Once you've selected the materials for your habitat, the next thing you'll need to pay attention to is that of venting it. Ventilation is important for any living animal, as you can imagine. If you place it in the right location, you are sure to keep your heat and humidity in, and allow for good air circulation at the same time.



When venting your habitat, don't place large vents at the top of your habitat because this will allow for too much heat to escape. You also don't want to have large areas of venting because this causes drafts which also make it harder to maintain the right heat within the habitat. Even still, you need to maintain the humidity and heat without having to have your home at these extreme temperatures. Venting locations can be placed in a number of locations. In fact, you should place several in specific areas for optimal ventilation for your iguana.

First, place a small one near the top. You don't want to allow a lot of heat to escape, but some venting in this area is important nevertheless. Next, you'll want another one located under the main basking area within the habitat. Remember, this is going to be the location in which your iguana can rest and just bask in the heat.

For the largest ventilation area, head towards the bottom. You really want to keep it near the bottom to allow minimal heat loss but to provide a good amount of ventilation at this point. The reason for this positioning is simple.

Heat rises. Depending on where exactly your place your heating source, you'll want the air to be pulled upward as it naturally will. Then, it can go out towards the first vent which is located under your basking point, or go up and out the top. Without the top vent there, you'll have a pocket of heated air that can become stagnate.

Getting your ventilation is the next step. One of the best ways to do this is to use a vent that is made for venting. Use heating vent covers, for example. This way, you can adjust the amount of ventilation that you want. You can put in more vents then you need and then adjust them later. When you buy these, insure that the edges are kept rounded as not to harm the iguana.

You can also vent your habitat with other, simpler means. For example, you can drill holes the size of no more than 3/4 of an inch in diameter through the areas that you will position. Or, cut out an area and attach hardware cloth over the top of it.

You can make your vents any way that you want to. The goal is to provide you with the most flexibility when it comes to venting the habitat. Remember, putting more into the design and construction is fine as long as you have a way to close or open them as needed.

One final note, make sure that however you install the vents to do so in such a way as a climbing iguana won't be able to actually open or close the vent.