Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I was wondering what people though on this subject. I keep finding conflicting information about the nutritional analysis of squash. The iguana den website says spagetti squash has the best Ca ratio with 1.9:1. While the green iguana society website says acorn squash has the best with 0.9:1. Should I use squash that has more protien or less? Does someone have another website that has nutritional values of foods.? I usually use acorn squash, but I am not convinced it is any better than any other squash. What is the diffence between summer and winter squash(other than the seasons)? Is one better than the other? Is pumkins okay to feed, especially sugar pumpkin? What other "orange foods" do you feed your iguanas on a regualr basis? I occasionally use carrots instead of squash. Thank you, jrbl

Hey, I never use squash. Not because I don't want to, but my igs won't eat it. I've heard that the winter squash is the best one, but I can't tell the diference between summer and winter squash. Oh, and also, I've heard that the less nutritious ones are pumpkins. Have you ever tried Melissa Kaplan's website, www.anapsid.org??
You will find something there.
Good luck and take care,
Later,
Dan

I switch from one to the other to keep their meals interesting. Both my uro and ig love squash.
debs
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The addiction can be dangerous. 1 Uro named Buddy aka Big Boy & 1 Ig named Tiny

Winter squash is supposed to be the best. Acorn is supposed to be pretty good, but I haven't tried it yet. I usually rotate between yellow squash and butternut squash. Yellow isn't that great, but it's good for variety. Butternut is supposed to be wonderful. This week, I'm planning on getting acorn.

I've never had trouble getting Xander to eat squash. I just grate it into his salad, and he can't avoid eating it.
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~Alika~
1.0.0 green iguanas
0.1.0 cockatiels
1.0.0 senegal parrots
0.1.0 blue-fronted amazons
0.0.1 red belly piranha

Hello!

My understanding is that the term "winter squash" just refers to any squash that is best harvested and eaten when the flesh grows hard, meaning they could theoretically last through the winter. They are typically harvested in fall. So acorn, butternut, spaghetti, and pumpkins are all winter squash. Summer squashes are squashes best eaten in the immature stage, when the skin is soft and before the seeds have grown mature. These are mainly zuchinis, crookneck squash, and other soft skinned squashes that you can see in the link below. There is also a link for winter squashes. I like this site a lot, it's called Watch Your Garden Grow.

I just feed my iguana all different types of winter squash. They all have something good to offer. I also occasionally feed carrot. My iguana hates alfalfa, so I haven't found a way to feed that, but he will eat anything else so long as it is fresh- he always knows!

Winter squashes:
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/veggies/wsquash1.html
Summer Squash

My iggys love butternut squash. I read in one of the food lists that it was a good staple food for them too.

Variety is better than sticking to one food all of the time. Offer this one week, and that the next week. Adding calcium powder to the food can help even out the calcium ratio, too. You will not OD your iguana on calcium if you use a suppliment.

Katrina

"...you will not OD your iguana on calcium if you use a supplement"

Unless, of course, you use it all the time and too much of it. I use a pinch twice a week, and that's only because Xander had MBD last summer (vet recommendation).

Alika
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~Alika~
1.0.0 green iguanas
0.1.0 cockatiels
1.0.0 senegal parrots
0.1.0 blue-fronted amazons
0.0.1 red belly piranha