my iguana will not eat veggies only fruit what sould i do?

Question

i can only get it to eat grapes and kewi. the person i bought it from had all of them eating veggies. now it will not eat them

Answer 1

Mix the greens with the fruit. Tearing them into small pieces may help. Slowly increase the greens and reduce the fruit. A fruit only diet does not provide the nutritional needs of an iguana.



Diet:
Iguanas are herbivores; they do not eat animal protein of any kind. Commercially available Iguana food is not suitable for use as it usually contains animal protein. An Iguana's primary diet should include collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, escarole, green beans, parsnip, winter squash, alfalfa, strawberries, mangos, figs, cantaloupe and a calcium supplement. The greens should make up the majority of the diet.
The Iguana should be feed early every morning. Additional feedings may be made later if the iguana eats them. Water should be provided, preferably in a dish too small for the iguanas to immerse themselves in.

Size:
Iguanas can grow to 6 foot in length.

Age............... head to vent…..total length
Just hatched……...2 in ………….6-8 in
3 months……...….4 in…………..12 in
6 months…………6 in…………..18 in
1 year…………….8 in…………..24 in
18 months…….…10 in…………..30 in
2 years…………..12 in…………..36 in
3 years……….….16 in…………..45 in
4 years……….….18 in…………..54 in
5 years…………..20 in…………..60 in
6 years…………..22 in…………..66 in
7 years…….up to 24 in….....up to 72 in

Housing:
Where x is the length of the iguana, housing should be x tall, x deep and 1.5 x long. Iguanas are arboreal and need to have something to climb on. A bathing area is also desirable. Iguanas instinctually poop in water and they are likely to consistently use the bathing are to do so.

Heat:
Iguanas need a basking area, normally at the top of the climbing area that has a temperature of 95F. The lower areas of the cages should be cooler as a lizard regulates his body temperature by moving to warmer or cooler areas. The lowest temperature, nighttime, should not be less than 75F. Nighttime heat can be provided using ceramic heaters or night bulbs. Never use heat rocks with Iguanas as they can cause burning.

Light:
Iguanas live in equatorial areas. They should have 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark. They also require high quality UVB lights (such as reptisun 10) to facilitate vitamin D production to allow calcium absorption. Vitamin D drop are not a suitable replacement due to problems with dosing and lack of evidence on their effectiveness. Daily trips outside, in a suitable enclosure, are desirable when temperature permits.

Handling:
Iguanas must be handled daily to socializing them. As they can inflict injury with their tails, teeth, and claws the purchase of protective gear for the forearms is often considered (my son uses a leather jacket and gloves). They are not domesticated animals so this behavior is instinctual on the Iguana's part. The daily handling is to show them that you are a friend rather than a threat. Never punish an iguana, but at the same time do not let them win. If the Iguana learns that tail thrashing will cause you to put them down, they will always tail thrash when you try to pick them up.

Health:
Iguanas require reptile vets. Regular vets do not have the training needed to understand what is happening in an Iguana, or any other reptile. You can find a list of reptile vets in the US at http://www.anapsid.org/vets/index.html.

Lifespan:
In captivity Iguanas given proper care can be expected to live 20 years.



Please be sure to visit anapsid.org. It is the website of Melissa Kaplan, author of Iguanas for Dummies.


http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/index.html
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/BabyIguana/
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/IguanaDen/
http://stembol.com/Pets/iguanacage.htm

Answer 2

My friend had this same problem when he introduced the iguana to sweet fruit. The way he got the iguana to start eating veggies, is he put the fruit and veggies in a blender and blended them together (not soupy, and more veggies than fruit).

Answer 3

I feed collard greens ripped in pieces no bigger than his head, some small pieces of apple/cucumber/squash/strawberrys/ that kind of stuff. Nothing with alot of acid. I sprinkle "iguana dust", & calcium with VIT.D3 on the food. Now trptomin makes a "soft gel" fruit & vegetable diet that my guy LOVES . That can be added as a yummie part of his diet. I pamper them, their water I change twice a day. I feed at breakfast when I eat, lunch when I eat, & supper whe I eat. But thats your choice. No roman lettuce because it has no nutritional value. Also he would probably enjoy a bath. Probably about 24X24. They love to swim. I'm sure yu already have a heat lampt, lighting etc. Iguanas dont eat if their cold, make sure hes warm. He supose to be green, thats probably because your doing something rite or hes getting older & his color. GOOD LUCK HUN.

Answer 4

Stop giving it fruit for a while. Only give it veggies. When it's hungry enough, it'll eat them.

Think of it this way: it's like putting candy and green beans in front of a little kid. Which one are they going to grab?

Once it's eating veggies again, start adding some fruit. Just don't let it fill up completely on fruit. I do this with my bearded dragon. I put out a nice salad of different greens and top it with a few pieces of chopped up fruit. The fruit isn't enough to fill him up, so after he eats them he moves on to the veggies.

Answer 5

experiment wit mixed veggies and lay of the fruits for a while until it stars eating veggies again and if it doesn't eat then take it to the vet and don,t listen to baby animal iguanas are strict herbivores you can give them health problems by feeding him bugs and such things

Answer 6

Relax. It's no big deal. I would suggest constantly keeping a wide selection of both veggies and fruits in there for him. He'll eat what foods he needs to obtain the proper nutrition as long as it is readily available.

Answer 7

Have you tried soaking the veggies with a fruit juice. He may not feel at ease with you yet. We had a male that when he got upset would not eat and the vet told us about the fruit juice and that males are more sensitive and Territorial. He also said that he could give me vitamins for him until he ate his veggies.

Answer 8

I had an iguana for 8 years. Try something it might not have eaten for awhile. I know they eat leaf lettuce and bok choy, strawberries, baby food bananas, and try soft cat food- not canned, but soft bites. The kind you can squish with your fingers. If you try all that, and it still won't eat, call a vet. Try some iguana vitamins, also.

Answer 9

Take him/her to the vet. Dietary problems are usually the first sign of sickness.

Answer 10

Feed the thing some Damn Meat!
Buy it some Pinkie baby Mice or crickets or meal worms at the pet store..