Male Iguana's Hemipenal Bulge

One way to tell if you've got a male iguana is by looking for the hemipenal bulge that is present in males around 1.5 years old. The hemipenal bulge is an area that is present on male iguanas (and other certain other herps) right near the base of their tail, near the vent. It appears to have a sort of swollen look to the area. This bulge is actually the inverted hemipenes which are the reproductive organs that male iguanas have tucked up inside. I don't have much experience with males but from what I've been told males sometimes flash their hemipenes after defecating and of course, before mating or humping a love toy ha ha.

Adam, from the Green Iguana Society message board, was nice enough to let me use this photo of his male iguana Falkor to show the hemipenal bulge. In this picture Falkor was found sleeping on his back! (I think this picture also belongs in my previous post about funny iguana positions!)

 Enlarge the picture so you can see close up :)

All iguanas have a sort of "fold" around their vent but what we are looking at is the actual fatter area right below the vent. Also notice Falkor's enlarged femoral pores.

Anapsid's site with information on hemipenes: http://www.anapsid.org/hemipenes.html