Nutrition for Health

Growth and Morphometrics of Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana) Fed Four

Levels of Dietary Protein1,2
Nutrition Support Services, Pembroke, VA 24136
EXPANDED ABSTRACT

KEY WORDS:

iguanas

dietary protein

growth

Green iguanas (Iguana iguana) are tropical, arboreal, diurnal

ectotherms (Iverson 1982). The lizards are herbivorous, utilizing hindgut fermentation as well as hydrolytic digestion
(McBee and McBee 1982); in the wild, they consume leaves,
blossoms and fruit (Allen et al. 1989). In captivity, they are
typically fed produce from groceries, including lettuce and
other greens as well as fruits such as bananas. Without appropriate supplementation, such diets are usually deficient in
protein and fiber as well as calcium and several micronutrients
(Donoghue and Langenberg 1996).
A previous study examined commercial iguana diets and
found that growth was correlated with dietary fiber and protein
(Donoghue 1994). The objectives of this study were to evaluate further the dietary protein requirement and to assess
morphometric measures as indicators of growth and body condition in green iguanas.
Materials and methods. Animals. Yearling growing green
iguanas (n 5 12) were housed in 0.75 m 3 0.75 m 3 2.0 m
(l 3 w 3 h) vertical habitats furnished with tree branches,
horizontal platforms, pools of water, full-spectrum fluorescent
lights and incandescent basking lights. The room was maintained on an 12-h light:dark cycle at temperatures of 29 37C
daytime and 2729C nighttime. Iguanas were misted daily
with water. The protocol complied with national standards for
the use and care of animals (NRC 1985).
The iguanas (8 males, 4 females) were matched by sex and
size, then assigned randomly to one of four diets. Each group
was fed each diet in a switchback design. Accommodation
periods lasted 5 wk, and observation periods were 5 wk.
Each week the iguanas were weighed to the nearest gram
and measured to the nearest mm. Measurements included body
(snout-vent) length (SVL),4 total (snout-tail) length (STL),

morphometrics

Downloaded from jn.nutrition.org at Fundao Coordenao de Aperfeioamento de Pessoal de Nvel Superior on February 23, 2013

Susan Donoghue,3 Justin Vidal and David Kronfeld

head width, and circumferences around tail base, right thigh,

mid-abdomen and mid-thorax (chest).
Diets. Diet ingredients were chopped romaine lettuce and
alfalfa hay, grated apple and carrot, and premixes containing
soybean meal and micronutrients (Tables 1 and 2). Four
protein levels [12.4, 21.8, 29.5 and 39.0% dry matter (DM)]
were obtained by varying proportions of romaine, apple, carrot
and soybean meal (Tables 1 and 2). Food was offered fresh
each morning. At the beginning and end of the study, all diets
were analyzed by an independent forage testing laboratory
(Northeast DHIA, Ithaca, NY) (Table 3). Metabolizable energy (ME) values were calculated from these data, using 14.6
kJ (3.5 kcal) ME/g crude protein and carbohydrate, 35.6 kJ
(8.5 kcal) ME/g fat and 8.4 kJ (2.0) ME/g crude fiber (Table 3).
Data. Data were summarized as means and SEM, and analyzed with the aid of a computer program (Statistix, Version
4.1, Analytical Software, Tallahassee, FL). ANOVA was used
to evaluate effects of diet, iguana, and diet * iguana interaction. Period was tested, found to be insignificant and deleted
from the ANOVA. When the F-ratio was significant, means
were compared by the least significant difference test. Linear
and multiple regressions were used to test morphometric relationships. Significance was inferred for P , 0.05, a trend for
P , 0.10.
Results. All iguanas remained healthy throughout the
duration of the trial, with the exception of occasional bite
wounds inflicted during fights between males.
TABLE 1
Composition of four diets
Dietary protein, % dry matter (DM)

1
Presented as part of the Waltham International Symposium on Pet Nutrition
and Health in the 21st Century, Orlando, FL, May 26 29, 1997. Guest editors for
the symposium publication were Ivan Burger, Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition,
Leicestershire, UK and DAnn Finley, University of California, Davis.
2
Financial support was provided by Nutrition Support Service, Pembroke,
VA.
3
To whom correspondence should be addressed.
4
Abbreviations used: AG, abdominal girth; BW, body weight; DM, dry matter;
ME, metabolizable energy; STL, snout-tail (total) length; SVL, snout-vent (body)
length; TBC, tail-base circumference; and TC, thigh circumference.

