Good Vegetables for Iguanas

If you already own an iguana or you're thinking of purchasing one, you need to know what types of vegetables to feed your pet. Your iguana's diet is critical for maintaining its health and overall body function, and vegetables constitute a large portion of an iguana's diet due to the high amount of nutrients they offer. According to the Green Iguana Society, vegetables should make up approximately 80 to 90 percent of your iguana's diet. Knowing the types of vegetables that iguanas can tolerate helps to ensure that you feed your pet something easily digested that provides maximum nutrition benefits.

  1. Leafy Greens

    • Leafy greens such as dandelion, mustard and collard greens and escarole are rich in minerals and nutrients, such as calcium and fiber, which are essential for iguana's good health. According to Dr. Margaret A. Wissman of Exotic Pet Vet, iguanas need diets that are rich in calcium to keep their internal organs and bones strong and functional. Leafy greens should constitute approximately 45 percent of an iguana's daily diet, according to the Green Iguana Society. Feed raw leafy green vegetables to your iguana rather than cooked greens.

    Squash

    • Different types of squashes, including butternut, acorn, winter, zucchini and spaghetti, are healthy for iguanas as they contain calcium. To feed your iguana squash, cut up the vegetable so that the iguana has access to the fleshy insides, since the rind can be tough to penetrate. You might even scoop out the fleshy part of the squash and remove the rind completely.

    Root Vegetables

    • Root veggies are vegetables that grow underground. A variety of root vegetables are important for an iguana's diet, including, but not limited to, sweet potatoes, carrots, turnips, yams and onions. Root vegetables provide a healthy supply of starches, which are helpful for giving iguanas energy and food storage supplies. They also provide iguanas with fiber, which benefits the iguana's digestive health. Root vegetables should make up a quarter of the 80 to 90 percent of vegetables that are served to the iguana in a day, since they are higher in sugars, which do not have much nutritional value.

    Assorted Vegetables

    • An assortment of other vegetables are loaded with Vitamins A, C and K; these include mushrooms, red, yellow and green bell peppers, snap and snow peas, asparagus and green beans. Feed this kind of vegetable to your iguana on a regular basis as the vitamins in these vegetables help the iguanas keep their immune systems in good functioning order.

    Vegetables in Moderation

    • Give some vegetables to your iguana in moderation, due to the nutrient content of the vegetables and how the iguana absorbs them in its body. For instance, spinach, beets, kale, chard and celery are healthy veggies, but they contain phytates and oxalates, which means that the calcium that is crucial to the iguana's diet may not be absorbed properly. Other vegetables to feed to your iguana in moderation are cruciferous veggies, such as broccoli, bok choy, Brussels sprouts and cabbage. Feeding an iguana these veggies in moderation means making the vegetables less than 5 percent of its overall diet. For example, you might feed the iguana a small portion of spinach once a week, but not daily.