[9] It evolved from and will readily interbreed with the nominate subspecies, as well as with Cyclura nubila lewisi,[3] with which it has viable, fully fertile offspring.

[13] The skin color of males ranges between light grey to green when mature, with often a light blue or reddish-pink colored head, and diagonal black bars partially ringing the body and tail which fade with age, whereas females are more drab, lacking any red or blue, but sometimes with a greenish wash. Young animals are light brown, with five to ten paler chevron-shaped bands bordered in black -the bands break up in spots at their sides.

[3][4] Like other members of the genus Cyclura the Lesser Caymans iguana requires suitable areas in which to bask, forage, nest and hide.

It was previously thought that they were concentrated in the undisturbed dry scrubland of the interior, but based on where they spent most of their time on average, they are more commonly to be found in disturbed, anthropogenic habitat such as gardens and roadsides.

[14] Like all Cyclura species the Lesser Caymans iguana is primarily herbivorous, consuming leaves, flowers and fruits.

[12] Due to being forced to dwell inland where the soil is rocky, the females often have to migrate to coastal areas in order to build their nests in the sand.

[18] It was the opinion sometime in the mid-1990s of Gerber, a US scientist who visited Little Cayman in 1993, that habitat destruction was the main factor threatening the future of this iguana, because a municipal power generating station has recently been built and the airstrip was to be modernised, and he claimed thus rampant uncontrolled development would soon occur in the uninhabited dry scrub where he believed, at the time, the iguanas bred.

According to Gerber, besides economic development of the islands, other threats to the iguanas were traditional agriculture on Cayman Brac, predation by feral cats and domestic dogs, disturbance of nesting areas and road casualties.

[18] Although Gerber recommended eradicating or controlling them,[12] and the Cayman Islands National Trust had mentioned that the cat population "threatens to be the death knell for the iguana population on Cayman Brac: feral cats are now found in huge numbers, and they eagerly pursue juvenile iguanas" and to protect the iguanas "… a concerted effort to reduce the thousands of feral cats, many living in hunger and misery in the woodlands, must first be undertaken" in 1996,[10] only in 2018 did the Cayman Islands government attempt to cull the animals, a joint program by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment.

Just before they could begin, two animal welfare organisations, Cayman Islands Humane Society and Feline Friends, filed a temporary injunction, in order to apply for a judicial review of the impending program.

[20] The organisations also argued that as official members of the Animal Welfare Advisory Council, they expected to have been consulted of the plan.

[12][22] These iguanas find black-topped asphalt road convenient surfaces to use for basking,[18] which leads to some mortality from automobiles.

[11] A formal captive breeding program did not exist for this subspecies in 2005, but at the time one writer thought it might be warranted for the Cayman Brac population.