Friday, November 5, 2010

I wish I owned a greenhouse

I'm very proud of my big boy Zorro. He's grown so much since I got him, not only in length, but also got, well, fat. He is 17.7 inches (45cm) from snout to vent (the, well, the anus) and weighs over 7.7 pounds (over 3.5kg). A recent blood count revealed he's in tip top condition, but I need to feed more calcium.

He has developed quite an appetite. Not that he ever was a bad eater, but in the beginning, he was picky due to the change of diet from his previous owners to me.

What do I feed him? Greens mainly. Wild rocket, watercress, cress, alfalfa, bean sprouts, curly cale, coriander, basil, mint, pea shots (occasionally), spinach (rarely) as the latter don't have a good calcium phosphorus balance.

He also gets carrots and butternut squash, both grated, tomatoes, red pepper.

And fruits like blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, figs, apples, pears, banana (occasionally, though he loves them), red grapes, you name it.

In addition, I dust his food with calcium powder and once per week, he gets a multivitamin syrup for children, measured down to his needs.
An iguana's diet should be as varied as possible, greens, squash and carrots should be staples and fruit be treats.

For everyone who thinks about getting an iguana I can only say: be warned, they eat you alive!

My boy eats about two full packets of wild rocket and other greens, and quite a bit of butternut squash/carrot mix. In addition to this he has his treats in form of fruits and he manages easily a whole banana and later a whole clementine.

<---that's him being annoyed and about to bite, because I rustle the package. He hates that.

If only I had a greenhouse, I had even more variety and it would be a lot cheaper. The rocket alone is �2 on a daily basis. Do the math.

But I'm glad to have him and I love to spoil him rotten. And if he is not in the fighting mood, he actually enjoys a little bit of a scrub.--------->

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