Dinner for our Don

[mommarkann]

Hoping I do this right.

We have a question about feeding. We have given Don food in his bowl but we cannot see that he has eaten anything. Will he eat and us not know it? Should we hand feed him? He seems a bit agressive when we try to pick him up. Please help.

Thanks,

MarkAnn

[Tesa]

Hi and welcome to IZ!!
Yep! you did it right!

We need to know the following things:
How long ago did you get him?
How big is he?
What are you feeding him?
How is it prepared?
What time of day are you giving him the food?

[dominick]

Hi Markann-

Welcome to Iguana Zone! Glad you found us.

If the Iguana is new and a baby, they tend to eat when no one is looking. Natural instinct dictates that they eat very cautiously or risk getting picked off by a bird or that huge human looming over them. LOL

Please answer Tesa's questions and we can work out a solution.

[Yoda]

;D


Welcome to the ZOOOOOOOOOOOne..


Yup...we will need that information...



Try putting smaller amounts in the bowl...it will be much easier to tell if your Ig is eating this way...


Cheers

James and Yoda

[mommarkann]

Alright here goes.

My son received "Don" on Friday from his girlfriend. Don is about 18 inches long from tip of head to tip of tail. We have tried feeding him romaine lettuce and zucchini. Today we tried feeding him a bit of apple. We tried this about noon. Not sure if that is the time to do it or not. Really can't tell if he is eating or not. They are cut up rather small. The boys checked a few minutes ago and he had pooped. So I guess that part is okay. Any help will be greatly appreciated as we want to provide him with the best care that we can.

Thanks,

MarkAnn and the crew

[Tesa]

It's common for them to not eat much in the beginning. He's scared YOU are gonna eat HIM! ;D
There's no cause for alarm. (yet)
Its best to give him the food midmorning. Many times they are "shy" about eating, so make sure he has some privacy.

Tear leaves up to pieces about the size of his head. Vegetables should be cut very small. I run mine thru a food processor, but it's not necessary.
As Yoda suggested, put small amounts of food in at first to make it easier to judge how much he has eaten.

I'm gonna paste in some info from the diet section.
40-45% of his diet should be greens. Collard, mustard greens,dandelion greens, turnip greens, endive and watercress are all good choices.

40-45% of his diet should be veggies. Some good veggies are: green beans, snap peas, yellow/orange squash, parsnips, turnips, and sweet potatoes.

About 10% of his diet can be fruits. Fruits don't really add much in the way of nutrition. They are mainly for color and moisture. They should be used as "treats". The best fruits to use are: papaya, mango, apple, plums, and strawberries. Watermelon is great if you need to hydrate you ig.


If you have more questions, please feel free! We love this!

[mommarkann]

Thanks ya'll,

We will see how it goes tomorrow. Thanks again.

MarkAnn

[dominick]

Hi-

Ditto what tesa said.

New Igs are skiddish and scared. Give him about a week or so to adjust to the new environment. Offer food everday and leave it in there all day.

After a week or so, you should see him calm down a bit and start to trust you, not much mind you, but you should see an improvement.

Keep us posted.

[SurvivorSteph]

Congratulations on your (son's) new ig! Just a few other things I'd like to mention...

Stick with the greens Tesa mentioned -- avoid lettuce of all kinds.

Here's a link to a great food chart (print it out and take it shopping with you):

www.greenigsociety.org/foodchart.htm

Dominick gave me that link, and it really helped me until I got familiar with what's best for them to eat.

After he gets used to you (after that first week) start handling him daily. That's the best way to help him understand you're not a threat and to socialize him.

You're in for an awesome adventure!