Green iguanas are primarily herbivores. They favor flowers, fruit, and soft new growth, and they'll graze fresh turf and the tender tips of ornamentals. On a well-kept South Florida property, the landscaping itself is the main attraction — a manicured yard on the Intracoastal is, from an iguana's point of view, a stocked salad bar with a seawall to den under.
They do take other foods opportunistically, and they'll happily clean up fallen fruit, spilled birdseed, or pet food left outside. But the core of the problem is that the plants people plant here for color and lushness are exactly the plants iguanas most want to eat.
What they hit hardest in Palm Beach County
Certain plants show up again and again in iguana complaints because they're both common in local landscaping and high on the iguana menu. If your yard leans on flowering tropicals, expect grazing pressure.
- Hibiscus and bougainvillea flowers and buds
- Orchids and other soft-petaled ornamentals
- Tender new growth on shrubs and ground cover
- Fresh turf and low leafy greens
- Fallen fruit and, opportunistically, pet food or birdseed left out
Why food management is part of the fix
Because the landscaping is the draw, food-source management is a real lever in prevention. Thinning or caging the plants iguanas target, choosing less palatable species for exposed beds, and not leaving fallen fruit or pet food out all make a yard less inviting. None of that is glamorous, but it changes the daily reason an iguana climbs your seawall.
On its own, changing the menu rarely clears an established property — the animals are already there and the burrows are already dug. Combined with removal and burrow collapse, though, cutting the food and cover is what makes the fix last instead of resetting every few weeks. Nick usually frames it as making the property boring: no easy food, no easy cover, no reason to stay.
Common questions
Do iguanas eat my flowers on purpose?
Effectively yes — flowers and tender new growth are exactly what they seek out. Gardens full of hibiscus and bougainvillea are among the most common iguana complaints we get in Palm Beach County, because those plants are right at the top of the iguana menu.
Will removing plants get rid of iguanas?
It helps but rarely solves it alone. Cutting the food and cover reduces how attractive the property is, but the animals already denning on your bank won't leave just because the buffet shrank. Combined with removal and burrow collapse, food management is what keeps them from coming back.
Do iguanas eat meat or bother my garbage?
They're mainly plant eaters, so they're not scavenging trash the way a raccoon does. They will opportunistically take fallen fruit, birdseed, or pet food left outside, so keeping those cleaned up removes an easy draw without changing your whole landscape.
