Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok well I read all the great things about mazuri tortoise diet here for feeding cycluras, and although I own a green iguana, not a cyclura, I talked to Tom Crutchfield on the phone and he said it was a good choice to feed green iguanas too. I post here because the people on green iguana forums don't seem to know about this, only cyclura owners.

I went and bought a 1 pound bag, all sealed and a picture of a tortoise on the pretty bag, way overpriced, to test if my green iguana would eat it. He refused it dry but ate it soaked. In fact, he really liked it. So I decided that since he ate it to now buy bigger bags. I found a shop that stocked 25 pound bags but opened them and resealed them into 2 or 5 pound bags to sell. It was a lot cheaper.

So I bought a bag from them, and after leaving the shop, I looked closely, and there were MANY white WORMS crawling around in it! There were also some tiny beetle like insects that you sometimes see in bags of rice.

I took it back to the store and they were willing to exchange but they looked at the other bags they sealed on the shelves and they ALL had worms in them! They seemed sincere and eager to please the customer, so the boss told his employee to open a brand new 25Lbs bag and scoop me a new bag. This he really did, I saw him take out the new 25 pound bag. He gave me a new bag, and I inspected it closely and it looked normal with no insects, so I went on my merry way. However, I later inspected again after going home, and although it wasn't infested with worms like the first one, it still had a couple worms in there. I saw two or three in the 2 pound bag he scooped me.

My last option would be to order from overseas (I don't live in the USA), so I talked to a friend who owned a reptile shop and he said he can order, but asked me to go online and first ask people if these worms are common in the 25 pound bags, because once he orders on my behalf, that's it, I would have to accept it no matter what mazuri sent over. He said that he had another brand that was sealed but he left it in the store for a few weeks and there were MOTHS breeding in the SEALED bags! He said for me to check whether this is a common occurence.

1)So I want to ask, is it the norm for Mazuri tortoise diet 25 pound bags to maybe have a few insects inside? Or are they all vacuum sealed and completely free of insects? If they all have insects then maybe I will give up on this, because I don't want to order all the way airmail and then find out it is the same.

2)Also, is there any way I can use the bag I have? It was cheap and if I had to throw it away that's fine. But a friend of mine breeds snakes and he said that if you freeze something (in his case, rats) that the parasites inside die. I am not so much worried about 1 or 2 worms in the mazuri, but worried they may be carrying parasites. I just recently had some of my reptiles dewormed and don't want to go through that again.

Seed moths. Happens alot with bird food/ pellets.

You can freeze it, or microwave it to kill them, but I would never buy something and accept that its infested. Also they will spread in your home and infest YOUR food.

You can do an internet search on bird seed moths, but don't accept that the food has moths, thats gross.

I feed my lizards Zupreem Bird Pellets, or Rep-Cal (much more expensive) or Harrison's Bird pellets (very pricey). They do not have the alfafa/hay basis, but they keep them full and chunky. (although my cyclura is addicted to the zupreem and is highly territorial of her food bowl now... ) Zoomed iguana is alfafa based and I would think would be comprable to Mazuri, but then again, more expensive

So if I were to order directly from Mazuri a brand new bag, will it be likely that they will have these inside?? I just want to know is this just common occurence with the 25 pound bags. Are the 25 pound bags sealed?

And by the way it wasn't moths in the mazuri, that was in another brand. It was white worms and some black beetles in the mazuri.

And how do you freeze/microwave it? How long? And if I kill them how can they affect my food? And after killing them with freeze/microwave, is it then safe to feed to my reptiles? I am concerned with the potential parasites they can get. But then again there are insects in farm vegetables sometimes too.

By the way, Zoommed iguana diet is NOT expensive here. I have a friend who knows the local distributor and can get it cheap. He said that he has never seen problems with worms in it. However, I can not get any of my pets to eat it. In fact I mix with their favorite food and they won't even touch it.

and yes I dont can return them and I did and exchange it but they are also infested and I am sick and tired of this so I want to just order directly from mazuri but I want to know whether this is a common occurence with the 25 lbs bags because if so I will just feed vegetables and forget pellets because I don't want to pay all the shipping to get a 25 pound bag just to end up with something with worms in it too. I want to know if the problem is with the shop or with the mazuri 25 lb bags in general.

