green iguana diet

Question
Hello,

I am very proud to say that i recently purchased two gorgeous baby iguanas. I will be picking them up from the store in about a week. I was reading up on them and i am very well educated on their needs.

I was only wondering something about their diet. At the store, i realized they are fed romaine lettuce and butternut squash everyday. I know that this is wrong and they should be fed varied diets of about seven different veggies and fruits daily. I am worried that when i bring them home, they will not accept different vegetables that i am ready to offer, and i am not sure how to prepare an ideal diet for them. Many sites on the web give me lists of good veggies and fruits, but i am not sure how to cut them or how to clean them from pesticides. Also, many sites tell me to microwave hard vegetables such as butternut squash to prevent gum bleeding.

If it isn't too much to ask, i would greatly appreciate a list of good and bad foods, and info on how to clean them and cut them, and how much to offer. Also i do not know which food to offer as a staple diet (everyday),
occasional diet (once or twice a week), and treats i can offer. There is also the great question of offering canned food from the pet store, and commercial iguana food and vitamin powder and/or drops of vitamin D or calcium.

Thank you so much, my iguanas and i greatly appreciate your advice!!!

Answer
Dear John,

Very well! I will help you, for this is something I love discussing. I especially love discussing iguanas with people who are genuinely interested and are educating themselves. By keeping iguanas, you will find that you can ALWAYS learn something new. I have spent hours upon hours reading online and in every book I could find and I always learn something new from every publication, even if it is just something small, so keep up the thirst for knowledge because the better you understand and know iguana needs/behavior, the more rewarding your iguana keeping will be.

Anyhow, let me address your concern with the romaine lettuce and butternut squash from the pet store:
The romaine lettuce is a no-no and the butternut squash is an excellent choice.
I always tell people that romaine lettuce is still just lettuce, it is not a true leafy green. It is mainly water content with very little content of calcium or other nutrients iguanas need.
When you take your iguanas home, I highly recommend you trade the lettuce out for some collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, and/or escarole.

So here is my Iguana "Menu" so-to-speak

        GOOD FOODS

Staples (The day-to-day necessity; the "meat" of the meal):
These can be: collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, escarole...
Notice Spinach is NOT on this list.
*Always lay a bed of greens down as the staple to the iguanas diet

Toppings (Offered in addition to the bed of greens, kind of like toppings on a salad)
These can be: yellow-fleshed squash, green beans, sweet peas, parsnips, dandelions, avocado, and small/infrequent servings of carrots, broccoli, eggplant, cauliflower, and other vegetables

Treats (Offered infrequently or in small quantities if done frequently because of the high sugar content)
These can be: bananas, apple shavings, mango, papaya, strawberries, grapes, oranges, basically most fruits. Also, consider reading about edible flowers...iguanas love flowers.


          BAD FOODS

Staples: Avoid spinaches, excessive amounts of Kale, and all lettuces
Toppings: Avoid excessive amounts of carrots, broccoli or cauliflower, for they hold high phosphate content
Treats: These are only supposed to make up 10-20% of the diet, so nothing in excess is good.

Now for your other questions:

John, if you give your iguanas a variety of things, they may not like all the things you give them at first, so don't worry if they pick over what they don't like. If you keep presenting them with these things over time, they may very well develop a liking to them. That has been known to happen a lot.

Most of the problems with feeding baby iguanas is that they are very scared when they first move to a new place and won't eat for days sometimes up to a week. This is normal. If that happens, continue to offer fresh food once per day. It will help the iguana to adjust if you cover the outside of the cage so it cannot see all the world beyond. They adjust better with less stimuli. Minimize handling, talking to the iguanas, etc. until they start eating.


Finally: CLEANING, CUTTING AND PORTION SIZES

Clean with water...no big deal, just clean their food the way you would clean your own

Cutting: Rule of thumb: cut into pieces no bigger than the iguana's head. They may have to be finely chopped pieces otherwise the baby's can not fit the food into their mouths and will not be able to feed.

Your concern with microwaving the hard stuff like squash, carrots, etc...well I just use a little cheese grater make finely shredded pieces for them that they can eat easily. You can also use a food processor and grind up a squash into little tiny pieces...I do this too.

As far as your last question: the one about commercial food...I always stay away from commercial food because it is fortified and unnatural. Iguanas are made to eat leaves, they actually like to eat leaves, eating those mushy pellets and stuff is not how it should be. Also, if you follow the diet I listed above and occasionally supplement the food with a vitamin powder or better yet, a phosphorous-free calcium supplement like 2-3 times per week, you will not need to worry. That is nutrition at its finest.

Also, keep in mind, that just because you have your diet squared away, does not mean the iguana can digest the nutrients without a proper UVB bulb. Diet works in conjunction with UVB rays to allow the production of vitamin D12. Skip the vitamin D drops and make sure you get a good UVB emitting bulb.

Any further questions, please ask.

Thank you and good luck with your new green babies.

Sara J Gwerder
President
Raptor Rescue Iguana Sanctuary
Shreveport, LA
www.RaptorRescue.org