Ok, here I am in China. The foods people eat and are available are different. We can't buy Collard greens or Turnip greens or dandelion or anything like that.

So far, I've been feeding mainly mustard greens, green bell peppers, various green beans, kale, papaya, Bok Choy and Choy Sum (I wouldn't even know if that has an english name) and rep-cal pellets mostly. I also add in a little bit of spinach once or twice a week as I understand that while they bind to calcium, it is ok once in a while (is it? Care sheets differ on this). Ig refuses to eat parsley, apples and alfalfa pellets.

I can also get the following easily: Green Brassica, Watercress, Cucumber, Grapes, Banana, Mango, Jade Melon, Winter Melon, Bean sprout etc.

Are any of these OK for the iguana as a main staple of the diet?

Hello reptilelover, here is a link to our iguana diet. It has a list of staples and other foods that are good for an igs diet. I'm sure there will be ig owners soon to better answer your question.

http://www.herpcenter.com/showthread.php?t=6822

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

Watercress is a good staple green. The mango is a very good staple fruit but fruit needs to remain less than 10%.

Cucumbers can be good occassionally for water but I'd take out the seeds. The melons are good fruits also. Grapes are high in oxalates but are good for water--no seeds and cut/skinned. Some use them as a treat.

This charts have pictures just in case there is something that goes by a different name in China. http://www.greenigsociety.org/foodchart.htm

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Jan. 25, 1963 - Sept. 10, 2006 (R.I.P)

Ok thanks for that, so I will get some watercress. I have read a lot of these charts but unfortunately my problem is that I can't get a lot of the staples because Chinese people eat different foods than western people and a lot of stuff like Collards and dandelions etc. are not available.

Here is more:

Are these good? I can get these...

GARLAND, JACKFRUIT, DRAGON FRUIT, WONG BOK.

And what is Orange Squash??? I have asked the supermarkets and they give me this bottled orange juice mix! I have been told it is the same thing as pumpkin??

Hey venus, I have read that chart many times, here is an example of the problem I'm facing...

I CAN'T get the following here in Hong Kong:
Collard greens, Dandelion Greens, Turnip Greens (They have the turnips but they don't sell the greens), Escarole, Chicory
No market sells any of these. It won't eat parsley.
So I'm stuck with basically Mustard Greens, and now I've been told Watercress is good.

You see my problem? LOL!

I'm going to have to do a whole new diet for Hong Kong ig owners.

Plus, is Mustard Greens different from Mustard Spinach? I looked up the calcium phosphorus contents and Mustard SPINACH was really high, but Mustard Greens were quite low. I am adding Rep-Cal calcium with NO d3.

well from my quick search I would avoid that dragon fruit: this is what I found. No, avoid is a strong word here, depending on how large the seeds are only an occasional treat much like oranges

http://www.ilovepitaya.com/nutritionqwe.htm

Ca:P = 0.22:1
Pro = 0.2%
82% water
For this I just ran a quick search on "dragon fruit nutrition", now check the pics on this website as it may be a different fruit as you call dragon fruit

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~ Mark

Yeah that's the dragon fruit alright...

How about these?

GARLAND, GREEN BRASSICA, JACKFRUIT, WONG BOK.

I showed you how I did that one so you can go check food items as you question them. Same as giving a man a fish verses teaching him how to fish.

As with any diet you must have the variety. A varied diet will allow for a few "bad" foods to be in there at times.

Mustard spinach is a type of spinach. Mustard greens are different, and the same plant as mustard seeds (used in the table condiment) come from.

As I know it there is no such thing as a true "orange squash". Rather orange refers to the flesh colour of it. Such examples are acorn (which has a green skin usually but some are varigated with yello), butternut, and pumpkin. Of these three pumpkin is the least desierable as it has the least nutrients and mostly water.

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~ Mark

I THINK I've seen butternut squash somewhere. I'll have a look. These aren't common here, everyone at the grocery stores think orange squash is orange juice!! (Presumably "Squashed" out LOL!)

Spinach may have been mentioned by me. My vet said to occassionally add some spinach for iron. Dragon had been anemic.

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Jan. 25, 1963 - Sept. 10, 2006 (R.I.P)