Re: can ig's eat meat? Say ham.....more....

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Iguana Forum ]

Posted by Lily on March 31, 2002 at 22:00:04:

In Reply to: can ig's eat meat? Say ham.....more.... posted by ECKO on March 31, 2002 at 10:47:45:

If you've read any of Melissa Kaplan's stuff, she freely admits to encouraging kidney failure in her first iguana by supplementing its diet with dog food, which in most cases contains a high content of animal protein.

One common misconception is that an iguana raised on animal protein will grow to be a larger size or will reach its full size faster. This may be due to the fact that iguanas are 'farmed' in some regions of the world as a traditional or ethnic food. These iguanas are fed animal matter because the people keeping them are not concerned with the longevity with the animals, but in the rapidity of maturation and the amount of meat that can be 'harvested.' It's much like raising a cow to become a piece of veal. The environment it is in during its early life is appropriate because the cow will meet an early death; a cow raised in said environment and then expected to live a life as full and healthy as a cow raised in a more natural environment would fall way short of its keepers expectations.

That much said, iguanas will eat meat if it is offered to them (there was some controversy over this forum a while back about a home-made video of some guy feeding a live mouse to his sub-adult ig) but can get by just fine without it and, as others af said, will probably not miss it if it isn't there.

Follow Ups:

Re: can ig's eat meat? Say ham.....more.... Travis 04/01/02 (0)

Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:

Subject:

Comments:
: If you've read any of Melissa Kaplan's stuff, she freely admits to encouraging kidney failure in her first iguana by supplementing its diet with dog food, which in most cases contains a high content of animal protein. : One common misconception is that an iguana raised on animal protein will grow to be a larger size or will reach its full size faster. This may be due to the fact that iguanas are 'farmed' in some regions of the world as a traditional or ethnic food. These iguanas are fed animal matter because the people keeping them are not concerned with the longevity with the animals, but in the rapidity of maturation and the amount of meat that can be 'harvested.' It's much like raising a cow to become a piece of veal. The environment it is in during its early life is appropriate because the cow will meet an early death; a cow raised in said environment and then expected to live a life as full and healthy as a cow raised in a more natural environment would fall way short of its keepers expectations. : That much said, iguanas will eat meat if it is offered to them (there was some controversy over this forum a while back about a home-made video of some guy feeding a live mouse to his sub-adult ig) but can get by just fine without it and, as others af said, will probably not miss it if it isn't there.

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Iguana Forum ]