Posted by BabyHerp on August 08, 2000 at 16:48:39:
In Reply to: MK Diet - No Alfalfa (UK Version?) posted by Alan King on August 08, 2000 at 07:00:38:
Check with different grocers in your area even ethnic Asian, Latino markets for example,also farmers markets, health food stores for a more variety ...ask your grocer about possibility of ordering certain greens.
MK's iguana/walkabout diet just doesn't work for my igs. She tries so ya gotta give her some credit. Iguanas under the age of 2 need a higher plant protein for growth than when they mature...then taper out the protein. Try Jen Swofford's website.....much much better for diet ideas (link below) Iguanas evolve to be fruit & leaf eaters when they mature. As iglets in the wild they are much more opportunistic than when they mature....eating bugs, eggs, vegetation. Iguanas do NOT eat vegetables in the wild. Their diet of leaves & fruit is very low protein.
Great greens/staple (besides collards & mustard): Chinese mustard, mustard spinach,turnip greens, dandelion,escarole (curly endive), watercress, chickory.
As additions: kale, looseleaf lettuce
Most skins of plants have chemicals that if feed in large amounts can be problematic for your iguana....so make sure you peel the hard skin of butternut or spaghetti squash prior to grating it.Another great veggie is cactus (optunia) or nopales super high calcium, my igs love it! Chemicals like tannins(inhibit iron & B12 absorption): found in super high concentrations in banana skins, and grape skins, and lettuce leaves. Or oxalic acid (inhibits calcium absorption)on rinds of citrus fruit, and heavy concentrations in foods like strawberries, spinach, parsley, swiss chard, pokeweed, beetgreens. Broccoli is very high in goitrogens (glucosinolates bind iodine thus hypo/hyper parathyroidism) and should be fed sparingly.
Great plant protein foods...include low-fat tofu bathed in calcium sulfate (NOT Magnesium), legumes (beans & peas avoid high fat content like in kidney & garbanzo beans) but snap green beans, snow peas are okay occasionally. Also timothy hay and alfalfa hay...cut in small pieces and mixed thoroughly a little goes a long long way! I had a 8 oz bag of timothy hay that lasted me 6 months for my two adult igs.
Good high calcium fruits include cactus "prickly" pear aka tunas, papaya, figs, rasberries, blackberries, oranges
***The age & health status of your iguana of your iguana not to mention enviroment has a lot to do with what & how you feed your iguana, or supplement its diet. Here's my iguana's diet:
My igs get 1 item from each of these 3 categories (by order of most often fed)
@ 60% dandelion greens (flowers, roots, leaves if harvested from yards), young hibiscus leaves, collards, mustard greens, turnip greens
@ 20% nutritious veggies: cactus (nopales), spaghetti or butternut squash
@ 20% nutritious fruits: papaya, rasberries, valencia oranges,prickly pear, figs, blackberries
I sometimes will give em fun kinds of food....squash flowers, nasturnium,geranium leaves & flowers,rose petals, hibiscus flowers, banana, pumpernickel or rye bread,Total cereal, pumpkin, basamati rice .. but because they are loaded with phosphorus or other junk so they get these foods once in a great while.
Their salad is then heavily sprayed or doused with water or dandelion root juice
Rarely needed but:
If they are dehydrated... I make my own version of Pedialyte and pour it over their salad at mealtime or give them sips in a needleless syringe throughout the day: 1 cup boiling water,2 tsp sugar,a pinch of salt, cooled. This is in place of regular water/dandelion root juice
If they've had surgery, bleeds (lost nails) etc...I up the protein a tad with low-fat tofu bathed in calcium sulphate or Ensure Plus, Sustacal poured over their salad
If they're being treated for worms, infection, under stress due to abrupt changes of temps or enviromental changes I give them filtrated triple-probiotics to replace lost beneficial microflora
If they are constipated I give them a warm reconstituted prune slurry poured over their salad
For supplementation: I crush Tums Ultra (pure calcium carb), a generic equivalent or Citrical w/o Vitamin D (calcium citrate) and also crush uncoated therapuetic multi-vitamins or use Miner-All O, add psyllium and milk thistle at a ratio of 3:1:1:1 mix it thoroughly put in spice shakers and mix with their salad. I supplement maybe 3 times a week right now. (I make up a 'batch' every month or so)
Re: dandelion....I try to give them dandelion roots (diuretic)as often as possible softened diced the juice poured over the salad w/ softened root to keep their kidneys healthy at 6 years old they can use all the help they need!
Hopes this gives ya an idea or two....once you get the basics down....iguana nutrition is ALOT more easier than it looks! Keep it simple but use really good nutritious foods okie dokie!
Gina