New Iguana Eating?

[ChameleonFan1989]

Got a new baby last week, a red iguana, he's only a baby right now and know he's still in the settling in stage and iguana's can take up to two weeks to eat properly but do iguana's eat at night rather than day light hours.

Currently he's getting spring greens (AKA collard greens) water cress, a tiny bit of romaine lettuce and a little fruit but not sure if he's eating, everytime I wake up, its obvious the food as been moved and found food at other side of his enclosure, so dunno if he's eating are walking through it

 

[fluxlizard]

Watch and see if he is pooping regularly- if stuff keeps coming out, stuff is going in and he's eating.

Normally they are not nocturnally active. In fact- adult iguanas tend to have a schedule they stick to and when they decide it is bed time (twighlight usually) they are out like a light.

make sure you have a good understanding of vegetarian diet also. It can be a bit tricky to balance everything- don't just wing it.

For simplicity, I've used rep-cal iguana food for my igs since it first came out (sometime mid 90s), and then supplemented the pellets with fresh greens (greens no more than 25% of the diet winter, but our iguanas have access to all the weeds they want in their large outdoor cage they live in during the summer). Its worked great for mine. My igs are adult sized around age 3 and live 10-15 years, weigh 10-14 lbs, 5-5.5 ft long usually. They breed great on this food too- healthy eggs and babies.

 

[ChameleonFan1989]

Found poop today so he's eating, when we're not looking by the looks of it LOL

 

[cass737]

In my experience with iguanas they tend to love a bit of grated sweet potato sprinkled over their food as well also make sure any fruit you are giving is not "hot house" grown and hasn't had exposure to pesticides, as over time that can cause health problems!

 

[ChameleonFan1989]

Mine currently won't take fruit. The store I got him from was giving him a rubbish diet, all he was giving him was cabbage and broccoli, he's healthy regardless, he just wasn't getting variety so its getting him used to more things now like collard greens etc to get more variety and nutrients into him to get big and strong and healthy.

BTW can a small baby live in a extra large reptibreeze for a short period? Already started building a adult cage LOL saves me doing it later down the road.

 

[fluxlizard]

Yes- I have raised babies in 2x2x6' long enclosures before. Just make sure ambient is warm enough that the baby can make his way to the warm spot during the day- if your home is cool in the winter, the ambient in your reptibreeze might also be cool and if he sleeps away from basking area, he might be too cold to get up and get going in the mornings without an assist.

Most iguanas love blueberries, bananas, and oranges. Just go easy on fruit- it's high in sugar, high in water. But usually you can take blueberries and favorite greens and mix in stuff you are trying to get him interested in and then chop everything up really fine like coleslaw so it is difficult to pick out favorites without accidentally picking up the rest along with it. Helps at first until they get well rounded tastes.

Make sure he gets plenty of social time with you once he is eating and pooping regularly. Daily interaction and on-human contact for an hour or so every day for the first 3 years makes a huge difference in the quality of pet you will have when he is an adult.

 

[kinyonga]

You can use a wide assortment of greens such as collards, escarole, endive, dandelion greens, kale, etc and veggies such as carrots, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, etc and a small amount of fruit such as apple, pear, melon, berries, etc. Best to avoid banana, spinach and cruciferous veggies for the most part.

 

[fluxlizard]

Best to avoid banana, spinach and cruciferous veggies for the most part.

This is true- occasional use only.

Along that general theme- Iguana diet is complicated enough that it is really best not to "wing it". Make sure you do your research on the correct composition of the salad so that it is balanced for the needs of the iguana. There is a lot of info online that can help.

 

[kinyonga]

Can you post a photo of it please?