# Rep-cal iguana pellets in the UK?



## Dan Bristow (Jan 12, 2008)

Hi,
Does anyone know if you can buy the range of rep-cal iguana pellets in the uk?
if so,where from? Regards
Dan


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## 123dragon (Jan 15, 2011)

why would you want to use them?
but i dont know sorry


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## Dan Bristow (Jan 12, 2008)

123dragon said:


> why would you want to use them?
> but i dont know sorry


For my rhino ig


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## 123dragon (Jan 15, 2011)

Dan Bristow said:


> For my rhino ig


why not just use a natural diet


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## Dan Bristow (Jan 12, 2008)

What would you say is a natural diet for an iguana from the caribbean kept in a viv in England? 
Tom crutch field,who has bred these very successfully, keeps his on mazuri pellets and rep cal only. He has raised many from hatchlings on this diet...
What can you add to make me think differently to what Tom says? 
Many thanks
Dan


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## 123dragon (Jan 15, 2011)

Dan Bristow said:


> What would you say is a natural diet for an iguana from the caribbean kept in a viv in England?
> Tom crutch field,who has bred these very successfully, keeps his on mazuri pellets and rep cal only. He has raised many from hatchlings on this diet...
> What can you add to make me think differently to what Tom says?
> Many thanks
> Dan


salad, veg ect and other fresh foods 
and all i can add is i think we should keep reptiles as close to natural as possible and feeding a dry pellet isnt providing a diet that is as natural as you can provide


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## Dan Bristow (Jan 12, 2008)

These animals are kept in vivs,completely un natural.
Also why couldn't a pellet diet provide all the nutrition needed? We do it for dogs plus many other mammals and fish,why not reptiles?


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## 123dragon (Jan 15, 2011)

Dan Bristow said:


> These animals are kept in vivs,completely un natural.
> Also why couldn't a pellet diet provide all the nutrition needed? We do it for dogs plus many other mammals and fish,why not reptiles?


wether they are in a viv they should still have a diet as close as possible to what they would have in the wild, 
i didnt say they wouldnt provide all nutrients that they need, i said its not a natural way to feed them. 
my dogs eat a raw diet because i dont like man mad dog foods and a mice mix for example gives them a seed and cereal mix with is a natural diet for them


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

I found this thread a very interesting read.
I don't know about other iguana species but with the green iguana it is inadvisible to just give them a diet solely on these pellet diets, they are formulated (specifically for a herbivore need) but as far as green iguana diets are concerned the natural is much much better.

foods such as spring greens etc, full of vitmains minerals etc

I am very sure there natural diets can be imprivised around pretty much the same as the green iguana?

I could give you a list of foods and flowers you can feed if that is the case.

Bexzini also has expirience with these iguanas might be worth dropping her a message


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## 123dragon (Jan 15, 2011)

Salazare Slytherin said:


> I found this thread a very interesting read.
> I don't know about other iguana species but with the green iguana it is inadvisible to just give them a diet solely on these pellet diets, they are formulated (specifically for a herbivore need) but as far as green iguana diets are concerned the natural is much much better.
> 
> foods such as spring greens etc, full of vitmains minerals etc
> ...


finally somone to give me a bit of back up lol


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## Dan Bristow (Jan 12, 2008)

I do feed fresh items, but want to ensure my iguanas nutritional needs are being met by giving them as much variety as possible as I'm pretty sure we don't have many of the items these guys would eat in the wild.
Everyone always says not to feed pelletted diets to many reptiles but not many back up as to why not..just say it's not natural. If you could give me some info as why these items are not advisable to feed to a rhino ig then I would appreciate it, but for now, I've got it from someone who breeds them on a fully pelletted diet that they do very well on them.
This is not to say I will go 100% pellet but I will certainly add this as a large part to it's diet should I not be proved why I should not.
Many thanks for your replys, it's always good to hear others opinions on this.
Dan


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

Dan Bristow said:


> I do feed fresh items, but want to ensure my iguanas nutritional needs are being met by giving them as much variety as possible as I'm pretty sure we don't have many of the items these guys would eat in the wild.
> Everyone always says not to feed pelletted diets to many reptiles but not many back up as to why not..just say it's not natural. If you could give me some info as why these items are not advisable to feed to a rhino ig then I would appreciate it, but for now, I've got it from someone who breeds them on a fully pelletted diet that they do very well on them.
> This is not to say I will go 100% pellet but I will certainly add this as a large part to it's diet should I not be proved why I should not.
> Many thanks for your replys, it's always good to hear others opinions on this.
> Dan


 
Hi Dan I do like you by the way, so what I will say on this thread I will do my best to answer them as best I can from what I know. 
but please be aware I am only relaying the green iguana from what I have learnt and as far as I know they are pretty the same as far as nutrition goes but I havent specifically looked into these guys.

