Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everybody,
Recently I've aquired a wonderful two year-old green iguana from a friend of a co-worker whose son had lost interest in him. I have a vast knowledge of many other types of animals, and now I think I'm ready to understand and dip my knowledge into reptiles.

I've done my research and unfortunately he's still housed in the TINY enclosure that came with him, (I was going to wait until I built one, but I figured either way he's stuck in there, either with me or with them). I'm in the process of building him his nice own space, just got my tax return!
*yay*

Okay, after all that I finally have a question. I'm a little concerned with his eating. This is his fourth day with us, and in the beginning he didn't eat much...fine, ok, I figured new environment, he needs to adjust. It also didn't help that the only thing he was brought up on is spinach. Today is actually the first day I've really, REALLY seen him eat.

How much do juveniles usually eat? And am I preparing it correctly? Usually I just make a salad type thing for him. Currently I've been using turnip greens, asparagus, green beans, sweet potato and a little apple. It seems the only thing he likes to eat are the turnip greens, should I try to feed him those items separately? Or am I preparing too much at a time?

Any help and info is greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

P.S. He also gets a calcium supplement sprinkled over his meal

Just for fun, incase anyone wanted to see him, here's the wonderful Trogdor!

And of course I had to catch him with his eyes closed!

First I am a new, unexperienced, iguana owner, these are solely what I think, please do not take my ideas seriously until someone reaffirms what I post, sorry I have to post this or the experts get very angry.

Spinach, uck. Very bad, I am surprised he lived that long on it...

It also appears he has MBD(Marrow Bone disease) from that photo, at least from what I have seen, because his lower jaw is shortened... I would take him to a vet and see how bad they think it is, and maybe they could give him some direct calcium.

First turnip greens should be given in moderation, I believe they are goitrogenic or calcium binding, I don't remember which. I would switch them for collard and mustard greens. Those are what most people feed. Be sure to shred and chop all food finely. Since it is on a plate, they can't tear it. I'm not sure on the sweet potatoes, I used butternut squash usually aside from the greens...

My feed is usually:
Mustard and collard greens
Another type of greens
Parsnips
Butternut Squash
And occasionally a piece of banana

My guy is a few months old and eats a couple handfulls size, but I am a pretty big person. I generally provide more food than necessary.

Most people blend their food together or use a food processer, so they eat everything and don't just pick what they like (they get addicted to some foods lol)

Well, I just went and stared at his jaw for like an hour! lol

I hope he doesn't have anything like that, but with all the spinach that was in his diet it wouldn't surprise me. He has a vet appointment later in the middle of the week so I'll see what they say...to me in person both his top and bottom jaw appear to match up...maybe I just took a bad picture? He was in the middle of eating, too, so hopefully nothin major
*crosses fingers*

Earlier today I picked up some endive to throw in there. Last night I had to grocery shop really late so I had to go to the 24 hour Wal-mart, not my best choice. As far as I'm concerned I'm lucky I found those turnip greens surrounded by the thousans of heads of lettuce! I'll just have to make sure I go grocery shopping earlier on, far much more selection at Shaw's.

Thanks again for the advice, really appreciate it!

If possible it would be great if you could post a pic of your ig in his enclosure (full size). Also I hope you have a UVA/UVB bulb in there and are keeping those temps up there so he is digesting his food propertly.

Endive is fine to feed but isnt a good source of calcium or phosphorus. I recommend feeding Collards, Mustard Greens, and Dandellion Greens (best calciumhosphorus ratio). Along with the greens make sure to offer a variety of vegetables such as bell peppers, squash (great!), and/or pumpkin (de-seeded ofcourse). For treats feed any fruit youd like. My ig prefers something bright and tasty like a rasberry or strawberry.

Good luck! I hope the vet visit goes well.

I think it would be good to see some more pics of the iguana as well.

first off get him on a good healthy diet

Greens: about 75% of diet
Collard
Kale
Dandilion
Escarole
endive
swiss chard
there are more as well

Vegetables: about 20% of diet
corn
carrot
bell pepper
beans
peas
Some flowers

Fruits: about 5%
bannas
grapes
apple(no seeds)
There are some more that i cant think of

Make sure when you build an enclosure that it is big enough. the minimum is 6x4x6 and thats really small. mine has an enclosure of around 8.5x5x7 and it seems to small. but he is allowed to free roam for about three hours a day.

Make sure the temps are right and you get the right lighting. without this he will get mbd (metabolic bone disease). make sure you give him calcium everyday.

make sure he gets enough water as well soaking seems to be the best way. most iguanas will not drink standing water. but if yours will take advantage of it!

-----
1.0.0 adopted iguana
0.0.1 rescued petco iguana
1.0.0 water dragon
0.0.1 mali uromastyx
0.1.0 painted turtle
0.0.1 common snapping turtle

then the ussual
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6 cats
misc fish
hermit crabs
rat
misc. fish

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ITS NOT ABOUT YOU DIEING FOR YOUR COUNTRY, ITS ABOUT MAKING YOUR ENEMY DIE FOR HIS.

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Our Forest was the same way when he first came to us. He had been given lettuce a lot by his previous owners & after trying EVERY green that is appropriate for igs, I finally found that he'll eat escarole which is good for him. More like the lettuce he was used to than the tougher greens.

He also loves fruit so I added a lot of sweet potato to his salad (hoping it would jive with his sweet tooth) and I always add mango or papaya on top with shredded squash.

I think after almost a month, we have a salad he likes. He was given meat (shrimp, chicken, etc) pre-me & lost a lot of weight when he first came to us. It was like trying to take a kid off junk food & put him on health food. He lost a lot of weight.

I bought this stuff called Jump-Start & only used it once but that's all it took. After that he's eaten a little more everyday until now he'll eat 2 plates a day of HEALTHY ig food.

Try a LOT of different good-for-him foods until you find what works. Good luck. Like I said, it took me a month & Forest is eating healthy & well now.

Don't give up!

http://www.greenigsociety.org/foodchart.htm