Food

Note:  If you are looking for how to prepare food...click here.

Note:  If you are looking for information regarding suppplements click here.

    Food is one of the most important part of taking care of an iguana.  The food that you prepare will determine your iguana's life span and health.  A well fed iguana will be lively, energetic, and grow fast.  (Don't try feeding less to get a small iguana!)  When a beginner starts to make iguana food, he/she often finds the process hard and boring. But after a couple of times you should get into a routine of making food.

    Iguanas are vegetarians!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Iguanas should only be fed vegetables and vegetable protein.  Never any part of an animal.  Never any animal protein.  Many old books say that you should feed the iguana bugs and dog food.  This is completely incorrect and will lead to the death of an iguana.  Animal protein damages the kidneys and other parts of the iguana.  They don't help iguanas at all!  Iguana's should be fed only a vegetarian diet.

    Iguanas need to eat a diverse amount of vegetables in order to get proper nutrition.  They need to have a general calcium to phosphorus ratio of 2:1 in all their foods combined.  This leaves a little room for you.   If you feed something with a lot of phosphorus but no calcium, then feed something with a lot of calcium with it.  This ratio is vital to keeping the iguana health.   It prevents Metabolic Bone Disease which is caused by insufficient calcium in the bones.  A healthy diet and lots of sunshine ususally prevents this terrible disease.  

    The foods should have the general ratio of 2:1.   Don't go crazy getting the exact 2:1.  One way to get a good diet without worrying too much is to use the MK Salad.  Also if you go to Melissa Kaplan's Site you can check out her table of calcium:phosphorus ratios.  You can also read about what she has to say about feeding iguanas.

    The key words to feeding your iguana are 2:1 Calcium: Phosphorus ratio, variety, and MK Salad.  I use MK Salad a lot.  It's a healthy diet that my iguana eats every day.  But I don't always feed MK Salad.  Variety is neccessary to provide all the necessary nutrients for the iguana.

    How to make the food and what to use are found here.

    The food should be changed every time the food gets dried or hard which should be about once a day. 

    Along with the food you should use a vitamin/mineral supplement.  Melissa Kaplan has a lot on supplements.  I use good supplements since I have done my homework.  The best supplements and stuff are all on my supplement page!  Click here for my supplement page.

    A convient way to have nutritious food for you iguana everyday is to make two weeks worth of MK Salad or food and put half of it in a Ziploc Bag in the refrigerator and half in a Ziploc Freezer Bag to freeze in the freezer.  The food in the refrigerator can be dished out to the iguana every morning before you go to work or school.  Iguanas should be fed in the morning because the the food eaten by the iguana gets digested through the day which will absorb more nutrients than at night or while sleeping.  Feeding at night is not as effective as feeding in the morning.   You may have to set your alarm clock a few minutes early to accomadate the time it takes to get the food to the dish, which is usually only a couple of minutes!  The food should be left for the iguana to eat by him/herself.  If for some reason the iguana is not eating, you may have to take him/her to a vet.

    When the food in the Ziploc bag that you put in the refrigerator runs out, use the frozen food in the other bag.  This food should be put into the bag as a thin loaf.  This makes breaking pieces of it off easier.  Just put the food in the bag and then close it.  Then mush the food around until the food is spread out in the bag.  When getting food out, open the bag and break off a section.  Very convient.  Place it on the plate and let it melt by itself.  

Note:  If the food is left in the freezer for more than 3 to 4 weeks, then thamine is lost through the defrosting.  This is why you shouldn't use frozen vegetables that you can buy at the store.  Those have been frozen for a long time!   You can occasionally use them.  Prolonged use of food that has been frozen for a long time will lead to a thamine defficiency.  A way to prevent thamine defficiency is to put a little bit of Brewers Yeast in the frozen food.  For proper amounts visit Melissa Kaplan's Site.

Also you should wash the food plate before putting fresh food on.   Dried food or gooey food will spoil and grow mold so you should wash off all the gooey old food and then put new food on it.