The "worms" are the larval stage of moth.

The beetles are the intermediate stage after the "worms".

The Moths are the grande finale.

The food should not give yr guys parasites, usually seed moths are harmless. Freeze it for a few days and if you order direct there should not be any moths.

I once had this problem with my pasta. I contacted the company and they refered to it as "infestation". I found that amusing.

Never mind it I don't want to take the risk, parasites or not, it's really disgusting.

I can get Zoo Med iguana diet easily. My friend owns a shop that stocks most Zoo Med products he can get the 25 pound bags cheap. He gave me a free bottle (small one) to test but my green iguana won't even touch it. I mix it with other stuff he still won't touch it. Is there any way to entice him to eat it?

Also, I tried rep-cal and he willingly eats it. However it is pricey, and also I noticed that when he pooped in the water basin (a large basin for adult green iguana), the entire tub of water turned blue like gatorade!!! There must be some dye in there and that can't be good for the iguana??

Since green iguanas need more moisture I think it is best to feed them soaked, correct? I tried once to feed dry pellets just to see if he would eat them, but basically I feed all pellets soaked.

I have fed all my igs (cyclura and ctenosaura) zoo med for the last 12 years, and they eat it just fine. It is the best dry food on the market. I buy it in 25lbs buckets and 50lbs sacks and have never had a problem with worms probably due to stricter clean processing protocol.

I believe you that it is nutritionally great and your cyclura/ctenosaura iguanas eat it, but my green iguana won't eat them. Even the mazuri he only eat soaked (which is better for green igs anyway I believe due to more water).

I tried feeding some zoo med dry to see if he would take it, no luck. I tried soaking it but it just disintegrated into dust instead of staying pellets like mazuri. You feed the zoo med one that looks like thin strips like rabbit pellets right?

I used to feed only fresh greens and fruits but as my collection grew, so did the cost. I was spending well over $400 a month. I've always been skeptical of processed foods because they lack enzymes and are not natural. But when speaking with Mark, who mentioned he has fed it to his animals for years, I tried it. My animals would not touch it. I waited until late summer after they had recovered from breeding activities and the temps were in the 90s. So what I did was not feed them anything for two to three days and then offered the pellets alone. They nibbled a little. So I did not feed them for another couple of days and then offered it to them again. They ate a little more. I did not feed large amounts. The ones who ate caused the more finicky ones to eat by competition. I continued this approach and now I feed every other day. I sometimes will offer fresh greens and fruits but they are given as treats. My iguanas could not be any healthier. I alternate between the zoomed pellets and the Mazuri Tortoise Diet throughout the year, sometimes mixing them together. Although not feeding them on a regular basis when switching to dry food may sound unreasonable, my iguanas were 100% healthy at the time, with fat tails which are the animal’s reserves. Iguanas can go for long periods without food and show no signs of decline. One more thing is that the iguana’s intake of water almost tripled because the dry food is lacking in fluids, so make sure they always have water or they will get impacted.

Thank you Manny. That is generally my advice when trying to switch igs to dry. Try feeding a mix if dry and greens. And if that doesn't work, don't feed them and they will eventually eat the dry - guaranteed, but most think if their iguanas miss two days of feeding they'll die - lol. Iguanas can go two months with no food if healthy and suffer no ill effects. I had a stubborn green once and would only pick the greens out of the bowl, so I got fed up and
left only dry and water in the cage and after 7 to 10 days it did eventually eat it. Another plus, is firmer stools/easy to clean and if you leave a bowl of uneaten greens, they rot and smell. Dry food can sit in the bowl for weeks unless it gets wet.

When you feed green iguanas dry pellets, how do you make sure they get enough water? Mine don't really ever drink from water bowls, just defecates in water. I left water there and he don't drink from it unless I put a little piece of food he likes in it he will lick at it and drink water. But eventually when there is no food in the water he doesn't drink from standing water.

