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Question about iguanas
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Author:  LadyKate [ Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:46 am ]
Post subject:  Question about iguanas
So. I have this nice, big, 5 year old iguana that I got from a friend last month who left town. I have all the cage and lighting requirements and I've been going by a lot of stuff from the Green Iguana Society Pages: http://www.greenigsociety.org/credits.htm

From what I've gathered they are strict herbivores and variety is key in their diet. My iguana loooooves mustard, turnip, and collard greens and goes crazy over dandelions. It will eat mushrooms and acorn squash and a few other things provided that I grate them with a cheese grater first, but it mostly sticks to the greens. They said that 5% of the diet could be grains like rice, but my iguana won't eat them.

My question is this: How does an iguana survive on a diet like this? Where are the carbs and fats and proteins?
Author:  Corolinth [ Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:51 am ]
Post subject: 
Bear in mind that an iguana is not a human. It is not a primate, and in fact, is not even a mammal. You're taking your knowledge of mammalian (possibly human - I can't read your mind) dietary requirements and attempting to apply them to a reptile. Perhaps, and this is purely conjecture, it does not require such compounds in its food.
Author:  LadyKate [ Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:55 am ]
Post subject: 
Hee hee, ok, giggling at the *reminder* that an iguana is not human. True, true. I used to own sugar gliders and their diets were very similar: fresh fruits and vegetables. But they had to have protein as well, and live crickets with a light dusting of calcium powder worked great.
It's just hard to comprehend that a reptile would not need some source of protein, but all the websites insist that iguanas never eat any source of animal protein in the wild and any insects eaten are purely accidental when consuming plant matter.
Author:  Midgen [ Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:01 am ]
Post subject: 
There is protein in greens. Quite a bit actually.

In fact, I know a human being who eats nothing but raw fruits and vegetables, and she survives just fine.
http://www.raw-food-health.net/VegetableProtein.html

Disclaimer; I do not condone any diet that does not include bacon!
Author:  Corolinth [ Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:08 am ]
Post subject: 
Where does a cow get its protein? What about a horse? A pig?

Dogs and cats are the animals most familiar to most people, which creates the expectation that other animals need similar nutrition. Other animals process their food differently from humans as well. They can eat food that we just can't digest.
Author:  LadyKate [ Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:11 am ]
Post subject: 
Thanks, Midgen. That was something I didn't know. And, Coro, I guess if I had thought about it long enough I should have thought about that as well.

Quote:
There are nine essential amino acids. Those nine cannot be synthesized by the body, and so must be taken in through what we eat. No one fruit or vegetable contains all nine, though protein taken from animals does.


I guess that's one of the important reasons, aside from vitamins and minerals, why they stress the 'variety' aspect of the iguana diet.
Author:  Kirra [ Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:31 am ]
Post subject: 
Coro is always the voice of reason :)
Author:  Corolinth [ Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:49 am ]
Post subject: 
In your defense, had it been my iguana, I probably wouldn't have thought all that hard about it, either. Feed it leaves, flowers, and mushrooms? I'm on top of that.
Author:  Lenas [ Wed Mar 23, 2011 1:05 pm ]
Post subject: 
My iguana when I was young really went nuts over strawberries and romaine lettuce.
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