Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am infatuated with this baby! It is so small but really
has an attitude! The vet says this is good though.

One problem is he was only fed pellets by the previous
owners and the vet wants me to stop this right away because
of the MBD. She wants me to give him fresh food with a small
amount of crushed tums daily. He does not seem to know what
the fresh food is for. How long do I let him go without adding
some of the pellets? I have been putting some greens in his
mouth when he gives me the old open mouth threat. I am going
to be very careful about this because the last thing I need
is another Ig who will not eat without force feeding.

Beanie seems to be doing fine with the new baby. She is a
little jealous I think.

Thanks
Linda

You can review the facts about igunas' diets here:
http://www.iguanaden.com/diet/dendiet.htm
You can scroll down and find a list of leafy gerens that are good for him.

It will take some time for him to recognise his newe diet as *food*. Plus, he is in relocation streess which very distracting to igs, and they often temporarily lose their appetites. Try smearing a bit of grape jelly over his food to give it a more attactive odor, to help get him started.

Roger

One suggestion is this. I have told others who have iguanas used to eating dog food that it is hard to completely wean them all at once. The best thing to do if it is not eating is to add either whole pellets mixed in well with its greens or other foods or crush some pellets and sprinkle them all over the greens to give the greens the "taste" of the pellets. If the iguana already has MBD it is better to let it have a little of the food it is used to mixed into "good" food and slowly use less and less until it no longer eats pellets. If you wean it when it is already sick it can starve itself and you will either end up with one like Beanie who won't eat or one who dies from malnutrition. If you aren't already cut up the greens and vegetables so they are close to the same size as the pellets this might also help trick it. Lastly keep trying different "good" foods even finding one it likes will be a big help getting it to eat real food.

Hope this helps
Stephanie

This is what I had to do with Tempest, as at first the only thing I could get him to eat was pellets. Now he eats greens, and some veggies if they are finely chopped and hidden in the greens, but he still won't touch any fruit at all. Veggies he'll leave quite often, unless its well tucked in the greens. It just takes time and patience.