A proper diet is essential to your iguana's health. Unfortunately for igs, until fairly recently the recommended diet was terribly unhealthy. People were told to feed items such as dog food or monkey chow, or just to throw in some lettuce once in a while. The high protein diets such as dog food and monkey chow did produce large igs, but they had short life spans, often dying of kidney or liver failure. Igs are herbivores and should not be fed animal protein of any kind. Lettuce of any kind, be it romaine or iceberg, is not a healthy diet for iguanas either. It is mostly water and fiber, and does not even begin to provide the nutrients necessary for and ig's health.

Iguanas should be fed a diet consisting of dark, leafy greens with a high calcium:phosphorus ratio. Greens such as collards, dandelion greens, mustard greens, and turnip tops are all good choices. Try to provide variety and offer at least 3 greens per feeding. Grated winter squash such as butternut or acorn, sweet potatoes, and zucchini (not very high in nutrition but a good water source) can be added on top of the greens. Fruits such as melons, berries, or grapes can be given sparingly, as treats. They should not constitute a major part of the diet.

There are some greens to avoid or use sparingly. Greens like kale and spinach are high in oxcalic acids, which bind the calcium your iguana needs. While a little bit of these greens will not hurt your ig, and they can be used once in a while for variety, there are so many other good greens out there that it seems silly to use these.

Below is an example of a nutritious iguana diet:

Greens: (should make up about 80-85% of the salad)
Collard Greens
Dandelion Greens
Endive
Turnip Tops
(Collards and Dandelions are my usual staple greens..I try to use at least 2 other greens per salad and rotate them - Escarole, Arugula, Chard, and other dark leafy greens can be used for variety)

Vegetables: (should make up about 10-15% of the salad)
Grated Acorn or Butternut Squash
Grated Yams
Fresh Green Beans
Red, Yellow, or Green Peppers

Fruit / Other Treats: (No more than 5% of the salad)
Sliced Grapes
Strawberries
Blueberries
Melon
Canned Green Beans (very rarely...look for no salt added brands)
Wheat bread soaked in water
Hibiscus, Rose, or Day Lily flower petals

There is a lot of information about iguana diets that has come to light in the past few years. Two of the best sites that deal with iguana diets in all their complexity are Melissa Kaplan's site, and the Iguana Den site. Rather than simply reiterate what is coverd in such depth on these sites, I encourage you to visit them and read more about iguana diet.

© 2002 - M. Martin