green iguana diet?
- Thread starter brokenbluetears
- Start date
Spinach: high in oxalates and nitrates, witch bind with calcium, avoids it from being absorved and creates cristals witch irritates kidneys so very poor food. Same reason why its better to avoid most letuces and specialy ruibarb.
Avocado: toxic to all reptiles and birds, not for mamals, better not to use it, not worth the risk.
Avocado: toxic to all reptiles and birds, not for mamals, better not to use it, not worth the risk.
Talk to your local produce people at local supermarkets. Sometimes they can hook you up with stuff cheap. Trimmings and such, I did this when I worked at a supermarket. Got me a lot of produce for dirt cheap.
I myself will always use only fresh produce. I hate the fact of using pellet food. Its not natural
I myself will always use only fresh produce. I hate the fact of using pellet food. Its not natural
yes, spinach causes kidney disorders cuz they can't digest it quite right. that's why it binds up the calcium and they can't use it. I was also told by my vet that crickets n things do the same thing. causes lots of disorders n possibly premature death.
not sure why on the 'cados tho
not sure why on the 'cados tho
well that's what i meant. that they do but it leaves behind those crystals n stuff and the spinach binds the calcium... so TECHNICALLY they don't digest it quite right otherwise the crystals wouldn't be there and the spinach would be a good source of calcium for them...
Mike D;3917014; said:
Whats natural about Collards/Mustard Greens/Bok Choi/Romaine/etc? Central/South Iguanas weren't designed to eat North American produce?.......It's all about nutritional content......Ask your buddy Tom Crutchfield about how well these pelleted diets work......He uses Mazuri Tortoise food like many other Iguana keepers.......Mark Malfatti too ( He uses the Zoomed Pellets )......The Supermarket diet will work, but there is too much guesswork and nutritional holes involved for me......
When I was taking in Rescue Iguanas, Mazuri would take an emaciated, half dead Iguana, and make it relatively decent looking in two weeks. The produce diet would literally take 6-8 weeks, if not longer........
As a certified animal nutrition counselor, I'd rather go with the "guesswork."
Mazuri's iguana and tortoise diets have really horrid ingredients for an iguana to be eating, and increasingly we find in animal nutrition that processed diets can have profound, even if not immediately obvious, affects on their long-termhealth. The context & interaction of nutrients is equally as important as what percentages they are in, or such is the direction nutritional science is moving in humans and animals.
Much as we are seeing increased incidence of diabetes and food allergies in companion animals fed a 100% processed diet (as opposed to in the past when animals like cats in particular would hunt for some of their own food), or changes in gut health in livestock fed processed feeds (as opposed to natural forage and graze), I suspect we'll see major issues over time in exotics fed processed diets. We already see some issues in some species; I know that there is at least anectdotal evidence of problems in amphibians, hermit crabs, and turtles fed a 100% or predominantly processed diet.
To give you an idea of what's found in Mazuri's foods for iguanas and tortoises, they are basically soy, corn, wheat, oat, and alfalfa. About the only thing on that list an iguana should potentially eat is alfalfa, and not even really since they are more eaters of leafy vegetation in the wild than grasses. IMO if you wouldn't feed an iguana soybeans, corn, wheat, and oats, why would you feed them a processed diet made up of those ingredients? Sure the %'s are where they belong, but what is that doing to your iggy's gut flora and overall health over time?
It's a valid point that produce isn't a completely natural diet, but I don't think it's a leap across a logical chasm to suggest that leafy greens from this area are closer to leafy greens from south america than corn, soy, wheat, and oats will ever be. Edible leafy greens everywhere have pretty much the same basic properties in terms of their effect on the GI and basic nutrient content, with some variability obviously based on species, soil quality and so fourth.
The intensive nutrition needed for a malnourished animal is different than the basic nutrition needed for a healthy animal. I don't doubt that Mazuri gets a sickly ig back on its feet quickly, but I don't think that means it is the best source of life-long nutrition for a healthy animal. We give nutrient-dense slurries overloaded with vitamins and minerals to sick dogs, bulk-building feed to emaciated horses, and electrolyte solutions to dehydrated baby rabbits. It doesn't mean a healthy dog, horse, and rabbit needs those things, nor that such things would even be good for them as their primary/sole source of nutrition long-term.
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On the matter of spinach: to be fair, feeding it once in a blue moon won't kill your ig or make it deficient. It does have some good properties as a green, and some wild greens an iguana would eat also have fairly high oxalete. The key is providing as great a variety of greens as possible as the staple. This not only pretty much assures an appropriate balance of nutrients, but also prevents problems that may stem from certain properties of a given variety, oxaletes being a perfect example. Any veg and fruit offered should also be fed in variety. This paired with supplementation and UVB should result in a healthy animal.
I fed my iguana almost exclusively with romaine lettuce, iguana pellets (can't remember the brand since it was 6 years ago) and bananas mixed together. I sometimes mixed strawberries or oranges in also. Whenever I went somewhere that had them, I would bring back hibiscus leaves & flowers for her to eat, which was a nice treat. I tried to grow some hibiscus plants, but the Wisconsin weather was not kind. She was very colorful, had a 10x10 room to herself and plenty of logs both horizontal and vertical to climb.
