What you feed your pet iguana will significantly impact its health and overall well-being, and understanding their dietary needs is crucial for responsible ownership. Unlike many other species of lizards, iguanas are obligate herbivores, meaning they require vegetable matter to survive. As folivores, their diet mainly consists of leaves rather than fruits or seeds. In the wild, iguanas primarily consume plant leaves, flowers, and some fruits. The iguana is the only lizard that lives in trees and feeds on trees. Iguanas eat over 250 types of plants in the wild. Replicating this natural diet in captivity is key to keeping your iguana healthy and thriving.
The Importance of a Proper Diet
Providing the correct diet ensures your iguana receives the necessary nutrients for growth, energy, and overall health. A well-balanced diet helps prevent health problems like metabolic bone disease, which can occur due to calcium deficiencies. It is important to remember that there is still a lot of research done on iguana diets and what seems right today might turn out to be wrong tomorrow.
Core Components of an Iguana Diet
The foundation of a healthy iguana diet should consist of fresh greens and vegetables, supplemented with occasional fruits and appropriate calcium and vitamin supplements.
Fresh Greens: The Cornerstone
Fresh greens should make up a large portion of your iguana’s diet, ideally around 70%. Examples of healthy fresh greens for iguanas include:
- Kale
- Collard greens
- Romaine lettuce (though other greens are more nutritious)
- Turnip greens
- Mustard greens
- Dandelion greens
It is impossible to write all the benefits of these herbs, but some staple greens that can be fed daily include:
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- Coriander (Cilantro): Containing an antibacterial compound, cilantro has been found to provide a natural means of fighting Salmonella and aids in digestion. It is also found to have anti-inflammatory properties and is known to protect from metal-poisoning.
- Fennel: May reduce inflammation and prevent the occurrence of cancer.
- Rosemary: Stimulates the immune system, increasing circulation, and improving digestion.
- Peppermint: May relieve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, including indigestion, dyspepsia, and colonic muscle spasms. It is also an anti-cancer agent and stops the growth of many different bacteria.
Fresh Vegetables: Adding Variety
Iguanas also enjoy a variety of fresh vegetables, which can make up about 20-25% of their diet. Try feeding your pet veggies like:
- Peas
- Shredded carrots
- Bell peppers
- Green beans
- Squash
While frozen vegetables can be substituted for fresh from time to time, blanching before freezing causes the food to drop in folic acid and vitamin C. When possible, opt for fresh over frozen.
Fruits: A Treat in Moderation
Small pieces of fresh fruit can help add variety to your pet iguana’s diet, but they should only constitute about 5% of their overall intake. Examples of fruits that iguanas enjoy include:
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
- Apples
- Bananas
- Cantaloupe
Avoid any citrus fruit such as oranges and grape fruit.
Optional Grains and Fiber
While grains and fiber are optional, many iguanas enjoy the occasional offering of natural bran cereal or whole-grain bread. Cooked rice, cooked pasta, and similar foods can be chopped up and given to your pet in moderation.
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Flowers
There are also a few flowers that you can give your iguana, including roses (Forest ONLY eats white petals), nasturtiums, carnations and especially hibiscus.
- Nasturtium leafs and flower - I feed this daily - no iguana should go without it. HE LOVES IT! It is the easiest growing seed that I have ever planted. Medical use for nasturtium: Effective treatment for the symptoms of topical and internal bacterial infections, as well as the respiratory and digestive systems. It can also be used to treat fungal infections. It has antibiotic, anti fungal, antiviral and antibacterial oils.
- Petunia - He loves them. Unfortunately petunias are very sensitive and do not survive an iguana attack, it also comes with a high price tag. Luckily Petunias are easily grown from seed.
- Mari Gold - He bites on the flower but does not love it.
- Hen and chicken - he only eats a little bit of it.
- Johnny Jump up - beautiful easy grower. It gives a beautiful colour to the plate of food.
Foods to Avoid
There are also other types of foods you should avoid feeding your pet iguana. Mealworms and crickets are a normal part of a reptile’s diet. However, green iguanas are herbivores and therefore do not generally eat insects. Iguanas can have difficulty processing meat, which can put a significant strain on their kidneys and liver.
