Posted by:
colaris
at Mon Nov 16 15:47:08 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by colaris ]
Well Tom your top dog here and Im not going to argue with that and you know how much I respect you and your experience, specialy considering that even to Ive been keeping green iguanas for more then 16 years, I only have a bit of experience with Cyclura, I was invited to work with them one in one of our zoos and it was a really rewarding experience. I too had the chance to chat about them with the curators and we both shared tips and learned a bit. Back to topic my view on this particular aspect is similar to JFs by your situation your able to do things that most of us cant. Many people that tried to do the same you did had very diferent results. Actualy one of the major steps foard in modern iguana husbandry and that was not realized by zoos or private keepers back in the day was how litle or none animal protein iguanas needed. As a result many used mice, dog food and bugs regularily. Result: at the very least iguanas full of articular and visceral gout. In the wild iguanas live with limited resorces, if they dont grab every possible chance to feed themselfes, they wont survive. However in captivity we have unlimited food resorces and given that we should strive for long term well being and longevity with the correct items so none of the sistems are compromised. Its like only giving a litle bit of food to your golfish every day, wille if they were given food at their will they would gorje themselfes to death.
Cyclura are often already very plump and well fed animals, I dont see the need to take the chances on something that if it starts to engaje its really hard to fix, specialy considering there are so many other opcions. Also if your going to use it, you should really avoid feeding chicken necks because of Salmonella it may harbor.
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RE: Rhino Iguana Diet - colaris, Mon Nov 16 15:47:08 2009