Feeding the proper iguana food is critical to the health of these reptiles, but if you are new to owning an iguana, you might believe that iguanas are pets that eat lettuce or simply green stuff only. This is not true at all and if you want to keep your iguana happy and healthy, you’ll need to know a few more things about their eating habits and preferences.

There are many issues and conditions that you need to take under consideration if you are thinking of buying an iguana, as with any other type of pet, iguanas need special care and attention and you need to make sure that you can be a proper care provider for your pet. Food is one of the most essential things that ensure longevity and good quality of life for your pet.

Vegetables are of course the best iguana food, because their constitution is made in such a way, that they can consume easily large quantities of plant proteins. While iguanas are mostly vegetarians, this does not mean that they won’t enjoy eating insects, or even cat food every once in a while.

There are particular veggies that are considered to be very good for your iguana and these include mustard greens and collards, due to the rich nutritional content and the kind of proteins they offer for your iguana. Lettuce has a very low nutritional value and is not a good source of vitamins for these animals, so you should avoid giving them this kind of food too often.

Studies and researches show that iguanas are much better as vegetarians, because otherwise their body has a hard time processing and absorbing the proteins received by meat or other animal foods. Veggie proteins on the other hand are richer and easier to digest and absorb and this is what makes the difference when it comes to their diet and healthy nutrition.

In addition to the proper types of iguana food, you need to provide your pets with a lot of water. Iguanas need lots of water and can become dehydrated quickly if you don’t give them what they need. It is recommended even to spray their food with water, so that it stays moist and this will help them receive the amount of moisture they need every day.

An iguana is a really good pet to have, so long as you know how to look after it. There are many different iguana facts that you need to know in regards to food. I have tried to list most of them below, whilst pointing out any fiction along the way!

You need to know what food iguanas can and can’t handle. They have particular tastes and needs.

Common mistakes from iguana owners is to feed insects or animals to iguanas. This is not good for your iguana deliberately, they only do this without the knowledge, I.e. by accident. Iguanas are in fact herbivores and should be treated as such.

As with all pets, anything you give them needs to be healthy and clean. They do not need or eat junk food. Water is a must for an iguana and the water must be clean and fresh. If you give you iguana food and water that is not fresh you will be damaging it’s health and making it sick.

One of the iguana facts the people often don’t think about is that your pet knows how much food and water he wants. Don’t believe it when people say you don’t need to give it food and water everyday. Of course you do, he deserves the right to choose when to eat and when he does eat, he doesn’t want it to be days old! Through experience, you will figure out how much your iguana likes to eat. They cannot be overfed, they are smart and won’t eat if they aren’t hungry.

Iguanas need more water than they actually take in. One particular trick is to place some food, like kale, in his water bowl and gradually make it smaller and smaller every day when he comes looking for it. He will always be taking in more water and may eventually drink the water despite there being no lettuce in it!

Around half of an iguanas diet should include foods such as mustard greens, collards, dandelion and water cress. The other half should include nutritional vegetables such as green beans, peas, carrots and potatoes.

Please beware that any dairy foods such as eggs or mild are not to be fed to your iguana, the same as insects are not to be fed to them. If you truly love your iguana, and want to give it a happy, healthy life, you will commit to more research and speak to your vet about what exactly an iguana likes.

Iguanas in the wild are herbivores, and eat mature leaves of trees with some flowers, fruits and berries. This diet is difficult to reproduce with captive iguanas because many plant varieties in different climate areas are actually toxic to iguanas. There is much misinformation available about what iguanas eat which can lead to premature death of a pet iguana.

It is important to understand a few factors concerning the iguanas’ physiology. Their teeth are designed to clip off leaves not to chew or bite, so food must be chopped very small. To maintain good health, an iguana needs a careful balance of calcium and phosphorus, in a 2:1. Metabolic bone disease is a common cause of death in captive iguanas, caused by an excess of phosphorus.

The bulk of your iguana’s food should be leafy greens including turnip, collard, dandelion and mustard greens. These should constitute about 60% of the total daily diet. Other non-staple greens can be used as a small supplement, such as spinach, chard, kale and carrot tops. Iguanas love all lettuce varieties, but they should be fed sparingly, as a treat; lettuce is like iguana junk food! Rotate and mix different greens to ensure a full range of vitamins and minerals, using 2 or 3 varieties in each meal.

Fresh vegetables are included in the iguana’s diet; about 30% of the day’s food. Include green beans, squash, peas, yams, asparagus, carrots and parsnips. Avoid regular feeding of broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, beets, mushrooms, cucumbers, zucchini and bell peppers – use as a treat, not part of the staple diet.

Wild iguanas eat little fruit but some can be fed in small quantities to your pet, but no more than about 5% of the total diet. Too much fruit can cause diarrhea. Do not feed citrus fruits as they are too acidic. Cooked grains can be added to about 5% of the diet. Plants like nasturtium, hibiscus and dandelions, maple leaves and ficus can be added for variation.