Ingredient

12

22

30

39

Romaine lettuce, g/kg

Apple, g/kg
Carrot, g/kg
Alfalfa, g/kg
Premix, g/kg1

102
342
512
34
10

97
325
487
39
52

376
250
250
35
89

476
159
159
44
162

1 Details of premixes are provided in Table 2.

0022-3166/98 $3.00 1998 American Society for Nutritional Sciences. J. Nutr. 128: 2587S2589S, 1998.

2587S

SUPPLEMENT

2588S

TABLE 2
Composition of premixes
Dietary protein, % dry matter (DM)
12

22

30

39

Soybean meal, g/kg

Dicalcium phosphate, g/kg
Calcium carbonate, g/kg
Minerals, g/kg1
Vitamins, g/kg2
Choline chloride, g/kg3

0
294
60
415
17
214

787
67
24
84
5
33

894
34
22
39
3
8

936
15
20
27
2
0

1 Guinea Pig Mineral Mix, ICN Biochemicals, Cleveland, OH. Mix

contains per kg: 221 g calcium carbonate, 301 g calcium phosphate
dibasic, 224 g magnesium sulfate, 170 g potassium chloride, 74 g
sodium chloride, 5.2 g ferric citrate, 2.4 g manganous sulfate, 1.5 g zinc
carbonate, 0.59 g cupric sulfate, 0.32 g chromium potassium sulfate,
0.03 g potassium iodide, 0.02 g sodium selenite.
2 Poult Pak, I. D. Russell Laboratories, Longmont, CO. Mix contains
per kg: 9,900,000 IU retinyl palmitate, 4,400,000 IU cholecalciferol,
11,000 mg dl-a-tocopherul acetate, 22 mg vitamin B-12, 110 mg biotin,
8,800 mg riboflavin, 68,750 mg calcium pantothenate, 66,000 mg niacin, 8800 mg menadione sodium bisulfite (source of vitamin K), 924 mg
folic acid, 4400 mg thiamin-HCl, 4400 mg pyridoxine-HCl, and 3300 mg
ascorbic acid.
3 ICN Biochemicals.

Dietary protein significantly affected growth, expressed as

percentage gain in body weight (P , 0.0001; Fig. 1), chest
circumference (P 5 0.0051), snout-vent length (P 5 0.023;
Fig. 1), snout-tail length (P 5 0.0049), head width
(P 5 0.033), thigh circumference (P 5 0.010), and tail circumference (P 5 0.012). No difference was found between
diets containing 30 and 39% protein. Comparing 22 and 30%
protein diets, the latter supported greater (P , 0.05) gains in
chest circumference and body weight (Fig. 1) and a trend (P
, 0.10) toward greater gains in head width and snout-vent
length (Fig. 1).
Body weight was related to linear measurements. Body
weight (BW, g) was predicted best by snout-vent length (SVL,
cm) and thigh circumference (TC, cm) as follows:
BW 5 61~SVL! 2 859 6 56 R 2 5 0.923
P , 0.0001

(1)

TABLE 3

P , 0.0001

Dietary protein,
% dry matter (DM)

Protein, %DM
Fat, %DM
Carbohydrate,2 %DM
Crude fiber, %DM
Ash, %DM
Energy (ME),3
kJ/g DM
kcal/g DM

FIGURE 1 Growth of 12 green iguanas (mean and SEM) expressed

as percentage gain in body weight (upper panel) or snout-vent (S-V)
length (lower panel) was related to dietary protein (% dry matter).
Differences between a and b are significant (P , 0.05); in the lower
panel, the difference between ab and b represents a trend (P , 0.10).

