Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We've got a total of 5 iguanas right now- they've all come to us recently and they're all skinny. Anyone have any tips for beefing them up quickly. They all eat at least 2 bowls a day- one eats 3 a day. we serve mustard greens, romaine, green leaf lettuce (NOT iceberg) TRUE green leaf, cilantro, yellow squash, and a bit of banana. It changes every week. that is this weeks menu. everyone gets a calcium supplement on occasion. one gets it every week.
anyway- we very rarely get igs that are big and healthy.
any tips on getting them to put on some weight? besides patience
Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

That sounds fine, let them eat normal with plenty of heat and proper light, and they'll fatten up nicely. Do not over-feed, it can damage the stomach walls since they were so malnourished.

As long as they're eating well and showing signs of improvements, what else ya need?

-IJ

Try feeding some collard greens along with the turnip greens, and don't feed any lettuce at all. Yes, the romaine and green leaf lettuce are better than iceburg, but still mostly water and not highly nutritious. Also, shred butternut squash over the salad to make it about 20-25% of the total. Bananas are low in calcium, and high in phosphorus, so a better fruit choice would be raspberries. Expensive, I know, but higher in calcium.

Hope this helps with the weight.... John

this week:
collard greens, mustard greens, strawberries (can't get rasberries yet- limited variety around here), and yellow squash again. (we got bananas last week b/c they were on sale- we bought around 15 lbs- i made people salad with most of them- gave the left overs to the IGs)theres only one left now. I'll eat it.

we change menu's weekly. we buy food once a week, cut it up and it goes in tupperware- lasts great until saturday or so. we end up throwing some out on saturday.

I've been giving every one a full dish of food first thing in the morning and they go crazy. They've slowed down on eating- theres still a little left in everyones bowl- not much though. around 4 pm, at least one of them wants more food, i just fill the bowl up again. They are gaining weight but they just look so terrible- thier little hip bones are poking out. its pittiful
I had heard that increasing the fruit % would help them gain weight but that would throw off the "properly balanced diet".

anyway- thank you, I just didn't know if there was a 'secret' to getting them fatter, faster.
Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

I have heard that figs added to the diet can be good for energy and helping fatten up igs after laying eggs. Figs are not something that are common in my little town, so I have never tried them. I usually just keep feeding my Igabelle her dark greens mixture with whatever flavor/color enhancers I'm using that week, give her a little extra calcium for a few weeks after laying, and she's usually back to her fat self, tail and all by about a month after she lays. I know these guys are skinny from poor prior care, but I would think they'd fatten up just the same. You might want to try to add the figs if you can get them, I don't suppose it would hurt.