What is the best food for a hatchling iguana? How finely should I chop it? If you could answer these 2 question it would make my ig and I much happier. Thanks GRIMES
Hatchlings require the same diet as adults except it needs to be chopped pretty finely. Collard greens, turnip greens, dandelion greens, mustard greens, kale (all torn or chopped to about a centimeter or less square) and fruits (apple, grapes, pear, papaya, mango, banana, etc, plus zucchinni and yellow squash fit into this category) should be chopped to about 3/8 inch square more or less or you could offer baby food, they have all kinds of fruit now, even papaya and guava. The greens should be mixed, never offer just one kind all the time and there should be about 70% greens to 30% fruits. A young hatchling would probably eat less than half a cup of food per day and probably then only every other day. If they don't take to finely chopped food well, you could blend the greens in a blender and offer the baby food on the side. Our oldest ig had to have her "baby food" for the first six months she was so picky. But now she's eating coarsely chopped foods at about 2-3 cups every other day and 4-5 cups every other day during the first part of summer.
One problem Dandelion greens??? wat part the petals, and should i chop the food in a food processor. Ive been chopping up some bell peppers romaine lettuce grapes and maybe celery. Is that ok( it seems like he won't eat it.)?
lettuce and celery not really any good only to hydrate. no nutritional value. and dandeliaon leaves. make sure they havent been sprayed with anything that could harm yer ig
In my experience...most fruit is not beneficial. and the remaining10-20% should consist of tofu, whole grain breads, and some fruit as a treat. Your question about dandelion greens....go to your produce store or supermarket and pick out dandelion greens. They should be in there right next to all the other greens. Also, don't forget to dust your iguana's food with calcium powder every day. After he turns one you can lessen the calcium dusting to 4-6 times per week. Also, squash is good, while zucchini offers little to no nutritional value. DO NOT FEED YOUR IGUANA lettuce cucumber olive tomato zucchini onion starfruit Lets start with the food. If you are feeding your iguana plain iceberg lettuce....there is NO nutritional value. Things that are healthy for us are not necessarily healthy for iguanas. If you are feeding romaine lettuce that is a little better, but we can do MUCH better than that. 45% of your iguanas diet should come from vegetables such as the following: raw green beans, snap peas, snow peas, squash, parsnip, turnips, and sweet potatoes. 45% of your iguanas diet should come from leafy greens such as the following: collard greens, dandelion greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, and escarole. (once in a while you can substitute kale, bok choy, chard, broccoli leaves and endive...but these shouldn't be fed every day because they are high in phosphorous.) and the remaining10-20% should consist of tofu, whole grain breads, and some fruit as a treat. Sometimes as a treat you can feed banana, mango, papaya, plum, strawberry. peach, nectarine, melon, grapes. In order to feed your iguana you have to keep the right balance between calcium and phosphorous....it's not simply throwing down some lettuce and veggies. If you feed him the wrong food it will actually block him from absorbing the calcium he needs from other foods. This will cause MBD Metabolic Bone Disease which will make your iguana suffer needlessly in pain, stunted growth, and cause deformity of the bones. You should also be dusting with a multivitamin 4 times a week. A good book to buy is Iguanas for Dummies by Melissa Kaplan. You should also check out this site http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/icfs/index.html you can click on the PDF format. Hope this helps....let me know if you have any questions
I second the book I have it and its great 70 % greens 25% veggies 5% fruit is a good ratio. too much fruit is bad. For dandelion greens, just go out to your yard and pick some of the leaves(not flowers or stems the green leaves. so long a your yard is not treated just wash em off and they are good to go I use a food processor, I use mostly collards, a few dandelion greens, a chunk of carrot and squash, and a little bit of apple, my hatchling and 9 year old both enjoy this mix. I dont dust it very often, since the goal is 2:1 ca: p ratio,and that mix is more like 8:1 I dont think its necessary. If you dont have a good uvb bulb like a mega ray, or take you iggy out to sun often then you should dust the greens more often though.
I wouldn't advise using breads as a staple in the diet. Simple carbs such as breads and pastas are fine as a treat but are not a natural source of nutrients for iguanas. I don't think 20-30% fruit is bad for iguanas but then again, that's a rough estimate. Mixed greens should be the majority of their diet at at least 70%. More is always better since that is their staple food in the wild. But you have to watch what fruit you offer and offering too much is not nutritionally sound. Citrus fruits and tomatoes are not good staple fruits because they are highly acidic. I've never used tofu before, but as it is rather high in protein (albeit soy protein) I wouldn't make it such a regular or highly used food item. Also, most varieties are high in fat. You linked to Melissa Kaplans site as a resource...here's her view on tofu from her iguana care sheet: Tofu As a source of protein, some people recommend tofu, a curd made from soybeans. The problem with tofu is that it most forms are high in fat. Since dietary fat impedes calcium metabolism, it can contribute to the development of metabolic bone disease, especially if any other part of the D3- calcium-phosphorus triad is out of balance. There are some very low fat and a nonfat tofu product available that would be okay for use except for the other problem associated with soybeans and soy product: goitrogens, phytochemicals that interfere with the thyroid gland's uptake of iodine from the diet. When goitrogens are fed in quantity on a regular basis, hypothyroidism develops as the thyroid gland is unable to get enough iodine. If you eat tofu and want to give your iguana a bit of it when you are making some for yourself, then by all means feel free to do so. It should not be fed on a regular basis, however, and when fed, fed in very small quantities.
The ten percent of fruit, bread or whatever is not meant to be used as a staple....it is meant to be a treat or to entice you iguana into eating the whole mix. Also CARROT should be fed sparingly as it is high in goitrogens. If you are feeding lots of carrots, it can bind the calcium from being processed by your iguana. Iguana research is always changing. Only ten years ago, books still said to feed green iguanas animal protein (crickets) NO NO NO. So as long as you vary the diet weekly, listen to ALL the advice and make up your own mix accordingly, you should be okay. Just try to stay on top of the latest information....it's not easy when so much information can be outdated.
Packaged food Can I feed my iguana dry iguana food from the pet store? Because my ig wont eat, well i dont know if it eats, and the food dries up! Which is a waste of my food! Do any of you all have that problem , or have had? I guess i just want to make sure my ig is eating!
if it s any help my ig has "spurts" of eating. mind you shes 5ish, btu somedays shell eat her entire plate in one go then eat the next day etc. but now it summer here in uk shes only eating hlaf and then maybe waits 3 dyas or so. so yes i get the dried food too lol. but i always fill her plate "just in case" she decides shell eat it all.
errrrr.i thinki may of wrote that wrong. soz, i mant by dried food, the fresh veg i prepare for my ig oe veg/fruit becomes dry after a day or so.............
The dried iguana food you buy from the pet store is fine as a treat by offering it occasionally lightly sprinkled on top of the food. SOme igs won't touch it. It's not nutritious enough to offer alone. And you should also moisten it a little before offering it. Also, don't leave your ig's food in the cage for more than 24 hours. They should be receiving fresh greens and molds can build up on veggies and fruits quickly. You should remove their dish at least 24 hours after offering if you don't feed every day.
How will I know that my hatchling ig will eat? it just dries up in a day, and it is hard to tell if it eats or not?? Any suggestions?
It takes a while for them to get acclimated to new environments. Try putting his greens through the blender, sometimes a more "baby food" consistency helps entice them to eat. Also try some fruit on top of the greens or fruit baby food, just a few tablespoons. Very fragrant foods, as well as colorful, gets their attention more easily.
