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.