The other day my budgie escaped her cage and flew into the iganas cage. Well, when I came home she was dead and he had ate all her insides out and just left bones, feathers and her head. I didn't think Iguanas even ate meat! Why did this happen?
2006-11-30 02:40:18 · 8 answers · asked by Vanessa 2 in Pets ➔ Reptiles
i suppose maybe your ig felt threatened by the bird and attacked it. if an ig can attack a human, it can attack a bird. as far as igs not being coordinated enough, i've seen mine do some pretty amazing things as far as coordination goes. also, don't buy into the melissa kaplan thing. she thinks she is an expert but she doesn't know everything about igs. nobody does. her so-called iguana diet isn't exactly the best thing, either. i would also like to add that igs WILL eat meat. i had one that ate hamburgers from wendy's. he adored pizza, too. i'm not saying it is a good thing to feed it to them as it can cause health problems. i'm just saying that some igs do eat meat. also, i'm sorry to hear about your bird. for more info, go to www.kingsnake.com.
2006-11-30 09:21:03 · answer #1 · answered by purple_euphoria 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
How did the budgie fly INTO the Iguana's cage? If the Budgie could get in, how come the Iguana could not get out?
And to the others, yes, Ig's will eat meat rather than starve. Those that are feed sufficient vegitation have no need to bother with meat. Think of it as the equivalent of your eating bugs. In any case, the shape of an Iguana's teeth do not meet with the description above.
Melissa Kaplan is not the only one advocating no meat diets for Iguanas. I expect she has also done more research on it than anyone answering this question. Her evidence is presented, where is yours?
Even Kingsnake .com says "No single aspect of iguana husbandry seems to produce more misinformation than diet. Iguanas are entirely herbivorous (plant-eating) from the time of birth and do not require any type of animal protein at any point in their lives. "
2006-11-30 09:52:59 · answer #2 · answered by Betty 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Iguanas do not eat meat at all. See "Iguanas for Dummies" by Melissa Kaplan to find out about the research into this. A researcher watching wild iguanas made the assumption that they were catching bugs along with the plants they were eating and put this in his notes. From this people started saying that they needed to eat meat or they could eat bugs, etc. No evidence of them eating bugs or any type of meat was ever found in their waste, but people kept up the false information.
Even if they did eat meat, an iguana is not coordinated enough to be able to eat the inside of a bird without devouring the entire thing. They couldn't leave the bones and feathers behind.
Something's wrong with this story. Do you have a cat? A cat could easily do what you described.
2006-11-30 07:31:58 · answer #3 · answered by escpthemadnss 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Iguanas aren't supposed to eat too much protein (their diet should be 80% vegetarian) but they can and will if given the opportunity.
Sorry to hear about your budgie.
2006-11-30 02:55:51 · answer #4 · answered by Zoe 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Iguanas are manly herbivorous. But in the wild they sometimes eat small birds and mammals. So it shouldn't be a problem. But I'm sorry for your budgie:(.
2006-11-30 03:56:56 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have a comment for "escpthemadnss", Iguana's DO EAT MEAT!
2006-11-30 08:40:16 · answer #6 · answered by gogurtboy6 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Iguanas need lots of protein in their diet. Perhaps it would help if you added parts of chicken, egg or even tuna fish to his diet. That would help out his digestive system as well.Thats what I do with mine, and so far he hasn't tried to eat our budgies.
2006-11-30 13:55:30 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
even though iguanas are mainly vegetarians they will sometimes eat meat to get extra protein. thats so sad about your bird
2006-11-30 03:11:27 · answer #8 · answered by Ambegurl 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