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I was just wondering what the consensus is on feeding the commercial herp foods (ie. I read a thread on marion diets further down the page)? I took it that those that were feeding such diets were doing so in addition to the normal iggy fare (am I correct?) I guess my question is should I be doing this as well, as I am not doing it at this time? And if so which brands would you suggest and which would you steer clear of? Do the cyclura needs differ greatly from those of there green cousins?

I better let you know what I currently feed because I know someone is going to ask. Every day I feed a mix of Collard/mustard/dandilion greens approx (50/30/20) thats about 50% of what I feed then I add green beans, snow peas, butternut squash, & a few other veggies about 40% of my salad, then a add a few fruits. I also supplement with herpvite a couple times per week.

Thanks for your replys in advance. Just caught me off gaurd when I was reading other posts about these diets. I have kept numerous herps over the past 23 years, only 2 iggys (greens) and my male lived 18-19 yrs and my female 10-11 but she died due to surgery. When I first started iggys I did give cat food and monkey buiscuts but back then that was okay or so we thought but thank God we advanced...or most of us have lol.

I like the zoomed all natural adult iguana food for my cuban. It has no animal protien and is made from collards, mustards, turnip and I think dandilion greens among some other things.

If you have access to fresh greens all seasons, I wouldn't use it at all. I have it, comm diet, but only use it as a backup or just to throw in something new. I use the Repcal iguana diet. I would never feed it every day. On that one day when you open up the fridge and realize you are out ofr fresh food or dont have enough, its good to have a back up. I have played with other comm diets but only as a back up.

So I wasn't missing something a importand diatary need by not feeding a processed food..good! We have fresh greens and produce here year round and its actually pretty cheap. I was just curious as I stated above. New to the cycluras and after reading others posts who feed the commercial diets I was wondering if I was missing something. I have always preferred to go natural with my herps versus lizard nuggets (extruded foods).

I feed my cycluras exclusively on Zoo Med adult pellets and my ctenosauras exclusively on Zoo Med juvenile pellets. I do supplement the pellets with rep-cal calcium. I buy the pellets in 50 lbs sacks because I go through so much of it. My animals are healthy, breed, and produce healthy young, so anyone telling you that this is an unhealthy diet is wrong. I have been feeding this for 10 years. Make sure the animals have plenty of water, because the dry pellets expand when injested and can dehydrate and block up a lizard if there is no available water.

Sickly looking isn't he.

Hi, I use a variety of them here with my guys but like you said, as a supplement to a similar diet that you are feeding yours. I go heavier on the greens with not much fruit at all but it is similar. My Caymanensis, Pete likes the ZooMed and he has a dog dish of it available next to his water dish on the floor at all times. I would say he eats roughly a teaspoon-tablespoon every other day. He eats his greens mix daily and it is like he goes down on the floor for some pellets as dessert. He seems to only eat a bit of it so I dont worry about it.

I use rep-cal pellets in a similar manner in Kharma (rhino) and Pugsley's (green ig) room. They eat them in a similar fashion.

On the other end of the extreme we have Diego, the "baby" rhino who is two years old and a massive pig. She will eat all the pellets (ZooMed, Rep-Cal or Marion) in one sitting and shun everything else. Thus she doesnt get them but as a treat once in a while.

It is up to you how to use them. Mark seems to have very good luck feeding ZooMed exclusively but he also has access to the great outdoors year round I believe AND he has a ton of animals to feed. I think all that natural sunlight plays a huge part in their health. With our "fake" conditions in the house (and assumedly smaller numbers of animals) I think the rest of us are better off doing a combo and hoping we hit all the right stuff.

Carole

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www.reptilecare.com

The produce in the local markets in my area is rarely fresh, and thus I consider a commercial food supplement important. Not only does it make feeding easier, but rounds out the voids that local produce lack. My igs prefer marion. Zoo med makes some good products, but I do not like them as well because they turn to mush if soaked. The igs do not seem to like them as well either. Zoomed and RepCal are intermittantly used to adds some variety to the regular marion/produce diet.

Luckily are greens and other veggies tend to be very fresh year round here. I think I may try to introduce some zoo med to my rhino. So the question is how much should I offer and should I cut back on the collards and veggies if when I give the pellets?

I think you have to answer that yourself. You got a pretty good idea how we use it. I dont use it unless I have to, Mark uses it due to nunbers he has to feed and obviously has healthy animals. There were post that are somewhere in between. Research the food decide on its value and try it. If the rhino likes it it will eat it. Its up to you to decide how much. Cyclura seem pretty tolerant when experimenting with diet. good luck

Dry foods are very condensed, and filling. If your iggy is accustomed to fresh greens, he/she will probably not care to much for the dry zoo med pellets( atleast mine did not). If and when he/she starts eating it, you will notice that less of the other stuff gets consumed. Make sure there is fresh water available. Below is a picture of the stuff they were feeding at ZooDom (Dominican Republic) the day that I visited. Good luck.

I am going to offer commercial foods very sparingly I have decided. I have had so much luck feeding fresh produce in the past with my green iggys (male live 18 almost 19 years). My Spaz (baby rhino) eats all the foods we offer so I am not really worried about him fixating on one food so I know he is getting everything he needs with the greens and veggies I am feeding.
Thanks for all the help.

Beware when you are taming dragons for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup lol