BW 5 176~TC! 2 811 6 54 R 2 5 0.922

Analyses of four diets fed to green iguanas

12

22

30

39

12.41
2.6
60.2
13.4
11.2

21.8
2.0
53.4
11.4
11.4

29.5
2.6
46.1
10.3
11.4

39.0
1.9
37.2
9.7
12.2

1.7
0.5
4.2
1.2
0.8

12.8
3.0

12.8
3.0

13.0
3.1

12.8
3.0

0.2
0.04

SEM

1 Mean of two assays.

2 Carbohydrate was calculated by difference as nitrogen-free ex-

tract.
3 Methods for calculating energy are presented in the text.

Downloaded from jn.nutrition.org at Fundao Coordenao de Aperfeioamento de Pessoal de Nvel Superior on February 23, 2013

Ingredient

(2)

Body weight was less well predicted by abdominal circumference (R2 5 0.898), head width (R2 5 0.870), chest circumference (R2 5 0.832), snout-tail length (R2 5 0.820) and
tail-base circumference (R2 5 0.802), although all associations
were significant (P , 0.0001).
The best-fitting multiple regression equation for the prediction of body weight (BW, g) used snout-vent length (SVL,
cm), thigh circumference (TC, cm), abdominal girth (AG,
cm), and (negatively) tail-base circumference (TBC, cm) as
follows:
BW 5 31.8~SVL! 1 73.0~TC! 1 25.6~ AG!
2 29.0~TBC! 2 848 6 20 R 2 5 0.971,
P , 0.0001

(3)

NUTRITION OF GREEN IGUANAS

of body weight accounted for 97% of the variation in body

weight. The empirical stepwise procedure selected one measure of length (SVL) and three of girth (TC, AG and TBC)
that would be dimensionally correct for a series of cylinders.
LITERATURE CITED
Allen, M. E., Oftedal, O. T., Baer, D. J. & Werner, D. I. (1989) Nutritional studies
with the green iguana. In: Proceedings of the Eighth Dr. Scholl Conference on
Nutrition in Captive Wild Animals, pp. 73 81. Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens, Chicago, IL.
Donoghue S. (1994) Growth of juvenile green iguanas (Iguana iguana) fed four
diets. J Nutr. 124: 2626S2629S.
Donoghue S. & Langenberg J. (1996) Nutrition. In: Reptile Medicine and
Surgery, pp. 148 174. W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia, PA.
Iverson, J. B. (1982) . Adaptions to herbivory in Iguanine lizards. In: Iguanas:
Their Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation (Burghardt, G. M. & Rand, A. S.,
eds.), pp. 60 76. Noyes, Park Ridge, NJ.
McBee, R. H. & McBee, V. H. (1982) The hindgut fermentation in the green
iguana, Iguana iguana. In: Iguanas: Their Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation
(Burghardt, G. M. & Rand, A. S., eds.), pp. 77 83. Noyes, Park Ridge, NJ.
National Research Council (1985) Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory
Animals. Publication no. 8523 (rev.), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda,
MD.

Downloaded from jn.nutrition.org at Fundao Coordenao de Aperfeioamento de Pessoal de Nvel Superior on February 23, 2013

Discussion. Growth rate of yearling iguanas was depressed

by lower levels of dietary protein. Our previous study of commercial iguana diets suggested that dietary protein and fiber
affected growth (Donoghue 1994). Observations of wild iguanas indicated that the lizards selected plants with relatively
high fiber and protein, up to 33% (Allen et al 1989). In this
study, fiber was relatively constant, ranging from 10 to 13%
DM (Table 3). The data (Fig. 1) indicate the adequacy of 30%
dry matter in the form of mixed soybean, vegetable and fruit
proteins.
Body weight was related to linear measurements, with SVL
and TC appearing to be the best predictors. The green iguana
is a cylindrically shaped animal with muscular thighs; thus it
seems reasonable that measures of body length and muscle
mass would best predict body weight. Abdominal circumference ranked as the third best predictor of body weight. This
association may reflect the influence of degree of fill in the
hindgut, which is adapted for microbial fermentation (Iverson
1982).
The best-fitting multiple regression equation for prediction

2589S