Journal of Nutrition Animal Diets/Enrichment Products...

Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Journal of Nutrition Vol. 124 No. 12_Suppl December 1994, pp. 2626-2629
Copyright © 1994 by American Society for Nutrition
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Donoghue, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Donoghue, S.

Growth of Juvenile Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana) Fed Four Diets1

Susan Donoghue2

Nutrition Support Services, Inc., Pembroke, VA 24136

Wild green iguanas consume a primarily folivorous diet. As pets in captivity, they suffer high mortality and mainutrition. Nutrient requirements are not established. The purpose of this study was to compare growth in juvenile iguanas fed three commercial diets and a romaine-based diet. Twelve nominally 4-wk-old iguanas were fed in a latin square design each of four diets for 8 wk, consisting of a 2-wk accommodation period and a 6-wk collection period. Diets were analyzed at the beginning and end of the study. Food consumption was measured daily; body weights and lengths were measured weekly. For Diets A, B, C and D mean body weight gains were -3, 6, 31 and 60% in 6 wk, respectively. Gain in body weight and snout-vent length increased linearly with dietary protein and fiber and with dry matter intake. The data suggest that growth in pet green iguanas may achieve rates for farmed and wild green iguanas when diets are palatable and contain adequate protein and fiber.

KEY WORDS: • iguana • reptile • herpetology • protein • growth

1 Presented as part of the Waltham Symposium on the Nutrition of Companion Animals in association with the 15th International Congress of Nutrition at Adelaide, SA, Australia, on September 23–25, 1993. Guest editors for this symposium were Kay Earle, John Mercer and D'Ann Finley.

2 To whom correspondence should be addressed: Nutrition Support Services, RT 1 Box 189, Pembroke, VA 24136.






Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]