- Most fruits are safe; however, the seeds from apples, cherries, apricots, peaches, pears, and nectarines can be dangerous.
- In addition, vegetables like eggplant, avocado, and rhubarb can be toxic.
- Any animal protein - Examples: cheese, anything made of cheese, dog and cat food, insects, monkey biscuits.
- Any lettuce, no matter what type it is, if it has the word lettuce in it then dont feed it. It has no nutritional value and your iguana will love it. If he was on this type of diet you might have a hard time converting him.
- Iguana Pellets. No matter what the label says there is no law controlling what they put in and what they have to declare. They will give nice descriptions saying it helps with hydrations and bla-bla-bla BUT this is to get you to buy the product.
- Food with a high oxalate count. Oxalates bind calcium which forces your iguana to draw calcium from its own bones.
- Food with a high goitrogen count. A diet high in goitogens will cause thyroid problems.
Supplements: Ensuring Complete Nutrition
Pet iguanas can benefit from supplements administered two to three times per week. Supplements help iguanas receive all of the necessary vitamins and minerals they need to thrive. Consider adding a vitamin D3 and calcium supplement to your lizard’s food according to the package instructions. In captivity, a 2:1 ratio of calcium to phosphorus is critical. When choosing greens to feed your iguana, use foods high in oxalates sparingly as these can affect calcium absorption in your pet iguana.
Feeding Schedule and Preparation
Iguanas should generally be fed daily, ideally in the morning to allow your pet to adequately digest while basking in heat and ultraviolet light. Most iguanas will actively move away from their food source once they’ve had enough.
Hatchling and young iguanas should be fed at least two times a day. Once the iguana is over 2 feet long, feedings can be done once daily. When the iguana has reached adulthood and maximum length, you can reduce feedings to every other day. Every iguana is different and may require more or less food.
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Food should be pieced up and grated to a size that could easily be split in half by the iguana. Smaller sizes will be necessary for baby iguanas and juvenile iguanas. Iguanas have pleurodont teeth which means that the teeth are fused or ankylosed to the jaw. While they have teeth iguanas do not use them to tear or chew on food but to simply break the food down to 1-2 smaller pieces before swallow.
The perfect ratio to achieve is 2:1 Calcium to Phosphorus to promote normal bone growth. Too much Phosphorus in the diet renders the calcium unusable. Food high in Oxalates bind with the calcium and can therefore not be absorbed by the iguana. Phytates impair calcium absorption.
You need to make a salad combining at least 5 different types of greens, 1 or 2 types of veggies and fruit. My iguana's daily diet has a mixture of 7 to 10 different greens. The greens must make out 70% of the dish. Cut the greens into tiny bits throw it all together inside a plastic container and rinse under the tab. Leave the container to stand for a couple of minutes and then throw out the excess water. Seal the container with an airtight lid. Every morning when you take out greens, mix it all up so that the soaked greens are at the top.
Some iguanas are really particular about their food and the presentation actually means a lot to them.
Addressing Loss of Appetite
If your iguana suddenly stops eating, you may be concerned about his health. There are several reasons why an iguana may stop eating, starting with inadequate tank temperature. If the temperature in your iguana’s enclosure is too low, it can negatively impact digestion. If tank conditions are adequate, consider other reasons, such as parasites. Although many reptiles carry internal parasites that do not cause them harm, some parasites can cause illness. If your iguana suddenly stops eating and there is no known cause, contact your vet for assistance.
Signs of a Healthy Iguana
If you’re not sure if your iguana is getting the nutrition it needs to stay healthy, look for several characteristics that signify a healthy pet.
- Tail and limbs: There should be no abnormal bowing or bends in the tail or limbs.
Additional Considerations for Iguana Care
Beyond diet, several other factors contribute to the health and well-being of your green iguana.
Habitat
Ideally, most iguana owners would live in an area that could support an outdoor iguana enclosure, since iguanas need lots of exposure to UVB rays to thrive. Most iguanas need a small room in order to be comfortable and your iguana’s enclosure should give your pet enough space to climb up and turn fully. For a baby or young iguana (up to around 18-inches long), a 20-gallon aquarium is adequate. An adult iguana, however (which can grow to 6-feet in length and weigh 11 or more pounds), requires much more room. Different material, such as wood, mesh, plexiglass, can be used to build a custom made tank. A glass tank should not be used, due to the lack of ventilation. Glass tanks are extremely humid and can quickly lead to an overgrowth of mold or fungus without proper ventilation and daily cleaning.
