Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i got my desert iguana on sunday its in good health ,on the way home it ate 6 waxworms even though i know they mainly eat greens and flowers ,its seems very healthy runs around and everything ,since i put it in the tank a 30 gallon,its seems ok but i haven't seen it eat, but its pooping and evrything, do they eat as much as regular green iguanas?
because the day i bought it home it also ate a lil bit of mustard greens,buti haven't seen it eat ever since i put it in the tank, it is wild caught, if anybody has a desert iguana, could u tell me whats its favorite food, and if it eats alot, and the temps r good in the tank, basking is 107, cooler end 85 -90,thanks

I would offer finely chopped greens of turnips, collards, mustard--- -grated carrots, bell pepper, squash, snow peas/ green beans, dandelions( greens & flowers). Also-- leaves & flowers of--- common sunflowers, ragweed ( a favorite food), Virginia Peppergrass, Gaillardia, Coreopsis, Helenium (Sneezeweed), several prostrate Euphorbias ( common sidewalk type of weeds), Clover. Really most anything in the families of-- sunflower / roses/ mallows& hibiscus/ honeysuckle/ Catalpa/ mustard/ gourd/ daylillies/ geranium/ waterleaf/mint( Salvias)/ legume/ four o'clock/evening primrose/figwort/ verain---- just about everything can be eaten by DI's. Some individuals refuse certain plants while others relish them ( no catsup ). In the wild they live off of fallen flowers from Palo Verde, Ocotillo, Globemallows, Bladderpods, Ambrosia( ragweed family), Rattlesnake Weed (Euphorbia) and damn near anything elso that blooms. Common desert weeds make up a large part of their diet.They also love bugs.
Where do you live?? Many of these plants can be grown in gardens or landscapes. Also--- remember when a lizard goes to eating-- the flower or leaf is still attached to the stem so it is anchored/ held steady. This allows for the liz to pull off small bite size pieces. Once you cut/ pull & toss a large flower or leaf in a cage with a DI---- he has to tear off pieces without it being held stable so it is harder for em to eat. They really do respond well to small flowers being tossed at em--- just like flowers falling off of a tree. Make sure the substrate & the flowers are dry --- if the flower is wet- sand/ dirt/ etc will stick to the foods & could cause impaction. Your temps sound ok--- maybe take it to 120 F from time to time on the hot spot but make sure there is good air exchange. Also-- the bigger the better on caging--- these guys run for miles in habitat so try to give em as much room as possible. They also love to tunnel so try to create a place for them to dig under STABLE rocks & sand.

Best of luck!!

David

seriuosly thanks for taking the time to answer my question really appreciate it, its doing fine, its really tame and seems really healthy ,the temps do tend to go as high as 117 some times,shes eating mustard greens and ate like 13 crickets ,but shes always trying to climb the tank and bends her back almost all the way down looks like shes gonna break in half, i get scared it looks weird but she looks good, running around and basking, don't understand why she stands on her hinds legs against the glass and looks like shes gonna snap her back in half sometimes, its looks like if shes gonna fold or something, don't know, shes only like half grown

They don't know it is there. Eventually they will learn but it may cause inverted spine in the meantime. Try to cover the glass on the inside if you are really worried about it. If you cover the outside they still see the reflection on the inside of the cage and may still do it. Also you could try a latrger enclosure with more furniture-sometimes that will eleviate the problem. Tom

well i'm gonna try that ,i hope it fixes it ,because it does look like it can cause a problem, shes does it alot and its like she gets stuck there and stays there a while and then eventually she leaves and eats or bask again but i don't want her doing that, and i really don't have any furniture in there either so i'm gonna get some, all she has is the reptile sand and a basking rock, where could i get dandelions from to feed her, any suggestions? or other flowers?

oh i forgot to say i have lots of other foods they eat in the wild for sale.

hey i live in arizona where there from and i breed them they like creosote bushs im going to sell they love them and you sould make the basking light higher becuse heat doesent bother them the temp i usaly see them in is 90 to 125 degrees out side
they are so cool when basking in the desert they do push up on rock if they do that the temp is good.

hey wassup man, what size cage do u keep them in? and could i get your e-mail so we can talk more about this because i want my DI to do good