sorts.

So maybe just take a step back and try to look at things through your iguana’s eyes, through the eyes of a wild creature where everything is a predator to them in a strange place.

So you tell me, is there social communication with iguanas?

Best Way To Set Up Your Iguana Habitat

Iguana Anatomy On The Inside Is Important

Iguana Anatomy On The Outside

I have found more reading into the social aspect of the green iguana below:

Amazing social life of the Green iguana