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Posted by LauraO on April 29, 1999 at 19:47:21:
In Reply to: A question about fish posted by Samantha on April 29, 1999 at 15:17:08:
: About two months ago my my boyfriend had gotten some trout from a take out place and my iggy was begging for some so my boyfriend gave him some. I gave him the big lecture about how iggs don't eat meat and that fish isn't good for him. Last night I made some trout at home and when I went eat he was begging at my lap like a dog. This from and ig that normally won't have anything to do with any human if he can help it. So what did I do, I caved and gave him some. I know I was a bad mommy, but if you saw thoughs little iggy eyes. So any way how bad do you think it would if we let him have some trout every once in a great while? If not I think we'll have go out for fish for now on.
: Thanks Samantha and the fish loving Angus
To be safe, I'd say ignore whatever is making your ig go nuts for fish and don't feed it. There's too much info out now that shows what big vegetarians igs are. I do have my personal ideas on the whole strict-herbivore thing. As we learn all kinds of new things about herps and improve out knowledge of how to care for them, breakthroughs often lead to fads of "Only do it this way! We were all wrong before!" People used to feed their igs lettuce, crickets and dog food all the time and wondered why they died. When we saw that they were physiologically structured like ruminants and were in fact very veggie, like deer and hippos and such, we all got enlightened and now know for a supposed fact that all igs are only vegetarian and giving anything else ever is taboo. Since igs are vegetarians, this is great advice to give to most people because anyone who thinks it's okay to give a little meat really won't know what "a little" means, especially in terms of the slower reptilian metabolism. Most people cannot fathom anything going through life without meat, for fear of what would happen without protein (veggies do contain protein and minerals, just not the same kinds and not as much, which is why grazers graze all day). Very few would ever give, say, fish, once a month or two months or less. People just can't help themselves. But in truth, wild red deer and hippos have been seen feeding on whole animal carcasses, as well as land tortoises, and so there is reason to feel that maybe igs do benefit from a tiny amount of meat once in a blue moon. A wild ig would no doubt need more indulgence than a CB ig, for there is less energy burned up by captive igs who are not busy fighting other igs and running from predators and dealing with the elements (weather). Captive igs are also given a richer diet to choose from when cared for properly. Any good zoologist will tell you that virtually nothing is a 100% carnivore or herbivore, but I advocate keeping igs as vegetarians because it keep life simple for those of us still worried enough about feeding the right combo of veggies and fruits, much less when to feed meats and what kinds. Your ig is not attracted to the fish for no reason. Because it's aromatic. Only you know if that's true. Is he just as anxious if you have flowers or fruits at the table. Maybe. Maybe not. Many igs enjoy chasing down crickets,and I find it hard to swallow that every instance of finding insect and animal remains in an ig's stomach or feces is because it "happened to be on that leaf he really wanted." Stick to veggies, but this is all something to think about.
