Plants in rhino iguana enclosure?

[latshki]

not to side track or that but what herps do you keep, i have never seen any pics or that and can only recall you having anoles and igs?

for plants in the ig cage I would get bermuda grass, it's healthy and tough and if you get it rooted well it will likely last
for dirt, use the exo terra plantation soil stuff, it works wonders for me

 

[coura]

I give him a fresh bowl of collards, mustards, and red leaf lettuce every morning, with a piece of fruit added as well.

I'm not just gonna stick a plant in there and assume that's all he needs to eat. I've done quite a bit of research on acceptable foods for this guy. Sheesh, give me a break. Its just something else to stimulate him and let him forage.

And certain lettuces ARE ok for them to eat. It doesn't make up the majority of his diet, its just one more kind of green to add variety to his diet. Which, you know, variety is a GOOD thing.

My substrate is clean topsoil mixed with playsand. There are no additives, fertilizers, or pesticides in it, and we don't use anything like that in our garden either, so there's be nothing in it harmful to him.

I have a pretty good idea of what I can and can't do here. I'm just looking for ways to enrich his environment.

That is ok,however I have to disagree on the letuce part for such a small iguana. If he was a big guy nearly bullet proof that would be a diferent matter but one so small...simply not worth the risk. There is NO advantage what so ever in feeding it letuce not grown by you. If you grown your own letuce, ONCE A WEEK A BIT wouldnt hurt, they even say letuce has some antibacterial properties. But your treating letuce as staple and IT ISNT! Its full of phosphorus and nitrates. Not good. And you shouldnt as well using fruit every day, even the better ones such as mango are only to use twice a week at most.
And you need to increase the variety of good staples the world isnt all collards and mostard greens, ad rucula, water cress, dandilions, turnip greens, hibiscus, alfafa (grown, not sprouts) , green beans and butter nut squash as soon as possible. This is what your iguana needs to grow and be healty.

 

[coura]

not to side track or that but what herps do you keep, i have never seen any pics or that and can only recall you having anoles and igs?

for plants in the ig cage I would get bermuda grass, it's healthy and tough and if you get it rooted well it will likely last
for dirt, use the exo terra plantation soil stuff, it works wonders for me

I keep 12 species of turtles, including florida cooters, hieroglific cooters, Mauremys sinensis, Cuora amboinensis and a male Indotestudo elongata (still looking for a fiancé) as these are my main herbivors besides the copple of green igs. The sliders, the maps, the painted and the rest of the asians also eat allot of green stuff.

 

[latshki]

cool, makes the coura thing make sense lol

 

[Conner]

That is ok,however I have to disagree on the letuce part for such a small iguana. If he was a big guy nearly bullet proof that would be a diferent matter but one so small...simply not worth the risk. There is NO advantage what so ever in feeding it letuce not grown by you. If you grown your own letuce, ONCE A WEEK A BIT wouldnt hurt, they even say letuce has some antibacterial properties. But your treating letuce as staple and IT ISNT! Its full of phosphorus and nitrates. Not good. And you shouldnt as well using fruit every day, even the better ones such as mango are only to use twice a week at most.
And you need to increase the variety of good staples the world isnt all collards and mostard greens, ad rucula, water cress, dandilions, turnip greens, hibiscus, alfafa (grown, not sprouts) , green beans and butter nut squash as soon as possible. This is what your iguana needs to grow and be healty.

Alright. I haven't read anything to the effect that lettuce (dark leafy) is bad for them at smaller sizes, other than feeding only lettuce is bad for them in general because of the bad calcium to phosphorous ratio. And it isn't the majority of what he's eating. It makes up maybe 1/10th of what he gets. Mostly right how he's eating the mustards, collards, and whatever other veggies I throw in (I make a mixture), plus a small piece of red leaf lettuce, and a small piece of fruit, or a grape or two.

I am adding other things, those are just the main foods I've been feeding so far. And while I'll add a small piece of fruit every morning, he only eaten them 3 times so far (out of 9 days). I remove the fruit and greens at the end of the day and put some extra fresh leaves in at night.

As far as dirt in the food bowl, the food and water bowls are set on top of the hide box, so that dirt isn't getting into them, except the small amount that he brings up with his feet and body. So its not like he's eating large mouthfuls of dirt picking food off the ground. He eats out of an elevated bowl.

And this dirt doesn't contain any fertilizers or pesticides. I bought it solely because of that.

 

[Conner]

And Coura, I'm not trying to pick a fight. I respect your knowledge regarding herps a lot. It just seemed like you didn't understand what I am doing in regards to the iguana.

I'm dedicated to raising him as healthy as possible, and I'll take any advice to help me to do that.

 

[coura]

Im never indedend to pick a figth as well, my sole porpouse its for you to turn that tiny thing into a monster but for that to happen there are certain rules you have to follow. Im not convinced of the potting soil with sand being 100% safe, if it was a big one that would be diferent, even Tom checked its igs a wille ago and many of them had sand on their gutts. And some iguanas eat deliberatly their substrate its normal for them, the prob its that your igs gutts are tiny and narrow. Mike had sucess using it but what works for one animal may not for another one. I will leave it to your consideration. And for the diet actually at the moment a big variety isnt important, what is important is for you to focus on the most inportant foods.