Hello again Carole,

I have been using dry food supplements since Jacobsen's Green Iguana book was published in 2003 and feel that it makes a notable difference. Marion reptile has been the favorite supplement for my group -- I consider it the best. It tends to hold its form after being soaked unlike others that turn to mush. The iguana size is good for hatchlings, but I prefer the tortoise size for adults.

I have asked the same question(why more if ingredience near identical ?) The manufacturer's reply was "different formula." I was told reptiles require a slightly higher level of magnesium. They also mentioned that it is a supply and demand issue. There's a small market for reptile food and a big market for dry leaf eater foods. Economy of scale makes the leaf eater less. Perhaps some zoos use leaf eater for reptiles, because they are already ordering it in huge amounts for other animals ? As Tom mentioned the SD Zoo has had cyclura success with leaf eater. Would their success be better with reptile food ? We won't know unless they try it ? The triple cost to unquantifyable benefit probably keeps this from occuring.

If your looking to save money, the lemur leaf eater food is the same size as the tortoise reptile food, and probably makes a better supplement than most of the other reptile foods on the market.

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