is this diet ok

[boris]

first of all high i am steven from good old UK
I recently got a male iggy from a rehoming centre he is lovely temperd at around 4 ft in lentgh. Oh and his name is boris. He has a kink in his tail from lack of calci in his first family grrrr.

Just curious to know if u agree with his diet.

I feed him Waer cress, cress, green and yellow pepers ( he hates red) little spinach (i want hair on his chest lol), sweet potatoes, butternut squash, small amount of carrot and brocoli wich he wolfs down as a treathe gets either mango banana or apple. for his entertainment and mine i only cut the apple in half as i was advised that its good for a iggy to play withhis food sometimes wich he seems to enjoy. all his food is dusted with calci powder then sprayed for extra moisture.

Is this diet ok. i will post pics of him later for all to see.

Thanks eveyone and hi all!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Merlin]

Hi Steven! Welcome to IZ! Your ig's diet needs a serious overhaul! If you click on the two titles above this post you can get to the recommended foods page. Iguanas are very specific in their dietary needs. The diet should be mostly calcium rich leafy greens such as collard, mustard and turnip. Spinach and carrots are a once in a while food and I would lose the broccoli altogether. Also banana is a once in a while treat. A bit of apple occassionally is ok but make sure that you remove all the seeds. There are other fruit that is better for them.

i only cut the apple in half as i was advised that its good for a iggy to play with his food

Whoever told you that was yanking your chain! The food should be chopped up or grated. Its ok to allow the ig to rip peices off of a large leaf but allowing the ig to play with something as large and solid as a half of an apple runs a serious risk of causing it to get choked. Also I would spray the food first and then dust lightly with calcium powder. Doing it the other way is washing the calcium off of the food. You also do not want to add calcium with every feeding. once a week is plenty. Too much calcium is worse than too little.
Tell us about your cage set up. What are the temps and do you have UVB lighting?

[ericj]

If he likes spinach, try collards, since it's good for him and tastes similar.

I'd like to echo Merlin's opinion on the large chunks. I'd seriously fear choking and impaction with stuff like that. Make sure everything will fit down his throat without too much effort. You can feed larger green pieces that they might need to 'play with' a bit to get down, but they'll just fold up.

You'll notice that, if your iguana is in reasonably good shape, he'll want to eat mostly greens - almost to the point that he'll opt for them over everything else you feed him (mine does...I leave the 'salad' for him all day, but only feed him his greens in the morning to make sure he eats his 'salad').

On supplements: I'm no expert on nutrition, mind you, but I mix a small amount of calcium powder and some powdered chewable vitamins into my 'murky iguana spray' that I spray on his greens and salad to ensure he gets some nutrients along with the water on his food.

[boris]

thanksa for the reply's i put te rest of his food through the blender so its fine strips wich he seems to enjoy ok i'll go and bye some collards but ive never heard of them what are they but i will get some mustard leaves tonight is sweetpotatos ok i was told they where i'm gona have a word withthe person who mentioned the half apple thing.

onc again thanks all.

[prism_wolf]

www.iguanaanswers.co.uk/

This site can help you with diet suggestions in the UK. Steve is a very knowledgeable guy and his site can help you for those things across the pond... . But please...still feel free to post here, too!

[boris]

thanks a lot u i will rad up on that when i get home form work.

[Merlin]

Steven I have been talking with one of my UK friends and the way she describes them the "packaged "mixed/fresh greens" bought in the supermarket" could very well be collards. She was told they are by a UK forum.