You may have to develop a drip or misting system. I believe that Tom Crutchfield has one in each of his Iguana cages. Anyway, the pellets will make the iguana thirstier than usual and it will look for water more regularly than usual.

can you show pics and details about how you make your drip system/misting system?

You are making this way too complicated. Just put a bowl of clean water in the cage, and the iguana will drink when it gets thirsty enough.

Most vertebrates require the same the nutrients, more or less on certain nutrients depending on their life style, so it's not that complicated to make a food for tortoises and then iguanas. I think the iguanas would need more protein since they do quite a bit of climbing, especially the greens, so they need to build stronger muscles and bones.

I've never had a problem with the iguana food..BUT I bought the tortoise food and it had pieces and blue plastic PROCESSED in the pellets.

It must have been chopped up in the bales, contacted zoo med and they refunded my $... but still...very cautious.

Hi there. I think I can get those here. However, I looked on their website and they have a whole bunch of different ones (12 to be exact) available under that brand name for birds. what is the exact product you use?

My adults eat the fruit parrot conure size, You can get the size smaller too depending. Do not feed it to older iguanas (11 years ) unless you moisten it cause sometimes it causes stomach upset. and my cyclura drinks a ton when she eats it...

My cyclura eats a bowl 4 times as well as greens. Reptiles are similar to birds and so bird pellets are a good suplementation.

My vets are always super impressed at my iguanas health and I owe that partially to always having them fed. Since the bird pellets are fortified they get some optimal nutrition

Kismet likes this too. She'll eat the conure size or the large parrot size. I used to moisten it -- and still do sometimes -- but she likes it dry better. Her favorite way to eat it is to forage under the parrot cages since they throw a lot on the floor.... That was how we found out she liked it and I asked my vet about it.

My vets are always super impressed.

I started using it after comparing it to Rep-Cal foods. It pretty much was the same stuff (ingrediant wise). Repcal food turned out to be double the price (and at the time I was buying it at COST) and I could buy 35 lb bags of it for my birds/lizards for cheaper.

She loves it.

Well I looked into the Zupreem bird food and it isn't easily available here. Since you say that it is similar to rep cal, which IS available here, I think I will stick with the rep cal then.

Any one know if "SUDO" brand tortoise food is good? I google search will turn up. Those are all over the place here.

By the way, does the Zupreem bird food make your igs poop have color? The rep cal does, and I am not sure if it is good, it makes when he poops in the water that the water turn kinda bluish. But I have not seen on forums that says it is bad. Perhaps it is edible and safe food dye? So this is OK and I can still feed the rep-cal, and is the bird food better?

Yep. Its Blue.

and she goes for the purples, yellow, and greens...and leaves the reds and oranges lol

My parrots eat mazuri parrot maintenance, it has no dye is why i switched to it. has anyone fed it to iguanas?
-----
Michelle
www.AssortedSerpents.com
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

I Have given my lizard-guys the "Natural" one and they like it the same. my parrots like the fruit better, and its slightly cheaper so I buy that by the 35 lb bag.

I love how we all have parrots and cyclura and various others

i love that picture so cute with all the stuffed animals!
-----
Michelle
www.AssortedSerpents.com
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

I have been using Mazuri Tortoise for years and have never found bugs of any kind in mine. Perhaps its your location or the shop???

-Michael

Yeah it is probably the shop. They probably store it in unsanitary conditions. I will find another source instead. It's good to know that you never had a problem, so its the shop not Mazuri, there is hope yet.

The problem is that Mazuri doesn't ship outside the USA. Are there any alternatives I can use that are equivalent? I know there is Nutrazu tortoise diet which is the same thing exact same formula but I can't find that here either. I keep reading on the tortoise forums that T-Rex came out with a new tortoise diet that was the same formula as Mazuri but I look online and it's the same ole' candy colored stuff in little plastic bottles.

Do you use the 25 pound bags or the little 1 pound ones?

I use the 25 pounders.