Adam Sinicki Green iguanas, like us, are omnivores, which means they can eat pretty much anything. Specifically it means that they can eat both plants and animals and thus the green iguana diet is neither wholly carnivorous nor herbivorous. When keeping green iguana then, you have the slight advantage of being able to feed your pet a great variety of different foods. However at the same time an omnivorous diet develops in a creature for a reason and normally means that they need a more varied diet in order to survive. It is your responsibility then to make sure that your green iguana’s diet is varied and gives it everything it needs.
The bulk of the green iguana diet, at least when kept as a pet, is likely to be made up of green leaves and plants, as well as some fruits. Examples of greens include spinach, collard greens, chicory greens and alfalfa. Dandelions also make a great staple in a green iguana diet, and are useful as they are easy to pick in fields or even sometimes down alley ways. Make sure that you dispose of any roots, of your plants and chop the greens finely. Wash the greens before you give them to your iguana to remove any pesticides etc that may be on them. This will help to ensure that your iguana gets a good amount of calcium, which is crucial for healthy bones and will also help with iron, antioxidants and other minerals.
Their protein meanwhile will be provided by eggs (hardboiled or scrambled) and insects (such as mealworms or crickets which can be bought as food from some pet stores). You can even on occasion feed your green iguana tuna or chicken, but again ensure it is well sliced. Protein is particularly important for a young green iguana diet to help it grow. After this point focus mostly on greens for the bulk of the diet but be sure to ring the changes to ensure they get everything they need.
No NO NOOOO…… iguanas are not omnivores. They are strict herbivores. NEVER feed iguana any animal products.
This is incredibly out dated information. The greens mentioned are great, but don't feed your iguanas animal based proteins unless you want to kill them slowly with kidney failure. They get the protein in their plant diets. – I have 17 and 20+ plus yr old iguanas.
A: feeding high amounts of Spinach is likely to kill the Iguana since the Goitrogens bind all the Calcium in the Spinach and then some more. How that is the first item on your list I have no idea. Feed Spinach occasionally for variety but keep it to a minimum.
B: Iguanas are strict herbivores. An Iguana only ever eats a live insect etc by pure accident. They are able to eat eggs and meat as state in this article however if more than 5% of their diet is made up of these foods its innards are likely to suffer and again the Iguana will die. There has been 1 report on an Iguana that has lived surviving mainly off these foods but that is just pure luck. It DOES damage their innards.
The food variety mentioned is lacking. Provides to information on what countries you can buy these in or what similar items you can get in other parts of the world. For example spring greens found in the UK are amazing to make up 10-20% of the iguanas diet to give it the calcium it needs to survive.
No mention on Calcium to Phosphorus ratio needed (2:1). No mention on things to be avoided (Goitrogenic Oxalic Acid Tannins iceberg lettuce). However you need to give your Iguana a varied diet so including small portions of these chemicals is no problem.
No mention on that there are poisonous items while you say "eat almost anything"
All in all this is a great guide for killing your Iguana.
At last some rationality in our little debate.
Why have you still not fixed this? This poor and horrible article will only create a poor keeper and a unhealthy iguana. Put your pride away and do the right thing, fix the article.