Scrambled eggs would someone please clarify that for me, I have never heard of that! Does'nt that rank right up there with animal protein??? My gut instinct tells me that is NOT good.

I feel very strongly that iguanas should NEVER be offered animal protein, eggs included.
They are strict herbivores and there is no evidence supporting any claims that young iguanas ingest animal protein inthe wild.
It is hard on their kidneys and I jus couldn't bear to put my iguana in that sort of danger.

Even th best meaning zoos can have their information wrong or just outdated. There once was a time where we thought that animal protien was good, but it's come to light that it does irreversable damage.

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Those who say it can't be done should get out of the way of those who are doing it.

~*~Lacey~*~

My Photos

Eggs of any sort should not be fed to green iguanas! As Lacy stated it is hard on their organs and will seriously shorten their lifespan! Also carrots are not good to be fed daily. Parsnips and orange skinned quashes are much better.
Not necessarily true. The dark greens that are fed as the major part of their diet are rich in calcium. Supplementation is not something that should be done at every feeding and some igs do not recieve supplements at all. Too much can in fact be harmful. A light dusting once every week or two will suffice.
The exception to this is a gravid female that is egging.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I agree, no eggs, just isnt worth the vet bills in the near future when they are fed animal protein.....good luck!

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Warmest Regards from Lyn

Hello,

You shouldn't be feeding eggs at all, not even occasionally.

Eggs ARE animal protein, which has proven to cause kidney/renal failure in iguanas.

The reason some people "think" iguanas require low amounts of animal protein is as follows:

In the wild, young iguanas have been seen ingesting small insects and sometimes animal protein from carcasses they come across. The reason for this is survival. In the wild, a small iguana has MANY predators. In order for them to thrive, they may eat small amounts of animal protein to simply speed up their growth rate. This IS NOT normal behavior however and IS NOT done by the vast majority of iglets.

Those that have been seen have been a minority. It is not common and their bodies do suffer from the protein.

Iguanas are strict herbivores. This isn't debateable as it has been studied and confirmed time and time again. Thats why ALL up to date literature states that they should not be fed animal protein.

The fact that people are still suggesting animal protein anywhere on the net is insane. If everyone that owns these animals are keeping up to date on their husbandry, and purchasing literature that is current would know this.


Cited:

The Biology, Husbandry, and Health care of Reptiles - Volume 3 (Health Care) by Lowell Ackerman

Renal Disorders: Page 589

I hope the above piece of information explains in greater detail why you shouldn't be feeding animal protein.

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Animal Protein Issues

I find this website very helpful, and this page above is an entire page on why animal protein is bad for an iguana.

Also if you feed an iguana the correct diet with foods that have calcium in them, then I don't think you absolutely NEED supplements...

Oooops! No more eggs for Rocky! Thanks for the info.

Yup, sounds like it will be better for Rocky in the long run. Maybe you should print out something for the zoo since they seem to be wrongly informed....not that most zoos would care. They own the animal and they think they can do what they want.

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Those who say it can't be done should get out of the way of those who are doing it.

~*~Lacey~*~

My Photos

I think its so crazy that a Zoo, who's suppsed to KNOW about animals, really doesn't know that much. Also pet shops know NOTHING about keeping iguanas and it makes me sad. The one I got my Ig from had at least a heating lamp, it wasn't covered, and if the igs wanted to climb in it they could. And the pet shop that my friend got his iguana from, kept the tank at a 65 degrees, so he (being 14) thought it was okay to keep his tank at 60 at night!. He was also feeding a spinich mix that the pet store was feeding them. I printed him out the iguana diet page from Green Iguana Society and told him to go by that, not the pet store. Also his iguana was getting little blue stripes under its belly which he thought was stretch marks from the iguana eating too much, so he called the pet shop, and the pet shop told him to put the iguana on a diet. i went over to his house, and the iguana was looking very skinny and kinda sunken in... I told him not to put the ig on a diet, and just go by the sheet I gave him. So now his iguana is looking very healthy, with a full belly, nice thick back legs and a thicker tail. His iguana makes my iguana look almost sickly, but ours is younger than his, because ours is smaller than his, and is just now getting his spikes on his back. He's growing little by little and eating and basking very comfortably though, so I know he's okay.

I just think that pet shops and Zoos should CARE about the animals and do research on them or SOMETHING. I don't know everything about an iguana, but I do do research...a lot of it, and I did a lot before we got one, so we'd know what we were getting into...

I also wanted to comment on the cage size. 29 gallons is way too small.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.