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Thread: Spike

  1. #1

    Spike

    What a cutie! Thank you for taking in a neglected iguana. It makes us shelter operators jobs a little easier. One suggestion though, for Spike's continued good health:

    Iguanas are obligate herbivores. They cannot process animal protein of any kind (insects, meat, dog or cat food, etc). Feeding bugs or other kinds of meat leads to kidney and liver failure at an early age.

    With a completely vegetarian diet, igs can stay happy and healthy for 20 years or more, rather than the 6-10 years of those raised on animal protein.

    IguanaDen has a ton of great info on iguana care and a great diet that we use both on healthy igs and rehabs alike.

    Here's hoping Spike continues to have a long, healthy life with you

    Meri
    Scales & Tails Exotic Pet Rescue
    http://www.scalesandtails.org

    IguanaDen
    http://www.iguanaden.com

  2. #2

    Re: Spike

    I agree with Meri about the diet and Spike is a cutie! I got 2 iguanas (Iggy & Spike) in 1991 when it was believed that 5% of their diet should consist of animal protein. The vet, pet store and books told us this. We fed them their veggies and fruit, but we also fed them chicken, turkey, meal worms, dog food, cat food, eggs, cheese, and other animal proteins. They loved their animal protein! They both grew really fast, were fat and healthy - or so they looked. They both died the winter of 1995 after having them for only 4 years. The autopsy showed the reason was kidney & liver failure. We thought we were doing good by feeding them animal proteins, but we were actually sending them to an early grave. You can read about animal protein here:

    http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/animalprotein.html

    Recently I read up on iguana care online including diet and learned so much I never knew with my other iguanas. September 2003 I got a baby iguana, Gyro and this January I rescued a 5 year old iguana, Bear. I feed them both using Melissa Kaplan's Diet for iguanas consisting of dark leafy greens, veggies, fruit and alfalfa. Neither one has ever had animal protein and never will. Here is what I use for Gyro and Bear's diet:

    http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/igdiet.html

    PLEASE check it out! Your iguana will thank you!
    These sites have great info on diet and iguana care.

    www.anapsid.org
    www.iguanaden.com
    www.greenigsociety.org

    Elisa

    http://www.planetlong.com/iguanas/

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    usa
    Posts
    1

    Spike

    hi there Spike! you are a cutie i must agree...BUT sweetie i know you prob like bugs and all the stuff they give you to eat. but really they arent good for you. Iguanas really need a vegetarian diet and animal protein will eventually lead to health problems as outlined in the previous posts. tho ive only had my baby for little over 6 months, i would never ever give him anything but the fresh greens, fruits and such that are good for him. please change his diet as recommended in the Iguana Den, as well as Iguana Mail and Baby Iguana sites that i belong to. believe me he will be much healthier and even if he already has any health problems due to his diet, they can very easily be corrected and reversed by the vet if you make the changes now. thanks for hearing my 2 cents..

    barb and Lizzy

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    NYC
    Posts
    2,979
    Awww, what a sweet little iguana - how cool to learn about such a friendly little scaley fellow! Congrats for being Our Adoooorable Pet of the Day!

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