A handful of hatchlings or a clutch of eggs in your bank is next year's colony. Here's how to handle them — and what Florida law actually allows.
Finding little green hatchlings scurrying through the shrubs, or turning up a clutch of leathery eggs while you're gardening near the seawall, is one of those moments that decides your next summer. It's easy to shrug off — they're small and kind of cute — but a female green iguana lays a big clutch, and left alone those become the colony that undermines your bank a year or two from now. This is the single best time to get ahead of the problem.
It also raises the question people are least sure about: what are you actually allowed to do? So let's cover both the practical and the legal side.
Why hatchlings and eggs matter so much
One female can lay a large clutch — commonly cited around 20 to 70 eggs — into soft, sun-warmed ground like a canal bank, seawall backfill, or a bed against a foundation. She doesn't tend them; they incubate underground on their own for weeks and then hatch. That means a single successful nest on your property isn't one iguana next year, it's potentially dozens, and a handful of those reach breeding size themselves.
That's the whole reason spring nesting is the leverage point of the iguana year. Dealing with the eggs or the fresh hatchlings now is a fraction of the work of chasing a summer full of fast, wary juveniles across the yard later.
What Florida law allows
Green iguanas are an invasive, non-native species in Florida and aren't protected, which means you're permitted to remove them — including hatchlings and eggs — humanely from your own property year-round without a permit. What you can't do is relocate and release live iguanas elsewhere; that isn't legal. And anything you do dispatch has to be done humanely.
The humane-handling requirement is exactly where most people get uncomfortable, and it's a big reason folks call us to deal with a clutch or a batch of hatchlings rather than do it themselves.
The practical steps
If you've found them, the goal is to remove the young and the eggs and then close the nesting burrow so the same spot isn't reused. Speed matters with hatchlings — they scatter into the shrubs and the water fast.
- Note where the nest or the hatchlings are concentrated — usually a burrow in a sunny bank or bed.
- Wear gloves; even tiny iguanas carry salmonella.
- Don't relocate and release them — that's not legal, so have a plan or call before you start.
- Once the eggs and young are removed, collapse and pack the nesting burrow properly so it isn't reused.
- Check the surrounding bank for other test-holes and diggings from the same female.
When to call
A clutch of eggs, a wave of hatchlings, or fresh diggings all over the bank in spring is a good time to bring us in, because this is the moment that decides whether you spend the summer fighting a population spike. We'll remove the young and eggs, collapse the nesting burrows, and read the bank for the adult female or two that put them there. The property walk is free, single visits start at $189, and spring waterfront pressure often suits a monitored program from $99 a month with no lock-in.
Questions we hear
Is it legal to remove iguana eggs or hatchlings in Florida?
Yes. Green iguanas are invasive and unprotected, so you can humanely remove them — eggs and hatchlings included — from your own property year-round without a permit. You cannot relocate and release live iguanas elsewhere, and any dispatch must be humane, which is why many people prefer to hand a clutch off to us.
How many eggs does an iguana lay?
A single female commonly lays a large clutch — often cited around 20 to 70 eggs — into soft, sunny ground like a canal bank or seawall backfill, then leaves them to incubate underground on their own. That's why one undisturbed nest can turn into dozens of iguanas, and why acting on eggs or hatchlings early is so valuable.
Should I just leave the hatchlings alone since they're small?
No — small now means a colony later. Hatchlings den in the same banks the adults use and grow into next year's breeders, so leaving them is how a 'few iguanas' becomes a bank full by the following summer. Removing them and collapsing the nesting burrow now is far less work than a summer-long chase.
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