If you have any experience with iguanas, you know they do a lot of funky things but you hardly ever see them blink. This makes a lot of people think whether iguanas blink at all! At one point, I was thinking of the same thing. So, I decided to sit down with my iguana for one whole day to observe whether it blinks. Here is what I’ve found.
Iguanas do blink but not very often. Unlike humans and a lot of other animals, iguanas don’t have to blink every few seconds to keep their eye healthy, moist, and comfortable.
Even though iguanas don’t blink very often, it is still an important feature for iguanas. What most people don’t know is that iguanas actually have 3 eyes and only 2 of them blink. The third eye doesn’t blink at all.
Why Do Iguanas Blink?
Iguanas blink to clean their eyes from irritants such as dirt and other foreign objects. Another reason is if they have an injury to their eyes. They would constantly blink because they feel uncomfortable.
Iguanas Blinking In The Wild
In the wild, iguanas are preyed upon by snakes and big birds such as hawks, owls, and eagles. They need to look out for them constantly and be aware all the time. Even though iguanas have great eyesight, blinking too often can be fatal to their survival.
However, during night time when iguanas go to sleep, they completely shut their eyes. This is where the third eye comes into play in protecting them from predators. In low light conditions, iguanas’ eyesight worsens a lot.
They depend on their third eye, on top of their head, to detect any change of movements and run away immediately when they detect any predators.
How Often Do Iguanas Blink?
There is really no definitive answer to this question when I searched for it on the internet. However, from my own experiment of observing my pet iguana, they seem to blink once every minute or so. It is not always the same though. Sometimes my iguana only blinks once every few minutes.
When talking to my friend (who owns multiple iguanas) about this, he told me that iguanas in the wild usually blink a lot less. The reason for this is because in captivity, the environment is very safe and the iguana knows it.
Blinking more often in captivity is normal since your iguana feels relaxed and knows that it’s not in danger. This will take some time for your iguana to achieve this level of trust.
Iguanas Blinking A Lot
If you ever notice your iguana is blinking a lot, it is usually not a good sign. What I mean by a lot is blinking every few seconds or so.
If this habit continues for a prolonged period of time (a day or 2), then you should bring your iguana to the vet. There could be some underlying eye issues that you are not aware of.
Most of the time, it is nothing to worry about. It’s most likely some dirt or dust that got into its eyes. In that case, you should gently clean your iguana’s eyes.
Cleaning Iguana’s Eyes
To clean your iguana’s eyes, you should flush it lightly with saline or an antimicrobial reptile eyewash just like this one (#ad). This will remove any dirt or foreign object that could be in its eyes.
Before doing that, you could also give your iguana a bath with just plain water. The water could also help rinse any dirt or dust out of your iguana’s eyes if you prefer not to use any special solution.
Make sure not to use soap when doing this as it could irritate the eyes which is the opposite of what you want.
Iguanas Blinking Only One Eye
Believe it or not, iguanas actually can control each eye one at a time just like humans. Seeing an iguana blinking just one eye is quite a rare occasion but it does happen. The most common reason is again, having dirt or other foreign objects in that particular eye.
On the other hand, if the iguana is closing one eye and keeping the other one open, it is shutting out whatever is facing that side. Let’s say you are standing next to your iguana and it shuts one eye on you, keeping the other open, it wants you to go away.
In the wild, iguanas will do this to other iguanas that are acting aggressively. This is a way of relieving stress: “you can’t bother me if I can’t see you.” This is especially normal with new iguanas.
Conclusion
Iguanas do blink but not as often as humans and many other animals. Blinking more often can be a sign that it’s getting comfortable in its surroundings and there is trust built up.
However, blinking too much could be a bad sign. Most of the time it’s because of having irritants in their eyes. If this issue doesn’t go away after the eyes are cleaned, bring it to the vet for some medical attention immediately.
