Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Yes, I was wondering how often I should be feeding my baby iguana. I feed him his greens everyday and let me tell you it is a fair amount for his little size.. But sometime I feed him twice a day because right before lights out at 11 P.M. he is hungry! How often should I feed him??
thanks in advance.

nicole

Everyday is fine and you could feed him twice a day if you wanted. Don't feed him 1 hour before lights out otherwise the food won't have enough time to digest properly and it could rott in your iguanas stomach. Good luck

Derek

wait can you tell me more about how if i feed him 1 hour before lights out that it can rot in his tummy.. please explain this to me because i have never heard of this and i would really appreciate this..

Food can rot in the stomach because the digestion system of an ig works with the lights (heat) to digest the food. 1 hour before lights out the food sits in the stomach and then the lights go out and are off for many hours. The food just sits there. Feed your ig as much as he wants like I did for my sons ig when he was very young... Once in the morning and then around 2 or 3 in the afternoon I would put fresh food out (his plate was done). This works for me and he has time to digest. If anyone thinks I'm wrong or need to add please do.
debs

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The addiction can be dangerous. 1 Uro named Buddy aka Big Boy & 1 Ig named Tiny

thank you. and beautiful iguana!
nicole

I would feed him as much as he'll eat at that age.
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~*Chibi*~
Sir Iggy ( 1.0.0 El Salvador Blue Iguana), Ryo-ohki, Orion, Bud, & Finnegan (3.1.0 crazy kitties), Rosebud (0.1.0 cockerspaniel), and Kayko (0.0.1 leopard gecko)

My baby ig would eat almost a kids cereal bowl full of greens twice a day (small amount of fruits) in the morning and then again about6 hrs later. Then he got a treat about 2 hrs before his bedtime, about a handful of greens.
An ig needs heat to digest its food, if you feed it too late in the day it wont digest properly and rot in his tummy.
Good luck with your new baby! They eat more then you would think they do!

I should've said that my Ig was about 4-6 months old when he ate that much.....sorry.

Hatfield recommends that hatchlings and young juvies be fed twice a day and that they should be able to clean their plate at both feedings. My vet knows some herpers who underfeed their igs on purpose... enough to keep them healthy, but not enough to make them grow too fast.

I still feed Xander twice a day. I give him a heap in the morning and let him work on it until early afternoon, then I replace it with a small helping of fresh greens and let him finish what he wants. So I guess I go by everyone else's advice: let him eat as much as he wants.
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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

Iguanas dont have weight problems!lol