FEEDING REPTILES By Melissa Kaplan anapsid.org

Alfalfa: The Iguana's Best Protein

Since we don't feed animal protein to iguanas, and plant proteins have some problems in terms of either not having enough protein or too much of some harmful plant chemical, how are we going to make sure our iguanas get enough protein?

Animal-based Protein Is a Problem for Iguanas

Green iguanas are should only consume plant matter. Don't freak out and race to the veterinarian if your iguana grabs a bite of your pepperoni-with-extra-cheese pizza, but don't give protein-based treats.

Calcium Metabolism and Metabolic Bone Disease in Iguanas

During the course of normal digestion and metabolism, the calcium from the iguana's food is mixed with calcium pulled by the body from the bones. When a diet high in calcium oxalates is fed, metabolic problems result.

Desert Tortoise Diets

A desert tortoise diet is comprised mainly of safe grasses and weeds, leafy greens, with small amounts of hard vegetables and moist fruits. A good basic salad can be prepared a week in advance and fed daily with selections from the following served in addition to it.

Emaciation (Starvation) Protocol

Reptiles may starve not only through being deprived of food, or appropriate food, but they may also starve by being kept too cold or too hot to eat. Forcing such a reptile to eat is potentially dangerous. This article addresses how to get a starved reptile, especially herbivorous reptiles, to safely start feeding again.

Feeding Prekilled vs. Live Prey

One of the most common myths about reptiles is the need to feed live prey. Most herps found in the pet trade can easily be converted over to feeding on killed prey.

Feeding Time and Frequency

Some reptile species feed at night. Others take food around sunset but do not feed during daylight. Still others only eat during the day. When the food is offered also affects feeding and metabolism.

Feeding Tips for Carnivorous Reptiles

While most carnivorous reptiles never exhibit any problems feeding, there are times when you may have a snake, lizard, or chelonian who isn't interested in eating or in the food being offered.

Frozen Vegetables, Greens, and Thiamine Loss in an Iguana's Diet

While thawed frozen vegetables and greens are undoubtedly the easiest to use, the thiamin in some green vegetables and leafy greens is destroyed when they are defrosted. Fresh vegetables are best!

Housing and Feeding Invertebrate Prey

This is a quick overview on the feeding and keeping of invertebrate prey. Most prey are not fed or watered properly during the transition from prey breeder to your house. If you bought them at a pet store, they may not have been fed nutritious food. If you feed with starving or malnourished prey, your reptiles and amphibians will end up malnourished as well.

How Much Fruit Should an Iguana Eat?

Fruit should compose the smallest part of the diet in iguanas, no more than 10% of the total diet (mixed salad and greens) over time.

Iguana Salad - the Basic Salad

The basic salad provides a significant amount of the protein, calcium, and fiber that iguanas require. The recipe is in this article. It is made from fresh, raw vegetables including at least one green and one orange vegetable, parsnip, alfalfa, and a fruit.

Iguanas Do Drink Water

Despite what some iguana books say, iguanas drink water. Most keepers have a bowl of water in the enclosure at all times. This not only makes it available whenever the iguana wants it, it also helps, in a small way, to increase the humidity in the enclosure.

Overfeeding Iguanas

Many iguana owners wonder if there is such a thing as overfeeding their iguanas. Fortunately for the iguanas, so long as they are being fed a properly constructed diet, you can't overfeed them.

Picky Eaters - Iguanas

Iguanas, like humans, do have food preferences. And, like humans, these preferences change over time. But food preferences, such as "will only eat fruit and a few greens" cannot be allowed to continue, as it is not a diet that provides what the ig needs.

Serving Food to Reptiles

Care must be taken not only in the type and size of food selected for feeding, but in the presentation of the food as well.

Tortoise Foraging Mix

You can plant a garden so that your tortoise will have fresh produce that doesn't come from the grocery store within his or her own pen.

Vitamin and Mineral Supplementation for Herps

There are two types of supplements you need for your iguana: a multivitamin supplement and a calcium supplement. Most multivitamin supplements have some calcium but not enough to counterbalance the phosphorous naturally found in the food, even when sticking to foods high in calcium.

What to Feed Reptiles

All prey is not created equal. What and how should you feed your reptile?

What Vegetables Should an Iguana Eat?

Your mom probably told you to eat your vegetables, by which she meant more than just one kind every day. Iguanas need a variety of vegetables to be healthy.