Do Iguana Spikes Grow Back?

Sometimes iguanas lose their spikes. This may be due to a parasite- like mites or improper shedding. I can't say in general that all iguana's spikes will grow back, in fact they may never grow back. Iggy was lucky enough to only have lost a few from when she was a baby and now has them growing back.

The process is extremely long and takes years for them to grow back to anything significant looking. I found a few pictures dating back to the beginning of this year showing one particular spikes journey. Here are the pictures:

If you click on the picture, you can see the green paint is the date. I used these pictures for a post on the Green Iguana Society message board. This picture is from April 2009.

This is from June 2009. This picture was taken in the Penske moving truck we rented to come to Chicago. It's like the teeniest little micro spike ever.

This is from the end of July 2009. Still quite tiny but bigger than the previous two. At this point when Iggy shed her spikes, this little spike actually had it's own individual spike shed.

And this is from October. The spike is in full regrowing mode.

 I took this picture yesterday!

She has a couple other spikes that are currently growing back, too. With each shed it seems like the spikes grow a few millimeters. I was told that spikes can never grow back but Iggy is living proof they do come back with the proper care.