So Yes Pellets, Iguanas just like all animals are oppurtunistic feeders, if you put it too them in enclosed spaces they willl eat it, just like a green iguaua will eat crickets if it is all it has too eat.

The problem is with these diets is they are really for emergencys, such as earthquackes etc and an occasional snack, and perhaps variety but because many places and breeders use these diets it is easy to begin to see confliction.

We don't know enough about these diets to state if it is best.

Since you are saying you want to make sure your iggy is getting the best foods and nutrition out of the food it eats you are best off feeding as close to the natural diet as possible, in your case this is not possible iguanas can sometimes eat over 250 different foods in the wild (not sure about rhinos) so we imprivise with similar vegetation with similar nutrition needs.

Using these pellets probibly will be okay but won't be the best and therefore should be mainly used for an occasional thing rather than a staple.

Breeders will use these diets because to feed a large amount of animals on the foods which are better is very very expensive, look at the leopard gecko breeder only feeding meal worms.

it is then debated still if it is better or just a cheap way of doing it.

Iguanas gain much enrichment and are colour co-ordinated and very very intelligent in my expirience and to offer foods (nutrition wise) vegetation enriches there lifestyle.

when you say keeping them in a box is not natural you are absaloutely right in putting up that argument, unfortunately we need to use common sense and state that not much can be done about that, but I still try to get my iguana to engage in natural activities as if it was in the wild, this includes hanging spring leaves up around the viv for it to climb and much on as if in the wild.

I also try to get my iguana outside for 10 minutes a day at least most tubes we use even the highest are still equivialant to a dull day here in the UK half an hour basking in the sun is equivilant too sitting under a UVB tube for 8 hours so in that 10 minutes yoy almost quadroople what they are getting in doors.

so even 5 minutes is beneficial even on dull days.

So as you rightly say we can't do a natural thing for them, but we should not deprive them of what they can benefit from.: victory:

another factor is with the green iguana they have a reputation for being aggresive, unless we are talking about a specific time of year a wild iguana will run away from you, the reason we see aggresion so much in the greens is because they are mainly being defensive rather than aggresive (which is where that myth seems to come from) an iguana will do everything in its power to get away from you, they are intelligent, to just keep them in a box with no enrichment is almost cruel and I have sadly seen many cases of this.

As far as these pellets go (well lets put this anology into perspective) iguanas (green) are herbivores but they wil eat cat food because they are oppurtunistic but put a bowl of either in front of them and they will be attracted to the veg because they just instinctively know.

The pellets recently that came onto the market in the last few years have not been tested as staples and it would be inadvisible to do so ontil then.

It would be good to include it now and again for enrichment.
All my iguanas were fed fresh fruit and veg from day one, I offerd them the pellets once and they never touched it.
Seemiinly the iguanas know what they want, but to force it onto an iguana? I dunno.

Breeders are always thinking about money costs whether it be the electric etc and they will always and I mean ALWAYS! find cheaper avenuse


Iguanas in the wild know whats good for them (although not exacly relevent you might find this reply interesting I made too someone asking similar questions)


Salazare Slytherin said:


> Iguanas in the wild do know what is good for them, due to trial and error, allow me to explain. If I read Melissa Kaplans work correct and other sources, thousands of generations of iguanas ate plant matter, and passed on genes which will have contributed to the survival of there enviroments.
> Other area iguanas, ate the wrong foods and died?
> It is as simple as that.
> The animals that ate animal *Protein *bred a few times and that was it.
> ...


As you can see it could very well be the same case.
Just because animals are eating and breeding it does not make them healthy. Every animals instinct is to survive and pass genese on so sadly you can have sick and ill animals in captivity breeding which can make the owner think they are healthy.

From what I have seen with some breeders, the animals are cramped (no disrespect and the diets are simple and not normally full of enrichment) I doubt any breeder could offer any of those and yes they will argue but the facts are simply there you can't compete with fresh food no matter how it is formulated.

can you honestly see a breeder spending £15 -£20 or more per animal every week?


