Your Guide to Proper Feeding of Your Pet Reptile

Feeding your pet reptile is about much more than simply putting lettuce, fruits, crickets, or mice into the cage with it.  In fact, everything about your reptile’s environment influences feeding.  Today, we will take a look at the proper protocol for feeding reptiles and what you can do to ensure that you are feeding your pet properly.

 

Some of the most popular pet lizards include:

 

Iguanas

Bearded Dragons

Water Dragons

Skinks

Chameleons

Tegus

Monitors

Reptiles certainly aren’t for everyone.  They are not suitable for children younger than 12, and they require a great deal of work.  Many grow to enormous sizes in a very short amount of time, and some breeds of Iguanas live to 40 years or older. While many people think that reptiles can simply be put into a reptile cage and fed every once in a while, the truth is that you need to pay attention to everything, or you will very quickly end up with a sick or dead lizard. Often an animal may appear to recover when you correct whatever you were doing wrong, only to succumb to the longer lasting effects a few months or years down the line.

 

For instance, Iguanas fed a bad diet over a number of years may die from Metabolic Bone Disease, which is caused by low calcium levels over an extended period of time. When feeding iguanas, remember that they are vegetarians and should never be given large quantities of meat or fruit. The problem is that they adore eating these foods, but like small children, they do not know what is good for them. The only way to keep your iguana healthy throughout his or her natural life is to feed daily with fresh mixed greens such as collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion leaves and flowers, chicory, kale, etc. Never feed iceberg lettuce, as it has zero nutritional value. The verdict is out regarding spinach and cabbage, which leaches calcium from your iguana’s bones so it should be avoided. Give small pieces of fruit only as a very (very!) occasional treat, and lightly dust your iguana’s food with a quality calcium supplement such as Repti-Cal calcium dust once or twice a month. You may find that your iguana loves meat in the form of the dead baby mice they sell at pet stores (‘pinkies’) or mealworms, but any quantity of meat will prove detrimental to their health over the long run.

In order to ensure that you are feeding your reptile properly, you need to research temperature, humidity, size, lighting, and even the layout of the aquarium for the specific breed you have. Even reptiles of the same species require a completely different diet, temperature and housing for the various breeds – E.G.: a Green Iguana requires a totally different sized cage than a Rhino Iguana, as Green Iguanas love to climb and so require a tall cage, whereas Rhino Iguanas are much heavier bodied and prefer to stay on the ground and even to burrow. 

 

Taking the time to learn what your specific reptile requires can help you ensure that you are creating an environment that will make feeding easier.

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