Iguana Pet Care | Is your lizard getting the right 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… Their diet should include a wide variety of vegetables and fruits, such as basil, beetroot spinach, fig leaves (selected), beets, sweet potatoes, carrots , dipped in 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.
Variety is the most important thing, since they eat something slightly different every other day. But keep in mind that the iguana should not eat lettuce, as it provides very little nutrition and can harm 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, you need to make sure that you 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 those we find in houses or on the street may have poison residues. Also small mammals (baby rats) of the appropriate size according to the animal.
The water must be changed every day. Pet iguanas get used to drinking from a bowl, 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 scant information delivered in pet stores regarding the care of iguana pets, increase the risk of presenting diseases related almost exclusively to poor management of these animals.
The green iguana is not a domestic animal and needs special care. This pet has to be watched very carefully, as the slightest sign or change in its coloration or behavior may indicate 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 not treated correctly, they can cause deep scratches, whip their tails very hard, 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 supported in captivity; this can help a little to its conservation. Its reproduction is sexual. Pairing occurs between January and February. By 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.