Iguana veggie debate...

[kittyhazelton]

Ok, so just want to hear some other peoples opinions on this...
for my igs, like any good owner I provide a nice balanced variety of veggies.
Now, in the winter months, obviously "FRESH" veggies are harder to come by, so I tend to use frozen/thawed veggies instead.
THIS is where the debate comes along...
MANY human nutrition information claims state that frozen veggies are better and contain their optimal nutritional value than your average out-of-season produce veggies because they're picked at the peak of ripeness then flash-frozen to preserve the freshness... where produce from say, the opposite side of the country sits exposed to air and shlepped around where it tends to lose their nutrients as they wilt during their natural process until it arrives at my local grocery store.
NOW, IGUANA nutritional information claims that frozen veggies should be avoided because they lose their nutritional value during the process of freezing/thawing.
So, just looking for other peoples opinions. I've used both veggie types without any noticable detriment in my iguanas health, granted I keep it varied (they don't always get one or the other, they get both) so I just wanted to see some of your opinions on this matter. Personally I'm more tempted to follow guidlines and quality measures for human food as there is a lot more testing and regulation on the ingredients (we all know how many poor-quality "complete" iguana diet products there are out there)
Though, i did read something about thiamine loss occurring in frozen/thawed veggies.

 

[Sylvias]

Frozen will never be as healthy as fresh and as far as I know vegetables do loose some nutrients through the freezing and thawing process but I do not think it is enough to make any sort of critical difference to humans OR Iguanas.
providing fresh or frozen or even canned is still better than sticking solely to those annoying pelleted formulas.... I mean..supposedly they are nice balanced diets and all that but I have never seen an iguana eat those willingly....

 

[kittyhazelton]

Frozen will never be as healthy as fresh and as far as I know vegetables do loose some nutrients through the freezing and thawing process but I do not think it is enough to make any sort of critical difference to humans OR Iguanas.
providing fresh or frozen or even canned is still better than sticking solely to those annoying pelleted formulas.... I mean..supposedly they are nice balanced diets and all that but I have never seen an iguana eat those willingly....

Ah, but how "fresh" are those leafy veggies at the local Price Chopper in New England this time of year, after they've been plucked and shipped and sitting around for a while.
That's what I'm referring to, no doubt during spring/summer/fall months you'll see me down at the local farmers market fussing over the nicest looking garden selections, but I have my doubts as to how healthy a bunch of kale grown in Mexico and shipped to Vermont is.

 

[Sylvias]

In that case frozen is probably better.... I would imagine it is harder to find decent organic veggies in winter. I wouldn't feed an ig anything with preservatives and obviously must be pesticide free...
Again I don't think you will be doing any harm feeding it frozen over the winter months. I suppose if you are really dedicated and concerned you could start your own temperature controlled green house??

 

[Toby_H]

Of course fresh is better... and naturally a variety will bring the best balance...

But when considering which is better in the off season, frozen or packaged... I would suspect frozen is better in some ways and packaged is better in others. Also I'd suspect the each vegetable may react somewhat differently to each method.

We also have to keep in mind the flash freezing process is a lot different than it was 10 or 15 years ago, so opinions developed 10 or 15 years ago may be outdated.

Personally, I'd do my best to provide a variety of both frozen/thawed and packaged...

 

[Juxtaroberto]

I think as long as you feed variety, either fresh or frozen will provide adequate nutrition to an iguana.

Of course, it would be awesome, nutrition-wise, if you could grow everything in your garden, but that isn't feasible for most people.

Honestly, if you're worried about lacking nutritional content, just add vitamins. You can use people vitamins. Just make sure you read the ingredients and not use anything with oxalic acid.

 

[Mike D]

IMHO as long as you are not providing a total diet of frozen meals then you should be fine.

i am in the same position as you, i live in new england so fresh isnt not always avalible in the winter. i will ussually take a look at the veggies in the produce area and if they do look good enough for me to eat i will not feed them to my iguanas.

there is a kind of yeast you can add to frozen and thawed veggies but i cannot remmeber the exact type(brewers yeast maybe??)

i have been feeding both of my iguanas a diet that had frozen veggies in it for years(my big male for 9+ years) and i have had no ill effects on either of them.

as long as you feed a good diet throughout the year, give vitamins and calcium at feeding you will be fine. to be honest i have been feeding my big iguana a varied diet, always supplemnt with calcium and vitamins and not using a UVB bulb and i have seen no ill effects in the past 5 years i have been doing this (not trying to start a flame war. pm me if anyone has issues with this)


To be honest alot of stuff that was published years ago is out of date. and i am regaurding substrates, UVB usage(i know shoot me) and so on.

 

[RiskEE]

IMHO as long as you are not providing a total diet of frozen meals then you should be fine.

i am in the same position as you, i live in new england so fresh isnt not always avalible in the winter. i will ussually take a look at the veggies in the produce area and if they do look good enough for me to eat i will not feed them to my iguanas.

there is a kind of yeast you can add to frozen and thawed veggies but i cannot remmeber the exact type(brewers yeast maybe??)

i have been feeding both of my iguanas a diet that had frozen veggies in it for years(my big male for 9+ years) and i have had no ill effects on either of them.

as long as you feed a good diet throughout the year, give vitamins and calcium at feeding you will be fine. to be honest i have been feeding my big iguana a varied diet, always supplemnt with calcium and vitamins and not using a UVB bulb and i have seen no ill effects in the past 5 years i have been doing this (not trying to start a flame war. pm me if anyone has issues with this)


To be honest alot of stuff that was published years ago is out of date. and i am regaurding substrates, UVB usage(i know shoot me) and so on.

i gota agree with you on the uvb bulb i dont use it anymore its hard they are free roamers and der all over the place as long as u give them the calcium and vitamins needed