Can Iguanas Eat Tomatoes? What You Need to Know

Yes! Iguanas can eat tomatoes. They are safe for your iguana and have many health benefits. But you need to limit tomatoes’ consumption since they cannot be your iguana’s main diet. Pet owners feed their iguanas with tomatoes to change their diets or add color to the food.

Never feed your iguana on everything that comes your way. For instance, feeding your iguana too much tomato can lead to health issues since they are too acidic.

Pet owners should spend quality time with their iguanas to better understand what they like and what they don’t like. This also helps to create a strong bond with your pet iguana.

Here you will learn the benefits of iguanas eating tomatoes together with tomato effects on iguanas.

What are Tomato Health Benefits for Iguanas?

Fiji Banded Iguana — Image Credit: simonprodl, Pixabay

Just as with humans, tomatoes have many nutritional benefits to your iguana. The following are some of the advantages why your iguana needs to feed on tomatoes:

Boost Immune System

Tomatoes are a primary source of Vitamin A, which helps to improve your iguana’s immune system. In addition, Vitamin A helps in organisms’ reproduction and better vision.

They Cannot Cause Obesity

Unlike other fruits that have too much sugar, tomatoes’ sugar levels are very low. Therefore, tomatoes cannot cause obesity, diarrhea, diabetes, and other sicknesses, resulting from excess sugar.

Low Toxins

Tomatoes contain very low toxin levels, such as oxalic acid or oxalates. But they need to be consumed in low quantities.

Keeps Your Iguana Hydrated

Tomatoes contain a lot of water that will keep your iguana hydrated and refreshed. Feeding your iguana tomatoes once in a while will help him to drink less water.

What are Tomatoes Health Concerns for Iguanas?

Tomatoes can have adverse effects on your iguana, which is why iguanas should not consume plenty of tomatoes. Thus, you need to limit the quantity you feed your iguana.

Here are some of tomatoes health concerns for your iguana:

Tomatoes have low calcium levels, which is essential for healthy bones and development. This means that feeding your iguana with too many tomatoes can lead to calcium deficiency which is not good for your pet.
Tomatoes have an undesirable ratio of calcium and phosphorous such that the existence of phosphorous in tomatoes prevents absorption of calcium in the body. This leads to calcium deficiency in your iguana.

How to Give Tomatoes to Your Iguana

To make sure nothing happens to your iguana after eating tomatoes, you need to follow these steps to prepare the tomatoes for your iguana:

1. Clean the Tomatoes Properly

Ensure you carefully wash the tomatoes before giving them to your iguana. The tomatoes have a lot of dirt since they have exchanged hands from the farm to the grocery store and then to your home. Failure to wash the tomatoes properly can cause health problems to your iguana associated with eating dirt.

2. Don’t Cook the Tomatoes

After washing the tomatoes, never cook them. Make sure you give the tomatoes in raw form to your iguanas. Cooking tomatoes reduces their nutritional value; thus, they will not add as many expected nutrients to your iguana’s body.

3. Cut the Tomatoes into Small Pieces

To ensure that your iguana manages to eat the tomatoes with ease, cut tomatoes into small chunks or pieces. This enables your iguana to consume the tomatoes without straining and preventing the choking hazard to your iguana.

4. Give Your Iguana Small Amounts of Tomatoes

Your iguana enjoys eating tomatoes and may want to consume more and more, but ensure he feeds only the right proportion. It is recommended that you should give your iguana a quarter of a tomato. It could help if you use tomatoes as a salad topper to act as an appetizer for your iguana but not the main diet.

Best Foods for Iguanas

Iguana eating banana_ — Image Credit: wojciech wojcik, Shutterstock

The following are some of the best foods to feed your iguana to ensure it remains healthy and free from diseases and health issues:

Vegetables – Your iguana will enjoy various vegetables such as chopped carrots, pumpkins, sweet peppers, and turnip greens. You can also feed your iguana green leafy vegetables like kale, dandelion, collards, radish, mustard, and hibiscus leaves.
Fruits – Iguanas consume different fruits like plums, watermelons, figs, bananas, apples, pears, mangoes, peaches, guava, pineapples, and papayas. Iguanas also enjoy berries such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and mulberries. Ensure you cut the fruits into small pieces and remove all the seeds to prevent the choking effect.
Commercial Foods – These are pre-made ready-to-eat foods that are fortified with different supplements and vitamins. There are various food types in the market specially made for iguanas or lizards. You can give your Iguana commercial foods such as Rep-Cal Adult Iguana Food, Zilla Juvenile Iguana Food, and Nature Zone Bites Iguana Food for diet change or to supplement the main diet. Ensure that the foods are moist before giving your Iguana.
Water – Never forget to give your iguana water despite feeding him with high water content foods. Provide your iguana with cold water in a clean bowl every day. Ensure you change this water daily as your iguana may poop or bathe in it.

Conclusion

Pet owners should know that iguanas need much care for them to live a happy and healthy life. The most crucial thing to consider is your guanas’ diet for their overall health. You should not take risks with your iguana’s health since it can lead to death.

Like in humans, tomatoes have many nutritional benefits to your iguana if only fed in the right proportion. Do not let your iguana consume plenty of tomatoes, as this may cause adverse health effects.

Prepare the tomatoes well before giving them to your iguana. Wash the tomatoes properly and cut them into small chunks to ensure your iguana easily eats them.

Featured Image Credit: Lernestorod, Pixabay