'Iguana diet'

mike (64.76.36.223) -

what would a healthy diet be for an Iguana.

Comment #1 Elroy (64.76.37.24) -

The natural diet is: "Herbivores. They eat fruits, flower buds, and young leaves. When young, iguanas will also eat insects."

Comment #2 QTPie from the rainforest (Contact Member) -

Iguanas are basically vegetarian. So any fruits or vegetables, flowers, clippings from the garden can work too. The more variety you give them the better. You'll figure out what they like fairly quickly. They do also eat insects, most will continue to do this all their lives. They get extra protein that way that they can't get out of a completely vegetable diet. They usually tend to prefer leafy food. If you feed them crickets or grasshoppers there is a protein powder you can sprinkle on the insects before you feed them to your Iguana. I used to do this all the time. The powders are formulated to give them nutrients that they would normally get in their native diet but don't get from domestic food.

Comment #3 josh from ellsworth air force base (Contact Member) -

iguanas are not vegetarians, they are herbivores which basicly means their bodies cannot process any kind of animal protien whatsoever. If you go to google and type in iguana zone their is a forum that has the most accurate info on iguana diets. basicly you should be feeding your iggy 50% greens, no lettuce though because there is absolutely no nutritional value in it. Collards, turnips, mustard greens are just a start. then you should be at 40% veggies and 10% fruits. check out iguana zone. If you want to be a knowledgable iggy owner and care for your pet properly this is a must have website. Iguana zone is the name of it. If you are feeding your iguana insects, bugs or and kind of protien you are not doing it any favors....

Comment #4 IguanaKing from Denver, CO (Contact Member) -

Yup, iguanas are strictly herbivorous. They are a hind-gut fermenter, so their bodies are incapable of properly processing animal protein. Iguanas that are fed insects and other forms of animal protein on a regular basis, live very short lives and die painful deaths due to liver and kidney failure. Green beans and mature alfafa provide plenty of the correct proteins to the iguana's system. The greens content in the diet should be anywhere from 50-70%, with lots of variety. Before feeding any unfamiliar plant matter to an iguana, it is absolutely essential that you first identify the plant, and then check the internet to make sure that it is not toxic to your iguana. There are several types of vegetables, flowers, tree leaves, etc. that are extremely toxic to an iguana...but can often be perfectly safe for human consumption. Thank you, Josh for the information, and thank you also for mentioning Iguana Zone in your post. :D Mike, our link is www.iguanazone.org , and we have a diet section with lots of examples of healthy iguana meals.

Comment #5 NIKKI from some small hole in the north west (Contact Member) -

i am really struggling with my iggy-he is 3.5 years old and we have had him since he was about 6 months. He is really aggressive on a good day and does not seem to be chilling at all-any suggestions apart from valium for me and him? Also i changed his diet slightly over the past 2 weeks 2 include redcurrants, blackcurrants and blackberries which he seems 2 love BUT over the past couple of days he has taken 2 laying on the bottom of his viv and looking quite subdued 4 hours on end-are these fruits okay for him or am i poisoning him. Any advice appreciated

Comment #6 shuge (76.171.228.210) -

Dose anyone know what type of flowers iguanas eat?

Comment #7 Kallisto from Colorado (Contact Member) -

Here's what my iggy likes and he's going on 12 years now: green beans, orange squash (pumpkin, spaghetti, banana, acorn), carrots once and a while, parsnips, asparagus ... these are all raw and shredded. He also likes canned or cooked lima, kidney, or navy beans ... these I rinse well and mash. I also add extra calcium to offset the high phosphorus in the canned beans. His favorite fruits are cantaloupe, figs, cactus pear, papaya, mango, raspberries, and strawberries. Greens: collard, dandilion, mustard, and escarole. Please remember that iguanas only take in about 40% of the vitamins they eat, so feed them at a time when they'll digest them properly ... late morning or early afternoon is best. They also need a bit of direct sunlight to give them other vitamins they may not get in their food. You can give them a multi-vitamin if you need to. I use a regular Centrum tablet (crushed) and add a little calcium.

Comment #8 ciara (71.99.66.157) -

our chammilion just died. me and my brother are secretly going to get an iguana for my dad becasue we dont want to waste the cadge and crikets. do iguanas eat crickets and can they eat fruit and veggies? if so what kind???

Comment #9 Adam (12.208.188.33) -

If all these people who know things about Iggy, then can some of those people explain to me that if an iquana is strictly a herbivore, then why is it they eat mealworms, earthworms, pinky mice and such. I do agree that there primary diet is made up of leafy greens, and fruit and vegetables. The biggest problem with veggies is that the iquana can't digest seeds, whether it be a squash seed, egg plant or a strawberry one. My iquana is 13 yrs old, and is healthy as a jaybird. Lives in a 7ft by 8ft by 6ft cage that was custom built in a bedroom cause he is a little over 6 ft from tip to tip. He is actually a Rhino iguana.

Comment #10 Jack (63.176.159.243) -

Why not sprout the seeds for him?

Comment #11 Don K.Wintone (65.11.149.139) -

"Rertired"

Our apt. bldg. has two HIBISCUS TREES that are losing their leaves and dying. We are told that iguanas' are eating and destroying these trees.

Question: Are iguanas known for eating and destroying HISISCUS TREES.

I hope you can answer this as I have to attend a General Meeting of our Association tomorrow 12/16/09 and would like to present an answer to The Board and residents at that time.

Thanks!

Don K. Winstone

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