Iguana Pet Care | Is your lizard getting the proper diet?
Iguanas are herbivorous animals, but they will eat almost anything you offer them; be it pizza, meat, sweets… foods that are bad for the iguana… Its diet should include a wide variety of vegetables and fruits, such as basil, spinach, beets, fig leaves (selected), beets, sweet potatoes, carrots , dipped alfalfa, banana, pear, apple, apricot, strawberries, kiwi… From time to time you can offer ruff, spinach, bean sprouts, cucumber, plum, hard-boiled egg, pasta or cheese.
The variety is the most important, since they eat something slightly different every two days. But keep in mind that the iguana should not eat lettuce, as it provides very little nutrition and can damage the metabolism.
It is possible to administer balanced food specially prepared for iguanas. Iguana food must be delivered washed, cut, mixed and at room temperature. While feeding them, make sure to slice the food to the size that the animal can consume.
Young iguanas can eat insects such as crickets, cockroaches, all of them farmed, since the ones we find in houses or on the street may have poison residues. Also small mammals (baby rats) of the right size depending on the animal.
The water must be changed every day. Iguana pets get used to drinking from a container, large enough to allow the animal to bathe in it. If the animal is not used to this system, a drip system should be provided that drops water on leaves and branches, from where it will drink.
Care and Curiosities
The lack of knowledge on the part of the owners and the inadequate or scarce information given in pet stores regarding the care of pet iguanas, increase the risk of presenting diseases related almost exclusively to poor handling of these animals.
The green iguana is not a pet and needs special care. This pet has to be observed very carefully, because the slightest sign or change in its color or behavior may be indicating illness or stress. They can get stressed very easily. Care must be redoubled if you also have dogs, cats or other reptiles at home.
If they are not treated correctly they can cause deep scratches, give very strong tail whips or even bite. Iguana pets can live between 7 and 20 years. It is a species that is threatened by the destruction of its habitat and by poaching (overexploitation).
Due to its high fertility and sociability, it is a species that can be tolerated in captivity; this can help a little to its conservation. Its reproduction is sexual. Pairing occurs between January and February. By their birth, they are oviparous. The average incubation period is 84 days at a temperature of 87ºF. The number of babies depends on the weather and changes between 13 and 30.
