Re: Would it be Safe to Say....

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Posted by cirsisue on March 02, 1999 at 20:22:53:

In Reply to: Re: Would it be Safe to Say.... posted by Iguanamomma on March 01, 1999 at 23:04:58:

: What you say makes sense...re using a diet with the higher levels until blood work is normal again. But as Ig3 says, there are some situations where other intervention aside from diet is necessary, too. But in the situations you have described a vet would already be in on the treatment, etc.

: The only time I "monkey" with the diet is when they've not been able to go outside in the sun OR I've not been able to find good dark green veggies for them & have had to use frozen to flesh out the "salad" for the week. Then I will add vitamins more often than 1x a week. Please keep in mind that ours are adults not babies though.

: I'm not saying this in a boastful manner......when our female ig had to have emergency surgery after a prolapse dumped eggs into the abdominal cavity, the vet did tell us that "she's the best looking iguana I've seen in this office" AND "her overal physical health is what helped her survive this ordeal." It made us feel less guilty over what she was going thru to know that we at least had been doing something right with her!

: I try to use those things that have a good Ca:P ratio on a regular basis & vary them, too; and I use spinach & kale but no more than once a month (bunch lasts for a week's feed) and alternate the months (I don't use kale & spinach in the same month). Ours are not overly fond of lots of fruits. Except I do have to be careful with the female....she LOVES "nanners" and will go off the salad if given them more than once a week.

: IMHO the most important thing that we do for our igs is take them outside to sun. Not everyone has the opportunity to do this because of location. Just one day of getting some real sun shows on these igs. Their color and mood improves. So I think it must be important to use the proper lighting especially if going out is not an option you can exercise very often if at all.

: Joan, we were very lucky when we got our first iguana because we didn't have access to the net & it was not easy getting good info on iguanas. Our local neighborhood pet store with whom we've traded since they first opened here provided me with a list of recommended foods from the book by Hatfield I believe. Together we learned how to take care of iguanas to the best of the knowledge out there & available at the time (5 yrs ago). I've only had access to the net for 15 months...but I find that I have a healthy respect for Kaplan's site. To be perfectly honest, however, I take those things that our igs WILL eat that are good for them and go from there & try to vary it. I've added/tried several of the squash that are listed..they all smell like pumpkin to me LOL I increased the darker veggies & our igs finally accepted this.

: I also think that since iguanas can be very picky that we each have to find something that works for us that follows guidelines as closely as we can. If they are eating healthy on a consistent basis, then it shouldn't matter (IMHO) if their salad is 100% MK salad, JS salad, or whatever.

: Did I answer your question or just ramble myself silly? LOL I also have respect for several people that post to this forum....including newbies!! I've changed things for some of our reptiles because of discussions with newbies that made me re-examine how I was doing something (i.e. substrate)...and because of some things recommended by the oldies but goodies set (ahem, iZ's mom comes to mind LOL). I really like the forums for the information and for the friendships formed.

: Give Sneakers a little extra loving from his sort of "godmother".

Yes that was quite a debate but at least here it's an intelligent debate,and it never hurts to re-examine new and old things that can hel our babies.The diet we've been using on our igs(2 we don't have aymore)is pretty much like the one iguanamomma uses and our common sense.We're very lucky to live in Fla,so Cirsis gets sunshine almost everyday,even cloudy days we all go out.I think they need as much fresh greens mixture as possible.We tend to feed 75%greens,20%veggies and fruit or flowers to round it off.All our igs have been good eaters(lucky)and have been healthy.We do change around the percentages dependin on how they eat.This has worked for us so we try not to temp fate.

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: : : What you say makes sense...re using a diet with the higher levels until blood work is normal again. But as Ig3 says, there are some situations where other intervention aside from diet is necessary, too. But in the situations you have described a vet would already be in on the treatment, etc. : : The only time I "monkey" with the diet is when they've not been able to go outside in the sun OR I've not been able to find good dark green veggies for them & have had to use frozen to flesh out the "salad" for the week. Then I will add vitamins more often than 1x a week. Please keep in mind that ours are adults not babies though. : : I'm not saying this in a boastful manner......when our female ig had to have emergency surgery after a prolapse dumped eggs into the abdominal cavity, the vet did tell us that "she's the best looking iguana I've seen in this office" AND "her overal physical health is what helped her survive this ordeal." It made us feel less guilty over what she was going thru to know that we at least had been doing something right with her! : : I try to use those things that have a good Ca:P ratio on a regular basis & vary them, too; and I use spinach & kale but no more than once a month (bunch lasts for a week's feed) and alternate the months (I don't use kale & spinach in the same month). Ours are not overly fond of lots of fruits. Except I do have to be careful with the female....she LOVES "nanners" and will go off the salad if given them more than once a week. : : IMHO the most important thing that we do for our igs is take them outside to sun. Not everyone has the opportunity to do this because of location. Just one day of getting some real sun shows on these igs. Their color and mood improves. So I think it must be important to use the proper lighting especially if going out is not an option you can exercise very often if at all. : : Joan, we were very lucky when we got our first iguana because we didn't have access to the net & it was not easy getting good info on iguanas. Our local neighborhood pet store with whom we've traded since they first opened here provided me with a list of recommended foods from the book by Hatfield I believe. Together we learned how to take care of iguanas to the best of the knowledge out there & available at the time (5 yrs ago). I've only had access to the net for 15 months...but I find that I have a healthy respect for Kaplan's site. To be perfectly honest, however, I take those things that our igs WILL eat that are good for them and go from there & try to vary it. I've added/tried several of the squash that are listed..they all smell like pumpkin to me LOL I increased the darker veggies & our igs finally accepted this. : : I also think that since iguanas can be very picky that we each have to find something that works for us that follows guidelines as closely as we can. If they are eating healthy on a consistent basis, then it shouldn't matter (IMHO) if their salad is 100% MK salad, JS salad, or whatever. : : Did I answer your question or just ramble myself silly? LOL I also have respect for several people that post to this forum....including newbies!! I've changed things for some of our reptiles because of discussions with newbies that made me re-examine how I was doing something (i.e. substrate)...and because of some things recommended by the oldies but goodies set (ahem, iZ's mom comes to mind LOL). I really like the forums for the information and for the friendships formed. : : Give Sneakers a little extra loving from his sort of "godmother". : Yes that was quite a debate but at least here it's an intelligent debate,and it never hurts to re-examine new and old things that can hel our babies.The diet we've been using on our igs(2 we don't have aymore)is pretty much like the one iguanamomma uses and our common sense.We're very lucky to live in Fla,so Cirsis gets sunshine almost everyday,even cloudy days we all go out.I think they need as much fresh greens mixture as possible.We tend to feed 75%greens,20%veggies and fruit or flowers to round it off.All our igs have been good eaters(lucky)and have been healthy.We do change around the percentages dependin on how they eat.This has worked for us so we try not to temp fate.

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