Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My iguana only seems to eat when hes hand fed. he has proper uv lighting heatlamps and a large cage for his size. hes new from a very nice pet store. hes only about a foot long.iam afraid that once he gets bigger he will be dependent on hand feeding and i may not have time to feed a iguana like apound of turnip and dandelions greens, plus carrots and squash every morning. any ideas because if not i will only have time to feed him when i get home from school which i dont think he should get the bulk of his daily food around 3o if his lights go on at 8o.any ideas would help! thanks

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jeff and lemmiwinks

sorry i didn t know it does this when i write the time

Well there are a few things you can try. Do you leave food in his cage most of the day for him to eat if he is hungry? If you already do this do you mix plenty of colorful things in with it? Is there one food it likes better than most? If so put this mixed in with his food. You might try a little extra fruit mixed in. Sometimes they like the smell/look/taste of it and will try it when they won't eat something else. If you are already trying these here is something else you can try. When you hand feed it do it right above it's food bowl/plate. Everyday lower your hand closer to the bowl eventually just more or less lay your hand in the bowl with the food. Eventually it should realize bowl means food. Also as long as your ig is very healthy you can skip hand feeding it for a day as long as you make sure it has food available. You of course don't want to make it skip eating for too long but most of the time if there is food available they will not let themselves starve. This may seem harsh but if you are not going to be home part of the time anyway it may learn to eat while you are not there. Also just because you don't see it eat doesn't mean it doesn't eat. So unless you are positive it always has the same amount of food left as what you give it keep trying and it might suprise you!

Hope this helps someone else may have better ideas.
Stephanie