Presentation of food

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Posted by Iguanamomma on May 23, 1999 at 01:22:52:

In Reply to: more Mean iguana posted by Shemp on May 22, 1999 at 23:45:51:

This will sound silly, but what the heck! How do you prepare his food? Some iguanas like it fixed different ways (shredded, diced, cut up). You REALLY do need to wean him off that cat food & chicken but let's try getting him to eat better first. If you have not tried this..here's my first suggestion.

Mustard greens
yellow squash
zuchinni
mixed frozen veggies
collard greens (or frozen collard greens)

Thaw some of the frozen stuff. Take the mustard &/or collards and tear or cut to bite size pieces. Take the squash & zuke and grate them (use the larger holes). Toss this salad together.

Now take his eating plate/bowl and put a bit of the cat food in the middle and put the salad over it. This should make him have to eat at least some of the healthy stuff before he gets to the cat food.

I suggested these veggies because they are the easiest to find right now & easiest to prepare. There is a whole list of other veggies that you can use and even cooked rice and pieces of bread are good items. If your grocery store stocks the pre-bagged salads that have the wide assortment of greens, these are okay to use also just cut them up or tear them up to more ig-bite size pieces.

Once you get him to eat veggies more & more then stop the animal protein. It's very hard on their kidneys and could lead to early death. Oh yes...when do you feed him? They need a chance to warm up before they eat. I usually do not even try to put food in with ours until they've been under their basking lights a couple of hours. You might also try misting the food just before you put it in...and mist it later if not eaten right away to keep it moist.

A lot of us have dealt with picky eaters so you're not alone! Sometimes its just a matter of waiting them out...give them the right food every day and eventually they'll eat. Before you try the trick of mixing the food you might want to skip ONE day of feeding to increase the appetite. One day won't hurt anything.

Good luck!

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Calcium and Sun Sammy's Mom 5/23/99 (0)

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: This will sound silly, but what the heck! How do you prepare his food? Some iguanas like it fixed different ways (shredded, diced, cut up). You REALLY do need to wean him off that cat food & chicken but let's try getting him to eat better first. If you have not tried this..here's my first suggestion. : Mustard greens : yellow squash : zuchinni : mixed frozen veggies : collard greens (or frozen collard greens) : Thaw some of the frozen stuff. Take the mustard &/or collards and tear or cut to bite size pieces. Take the squash & zuke and grate them (use the larger holes). Toss this salad together. : Now take his eating plate/bowl and put a bit of the cat food in the middle and put the salad over it. This should make him have to eat at least some of the healthy stuff before he gets to the cat food. : I suggested these veggies because they are the easiest to find right now & easiest to prepare. There is a whole list of other veggies that you can use and even cooked rice and pieces of bread are good items. If your grocery store stocks the pre-bagged salads that have the wide assortment of greens, these are okay to use also just cut them up or tear them up to more ig-bite size pieces. : Once you get him to eat veggies more & more then stop the animal protein. It's very hard on their kidneys and could lead to early death. Oh yes...when do you feed him? They need a chance to warm up before they eat. I usually do not even try to put food in with ours until they've been under their basking lights a couple of hours. You might also try misting the food just before you put it in...and mist it later if not eaten right away to keep it moist. : A lot of us have dealt with picky eaters so you're not alone! Sometimes its just a matter of waiting them out...give them the right food every day and eventually they'll eat. Before you try the trick of mixing the food you might want to skip ONE day of feeding to increase the appetite. One day won't hurt anything. : Good luck!

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