Once you’ve set up your iguana’s cage, you want to fill it with lots of “enrichment” toys. Choose a selection of live, safe-for-iguana plants to create hiding spots. You can also put in some different shaped branches with varying widths and lengths. While loose substrate may make the enclosure look more “realistic,” it can increase the risk of disease, GI tract impaction, molding and more. Without consistent changes, loose substrate can be very dangerous for iguanas.
Behavior and Temperament
Iguanas are generally sedentary beings. Given proper basking and cooling areas, many iguanas will be more than happy to rest for large portions of the day. It is very important to tame and train your pet iguana when he or she is young to make sure that they behave more appropriately when they are much stronger. An iguana that is scared can very easily break the arm of their owner.
Some iguanas do enjoy soaking in water, and if yours is one of them-go for it! You can offer them a bath weekly ensuring that the water does not go above your iguana’s stomach. As long as this activity isn’t stressful, it should be added to your pet iguana’s life as a form of enrichment. Baths are more important during shedding periods. Like other reptiles, iguanas periodically shed their skin. When they are about to shed, you want to mist and soak them regularly. Many iguanas will shed in pieces, so it’s important to keep an eye on what has been shed and ensure that no small pieces of skin are still attached to your pet iguana.
Environmental Control
You want to use a heat bulb to keep your iguana’s tank at just the right temperature. Heat is very important, as it helps facilitate your reptile’s growth and digestion. Ambient temperature of an iguana enclosure should be 85-90 °F, with the hottest point of your iguana’s tank reaching 95-105 °F. Make sure you also have a designated cool area in your tank so that the iguana can thermoregulate itself. At night, you can lower the temperature in the tank to 75-80 °F. We recommend using ceramic heat lights, red, or purple light at night to prevent from the disruption of your pet’s light cycle (or yours), since these fixtures only emit heat and no light.
Iguanas should have a light cycle of 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. Keeping these times steady allows for proper hormone production and regulation. Humidity is also critical for any reptile and your iguana’s tank should have 70-80% humidity. This kind of humidity can be achieved with consistent misting and a high ambient enclosure temperature. Be sure to include a hygrometer in your tank to measure humidity. This will let you monitor the true level of humidity in your iguana’s tank. Electric fogger and monsoon systems can also be used.
Reptiles and iguanas in particular require many different electrical systems to maintain their proper living conditions. When utilizing all these systems, it is crucial as an owner to monitor the systems and do the maintenance necessary to prevent any potential malfunctions.
Regular Veterinary Check-ups
When you first buy a new iguana, we recommend having a specialized reptile vet examine your new pet. It is also a good idea to bring your new friend in on a yearly basis for a physical exam (including a fecal and blood work) to ensure a long and healthy life. Many iguanas have infections or parasites that they contracted in captivity before arriving at your home. Any infection or parasite infestation is easier to deal with at the beginning of the presentation of illness. Every iguana is different and blood work can determine if your pet has any underlying conditions including mineral deficiencies. Even with the proper diet, some iguanas need nutritional supplements.
Common Iguana Behaviors
- Tail Whipping - When alarmed, one of iguana’s defense mechanisms is to whip their tail very quickly. The sheer movement can create a force that can be quite painful and dangerous.
- Head Bobbing - Head bobbing is found in many lizards, iguanas are no exception.
- Iguanas have a primitive third “eye” or parietal “eye”. This organ is photoreceptive, meaning that it does not “see” clear images. It is believed, however, that iguanas can use their parietal eye to discern the absence and presence of light.
- All green iguanas have nasal salt glands. On rare occasions, these glands can fill up with salty fluid. This problem can be caused by diet.
- Baby iguanas shed every 4 - 6 weeks, while adult iguanas only shed about once a year. They may not always shed at the same time of year.
- Iguanas usually change colors when they head outdoors. Many will become shades darker than normal to absorb as much heat as possible. Iguanas enjoy basking in the sun, but if your pet is twitching, or seems to have a loss of balance, your iguana may be sick.