Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had my iguana for a while (2 1/2 years) But i feel she is not getting the right balanced meals. What do you feed your iguana? Any suggests? Right now her diet is - green leaf lettuce, strawberries, raspberries, peas, and carrots.
I have tried other foods but she won't eat them she tends to go though fazes of eating a lot and not eating at all or very min. She is lazy and doesn't want to get down of her shelf. Any advice would be get thanks

I've had many an IG come through the rescue- some stay quite a while- some don't. We currently have 5. various sizes- they all eat the same thing for the week. Our menu's change weekly. This week is: Green leaf lettuce, Romaine lettuce, cilantro, yellow squash, and cantaloupe. Last week was: mustard greens, romaine, bananas, and carrots with a few treats of spinach (only 1 or 2 leaves per ig). Someone on this site has a wonderful list of what % of what food (fruit, veggie, lettuce) to give and lists a few examples- you might try searching back a bit to find the list.
As for her being lazy- she's probably either sick (doesn't sound like it) or happy. two weeks in a row, we had a 4 ft. female going nuts every time we walked in the room- she ate 3 bowls of food every day for 2 weeks- now we're back to one large bowl- don't know what came over her- all the animals here are spoiled rotten so if they want more- they get it. she's now being "lazy" and wont come off her branch- i wouldn't worry too much about that. If proper shelves/branches and proper lighting is present- you shouldn't have a problem.
hope that helped-
Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

You've had your iguana for 2 1/2 years, and only now you wonder if it's getting the right nutrition?
Have you picked up any good books on iguana care, or seen any caresheets? Forgive me for sounding a bit harsh, but two and half years is a long time to start wondering if you're doing it right.

The two books, one by Kaplan, the other by Hatfield, on iguanas have a good list of what to feed. Kaplan's website also has great suggestions.

Collard greens are the staple ingredient, then you can add other things. Oh yeah... lose the lettuce

Feel free to ask more if you need help, but definately fresh'up on your iguana husbandry.

-IJ

I'm not just wondering now. It has been more so since I have moved but that was a year ago. I have talked to the vet about her diet and what I'm feeding her is what the vet said. Because of her toenails I went to the vet 4 times. any help would be great. thanks

Have you ever picked up a book?
A good $30-$50 book on iguana care could have saved you hundreds of dollars in vet bills and feeding frustrations.

Rule of thumb for both novice and experienced iguana owners:
Resarch, research, research, research...

Also, this forum has TONS of information from the myriad of questions posted by both newbies and more experienced owners.
Scroll down and even go back a few pages, you'll find a lot of information, and heck, it's free!

-IJ

p.s. buy a good book, always handy.