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## Dan Bristow (Jan 12, 2008)

Thanks! I like you too!:lol2:
I can't disagree with what you say, and it's very informative too,many thanks.
I just don't like it when people try and give me there 'advice' not backed up by informative,proven advice, unlike you! Again,thank you.
I have always been 50/50 on formulated food for reptiles. I appreciate it's all about money for a lot of the big manufacturers but I also believe a lot of research has gone into formulating these diets so don't think they can all be so bad! I also think it's cheaper to feed the fresh items than the pellets so it's not about money for me,the animals welfare is my main priority.
You say pellets won't be the best for them? Can I ask why? I know what you are saying r.e stimulation but,if they provide all the nutrition they need,what's wrong with them?I'm not saying they provide all the nutrition they need,as to be honest im not sure what and how this would be known anyway, but it must be getting closer and closer,what with all the research that goes on, that sooner or later we will have a manufactured diet that is 100%??
hope all that makes sense!
Dan


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

Dan Bristow said:


> Thanks! I like you too!:lol2:
> I can't disagree with what you say, and it's very informative too,many thanks.
> I just don't like it when people try and give me there 'advice' not backed up by informative,proven advice, unlike you! Again,thank you.
> I have always been 50/50 on formulated food for reptiles. I appreciate it's all about money for a lot of the big manufacturers but I also believe a lot of research has gone into formulating these diets so don't think they can all be so bad! I also think it's cheaper to feed the fresh items than the pellets so it's not about money for me,the animals welfare is my main priority.
> ...


You most certainly can ask why.

You know when you look up what is inside these greens and the nutrition they contain and compare it too the foods on the pelleted food you might just find that calcium and vitamins are much much higher.

especially when you offer mixed greens together, for the likes of mustard greens you can grow them on your window sill unfortunately our supermarkets don't sell them and you might have to seek out an allotmant for turnip tops and ask permission or grow them yourself, mustard greens can be grown in about 3 weeks 


It is basicly a case of offering
the highest calcium to phosphorus ratio and this can be easily accomplished much better with fresh food rather than formulation.

Reducing the intake of oxolates as much as possible
avoiding goitrogens especially for herbivores with kidney and liver problems (kale and all that)

and avoiding sapoins which will prevent salt buildups.

Some of the forumlated foods are okay for a one off and perhaps an emergency food but that would be about it.

Not to mention your iguana will love all the colours and nutrition it gains from the food, even dot it around the viv and make a little activity for it, which can't really be done with pellets, you can easily concoct something much better nutrition wise if you check the labels and packets and compare the pellet formulation.: victory:

it comes down to really doing your own research. 

You are the owner, he depends entirely on you and you must make the informed decisions based on what you learn 
you could still offer it but in my opinion I think the veg diet would be much better, you are right in saying research has gone into it and it has, but your iggys life expectancy would be increased by offering varied herbs, foods, all of which tend to have healing properties at the same time.

For high oxolate foods I try to feed them with anti oxidant foods too like the herb oregano which would be much healthier on the digestive system.

For example if I fed carrot tops I would feed oregano and other anti oxolates.

Oxolates are oxidants and oxidants create oxodative stress.  hope that helps.
Other exceptions might be if an iggy is at the vets for what ever reasona and something is low in the blood, these foods might be advised to help balance it out but that could also be acheived with looking for fresh foods with similar nutrition too 

the question you asked about whats wrong with it?
We should not take it upon ourselves to decide whether these diets can be used as a staple, a number of things need to be looked at, how long do iguanas live for on fresh fruit and veg and how long and big do they grow on a pellet diet, ontil that information is availible we are better off avoiding it where-ever possible ontil some of these things have been answerd, I am not saying it should be dis-regarded but it certainly deserves some answers before we should use it.

Perhaps one day it might be proved to be better who knows? but in the mean time I woud rather go with the tried and tested diets.


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## Dan Bristow (Jan 12, 2008)

Some excellent info again there, many thanks! I will have a look into it all.

Without being rude I'd still like to know if anywhere in the uk sells the rep cal iguana though! Many thanks
Dan




Salazare Slytherin said:


> You most certainly can ask why.
> 
> You know when you look up what is inside these greens and the nutrition they contain and compare it too the foods on the pelleted food you might just find that calcium and vitamins are much much higher.
> 
> ...


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

Dan Bristow said:


> Some excellent info again there, many thanks! I will have a look into it all.
> 
> Without being rude I'd still like to know if anywhere in the uk sells the rep cal iguana though! Many thanks
> Dan


to be honest I honestly don't know?
you might be worth trying to contact a supplier like surrey pet supplies and see what they have to say. 

: victory:


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## iguanajon (Oct 27, 2008)

I wouldnt feed pellets just because my rhino igs dont seem to like drinking water so at least I can guarantee getting some fluid into them by feeding dandelion, rocket, etc.
Also when I went to Grand Cayman and worked with the blue iguana project they said they used to feed the captive C lewisii on pellets but then changed to a more natural diet and the growth rate of the hatchlings improved tremendously.
Cheers
Jon


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