The natural habitats of its three subpopulations are hot, dry, wooded savanna on limestone with access to soil and sandy flats in southern Hispaniola.

The specific epithet ricordii commemorates the French doctor Alexandre Ricord who sent the first specimen to Paris.

[3] Cochran used the spelling C. ricordii, but in 1975 Albert Schwartz and Richard Thomas misspelled the name as C. ricordi,[4] this orthographic error[1] was subsequently followed by most authors and databases,[3][6] until the 2010s.

[1][3] The holotype is a stuffed animal sent by Ricord from the colony of Saint-Domingue to Paris, which arrived at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in 1699, and is stored there under the collection number MNHN-RA-0.8304.

[6] Genetic (mtDNA)[7] and morphological data indicate that the closest living relative of C. ricordii is C. carinata of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

[13] Until 2008, Cyclura ricordii was thought to be restricted to two populations in the southern Dominican Republic: one population in the arid Hoya de Enriquillo surrounding the hypersaline Lake Enriquillo and its lake island Isla Cabritos, and the other in the most xeric portion of the coastal lowlands of Pedernales Province.

These are separated by the moister Sierra de Bahoruco, with three peaks exceeding 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) which form an ecological barrier between two populations.

Another part of the population inhabits a flat habitat with a 5–6m tall dry forest, dominated by succulents growing on white sandy soil.

[16] Entrances to these retreats are generally dug under dense thorny vegetation, shrubs, stumps, or exposed rocks.

[16] In the genus Cyclura in general, in many species copulation is preceded by numerous head-bobs on the part of the male, who then circles around behind the female and grasps the nape of her neck in order to manoeuvre his tail under hers to position himself for sex.

The Parque Zoológico Nacional [es] in Santo Domingo had similar success, but had "institutional problems" according to Ottenwalder.

[1] In 1995, Ottenwalder mentioned that in the 1970s, Chinese restaurants in the capital city Santo Domingo sometimes sold iguana meat from this species as a special treat, although this was not going on in his time.

[10] According to Grupo Jaragua, the Ricord's iguana population in Pedernales Province has been threatened by agricultural displacement through increased cattle grazing, as well as charcoal mining.