Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering if Arugula is good for iguanas?
Also, i've been trying to find collard greens, mustard spinach and
dandelion greens, but haven't found them at any grocery store, i'm even
trying the health food stores, but no luck. Is it ok to have
spinach as his main food item until I find these other items (if I
ever do)? what else would be good as the main food item?
Most of his meals now include spinach, parsnips, green beens, carrots
and sometimes he gets grapes, strawberries, bananas, mango and
parsley. Is this sufficient ?
I've also heard that you can give them butternut squash, is this true?
if so, do I cook it first? or raw?

thanks
chargo

Arugula is kinda like lettuce nutritionally....as in zero.

Spinach is ok, but not for staple. It's impossible that the supermarkets in your are do not offer any other type of greens. Have you tried the salad mixes?

The canned veggie mixes you can buy at any sueprmarket can temporarily help your dilemma, but not solve it. Cooked red beans are good source of iron too to mix in the food.

Until you find the greens, try that. But you can also add the veggie mixes once you have found green collards etc... since variety adds taste and nutrition to the animal.

Some people buy commercial "sealed fresh" iguana food when encountering these problems, but since I haven't been here in ages, I don't know which brand is fine. I do remember there was one that was reasonably priced and fair in nutrition and quality.

Best of luck,

-IJ

.......in case you get desperate, try also those Veggie foods for infants (human ones that is), like Gerber's etc. Tho possibly not suited as staple diet, they will do some help. The fruit ones are popular with geckoes, so as dessert or treat you can give the igauan that too.

Just make sure it receives the calcium it needs to grow strong.

-IJ

I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and i guess maybe because its
winter time I can't seem to find these collard greens or dandelion
greens. (who knows)Most of the stores say they don't carry any at
all!
I've tried looking for the mixed salads, but there's always just
mixes that include romaine,or arugula or iceburg lettuce...
nothing else really. OH yeah, and some have baby spinach.
What exactly do these collard greens/dandelion greens look like?

do I cook the butternut squash before feeding him?
The red beens I will try!
Thanks
chargo
ps- do they eat broccoli(whole thing and not just leaves)? tofu?
I've heard of them eatting both..is this true?

I toss chunks of squash in the blender and rough chop it into teeny pieces, Tempest definately prefers it this way over grated (which is wayyy rough on the hands!). I use whole squash, don't cook it, I don't even bother taking the rind off, its all good

Dandelion greens - think dandelions on your front lawn, same thing but no pesticides or buggies

Collards - big, huge, flat, roundish leaves, a bit rubbery with a thick stem

I had a hard time finding them at first, but then found them hiding down between the celery and fresh herbs. Turnip and beet tops are not bad, kale too, but I cannot bring myself to feed arugula to my ig Why you ask? Have you tasted that stuff?? Its like tasting what stinky gym socks smell like!!

d

LMAO...my boyfriend bought a bagged salad for us one time & 2 bites into it I wanted to SPIT. After picking apart the salad, I found the sourse of the nastiness.

Mr. Produce Manager/boyfriend (no kidding) told me it was arugala. Have never eaten another bite of the aweful stuff since.

Too funny. Bad, bad, bad......

You might be able to find frozen collard, mustard and turnip top greens. The only thing you have to do is supplement a little thiamine which is lost in the processing. In addition to hard squash, parsnips are good to feed shredded. Parsnips are like over-sized white carrots.

On the down-side, in your place I would not feed broccoli, and fresh spinach is very high in oxalates which will rob his body of calcium.I don't know about cooked spinach.

Roger