Animal protein is dangerous for iguanas, but they do need some plant protein. This is best provided with alfalfa pellets normally fed to rabbits and guinea pigs. Feed up to 10% of the daily diet. Avoid regularly feeding the commercially prepared iguana food as they are often not a properly balanced diet. Supplement the raw salad foods with a pinch of calcium carbonate powder to ensure the proper calcium: phosphorus ratio is maintained.

It is important to keep a regular schedule for feeding an iguana. Finely chop all salad ingredients with a knife or food processor and feed once a day in the morning. Some iguanas will eat once a day, others will come back for a second helping in the afternoon. Remove any uneaten food daily before you feed. You can prepare several days’ of salad and store it in the fridge in zip lock bags.

When we were thinking about purchasing a pet Iguana, we considered the Iguana diet first and foremost. This is the single most important thing in owning an Iguana because it must always be fresh food, could be a little pricey.

We looked into a variety of information and found out the people really love their Iguanas! There is an amazing amount of data on this subject. For example, did you know that you pet stores actually sell Iguana diet food? I had no idea there was a market for that, but then, I didn’t realize people even kept these little dinosaurs as pets!

The iguana diet should be mainly fresh so make sure you include these when feeding your pet. In addition to providing fresh water everyday, dandelion greens, collard greens and arugula are main staples that should be chopped up small and fed to your iguana every day.

You should add at least 2 of these to the main staples – cilantro, swiss chard, turnip tops, mustard greens and mustard spinach, watercress, endive, escarole.

Not every day, and only small amounts of beet greens, kale, and bok choy, add some veggies, like grated acorn or butternut squash, yams green beens and peas.

Give a little variety a couple of times a week, with some fruit, honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, mango.

The Green Iguana Society has a lot of information on commercial diets and basically say that they don’t approve of feeding an Iguana this manufactured diet. The reason for this is that because there are no good diet regulations in place for Iguana diets, the food is substandard most of the time and much too high in animal protein. Iguanas need to get their protein from plants or else they can suffer kidney failure.

The pellets are also dry and cause dehydration in the Iguana so you must moisten the pellets in water before feeding, don’t rely on your Iguana to drink water.

If you must use pellets instead of leafy greens then use the top brands, don’t go cheap or your Iguana could become sick.

Here are the top three commercial brands that you could add to your iguana diet for occasional use, Walkabout Farm Iguana Growth Mix. The reason this one is good is because it is made with many good plant foods, nothing artificial. ZooMed Soft-moist because of the dried greens, alfalfa and fiber. Rep-Cal Iguana Food because the balance of protein and fiber and fruits. This is a respected food by most Iguana owners because when your iguana becomes sick and won’t eat, usually they will eat this, must be tasty.

If you have an iguana as a pet, you have to realize that iguana feeding is not like feeding any other type of pet that you may have had in the past. They have a special diet that you are going to have to replicate in order for them to live a long and healthy life.

In the wild, iguanas are herbivores. They will eat several small meals during the course of the day that are loaded with fiber and protein. When you are feeding them at home, you are going to have to provide them with the same rations that they get in the wild because they will obviously not be able to choose their own food.

You will also want to provide your iguana with a wide variety of foods to choose from when making up their diet so that they do not get used to just one type of food. The danger in that is that if you cannot get something that you have been feeding them for some time, they may not eat the new food. By supplying them with a variety of balanced foods, you will ensure that they eat whatever you give them as they will never get partial to just one food type. Their diet should be a combination that makes up 90% vegetables and 10% fruits. You can also throw various types of flowers into the mix that they are known to eat from.

With iguana feeding, be aware that fruits and vegetables will make the bulk of the iguana’s diet. The Vegetables should be washed and served to the iguana raw. You can give them the following vegetables: Swiss chard, Turnip greens and tops, Timothy Hay, Clover, Kale, Squash, Dandelion Greens, Green beans, Peas, Collard Greens, Mustard Greens and carrots. For fruits, you should choose from the following: Melons, Banana, Grapes, Peaches, Apples and Pears. You will probably notice the iguana will enjoy the sweeter fruits more, but you will want to mix up the variety that you give them.

For flowers, you will want to make sure that they are free of any treatments, pesticides and fertilizers. You can choose from the following: Carnations, Hibiscus, Dandelion Flowers and Roses. Stick to only these flowers and make sure that you do not feed your iguana Azaleas at any cost as they are toxic and will harm the iguana.

When it comes to iguana feeding, you are going to have to shred or cut the fruits and vegetables into smaller pieces to make them easier for the iguana to eat. You can actually make a nice mix of a combination of all of the above or even all of them and before serving the food to your iguana, you should sprinkle it with a vitamin-mineral supplement that you can find at your local pet store. You should place the food out for them to eat several times a day.