Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So basically we had an iguana dropped off on our door step by a friend, I've never owned an Iguana so I have a couple of questions.

He said he found it roaming around his neighborhood, it looks pretty old, the spikes on it's back are worn down. It's in pretty good shape other than being on the skinny side and having a scab on it's nose. I know it needs to be checked for parasites and that whole deal but once we're in the clear for that what are some foods we can feed it to help it put on weight? I have a Sulcata that we feed Mazuri tortoise diet, would it be okay to feed it that? And also is there any house hold product I can use to keep the cut on it's nose from getting infected?

hi casual karma i am not sure what the tortoise diet has in it but igs need greens like collard,mustard,turnip,dandelion, and yegs. it also needs uvb/uva lights a good site for a diet,cage plans,basic care is www.iguanaden.org and as far as the nose you can clean it with povidone iodine solution and put a small amount of antibiotic ointment which you can get the store brand in both i dont know where you live but the walmart carries both rather cheap good luck iggirl1

I feed mine 40-45% veggies and 40-45% greens. For veggies you can feed grated parsnips, winter squash, like acorn squash, butternut squash, etc..., green beans, sugar snap peas, snow peas and some rabbit pellets (alfalfa). For green beans, sugar snap peas, and snow peas I just put it the food processor and chop them up into small pieces and for parsnips and winter squash I grate it with a cheese grater into so it looks like pieces of grated cheese. For greens you can feed collard, mustard, dandelion greens and escarole. I cut up the greens small and remove all the stems, and then mix up with the veggies really well. And then I soak the rabbit pellets in water so it becomes soft and fall apart then mix it in with the salad. Make sure you use rabbit pellets with alfalfa as the first ingredient, and if it has animal protein in it don't use it. Green iguanas are strict herbivores. They do not eat meat or insect in the wild. Giving it animal protein will shorten it lives by overworking the kidneys and livers. I hope this help you out.

Oh, yeah...and give it about 10% fruits to its diet. Fruit is good for hydrating iguana.

We live in Florida and already have cage built for it outside so it can stay out there during the day and come in on cold nights, so it's getting plenty of UVB. The Ingredients for the Mazuri are..

Crude protein (min.)................................... 15.00%
Crude fat (min.)............................................3.00%
Crude fiber (max.)...................................... 18.00%
Calcium (Ca) (min.)..................................... 0.95%
Calcium (Ca) (max.)..................................... 1.45%
Phosphorus (P) (min.).................................. 0.60%
Sodium (NA) (max.) ..................................... 0.60%

Ground soybean hulls, ground corn, ground oats, dehulled soybean meal, wheat middlings, cane molasses, brewers' dried yeast, soybean oil, wheat germ, dehydrated alfalfa meal, dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, salt, DL-methionine, choline chioride, menadione dimethylpyrimidinol bisulfite, pyri- doxine hydrochloride, D-alpha tocopheryl acetate, cholecalciferol, biotin, calcium pantothenate, ethoxyquin (a preservative), vitamin A acetate, riboflavin, L-lysine, nicotinicacid, thiamine mononitrate, cyanocobalamin, folic acid, manganous oxide, zinc oxide, ferrous carbonate, copper sulfate, zinc sulfate, calcium iodate, cobalt carbonate, sodium selenite. 30% roughage products ground soybean hulls

I don't know if that helps. I have Uros who get Turnip greens, spaghetti squash, and sweet potatoes so that's what it's been getting. I don't see anything on the site about Hibiscus leaves and flowers are those okay to feed it?

Thanks for the help.

I would say stay away from the commercial food. Iguanas do much better on the fresh veggies and greens they eat. Although, I know tortoise keepers that kept their tortoises sucessfully on that food and the tortoises seems to be doing better on it for some reason, but I'm not sure how iguanas will fare on it.

And, lastly, yes, you can feed your ig hibicus flowers and leaves. They are a great treat. Here is a link to food chart to help you decide which to feed your ig on occasion and which one to use as staple. Good luck!
Food Chart