Iguanas are herbivores. Their natural diet consists of leaves of trees as well as they eat different varieties of plants in the wild. Also, in the wild iguanas, almost all the time feed on vines along with some fruits and flowers.
However, not all of them are safe for them and they need to rely on a particular few of them to meet their daily nutritional requirements. They will sometimes even opt to eat little insects along with some other bugs that happen to cross their path.
Iguanas are great as pets and many people want to have one considering they only eat greenies.
This is also beneficial to their health and mindset of living a healthy life. This is where we come in and help you understand if iguanas are able to eat watermelon or not.
Can iguanas eat watermelon?
Iguanas love watermelon. They adore and love to eat watermelon. However, fruits only make up a small percentage of the iguana’s diet. Watermelon should be given to iguanas in a small amount and should be treated as a treat, not a daily food. This way watermelon will not cause harm to iguanas.
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Watermelon unlike some fruits is not toxic or harmful to the iguanas. The iguanas can rest easy and eat the fruit without fear of hurting themselves in the process. Watermelon is an amazing fruit in countering hydration during very hot weather.
It is a blessing of the summer season and people seem to love it unanimously. However, it is not the same case for all animals and in this case, the iguana.
Some iguanas like the Green Iguana adore the watermelon while others do not mind having some.
Iguana’s diet consists of only 20% fruits. While not harmful, the watermelon does not have the qualities of an ideal fruit for that twenty percent of the diet. It lacks nutritional value and can be upsetting to the stomach of iguanas if they ingest a whole lot of it.
Iguanas may be offered apples, bananas with skin, pears, mangoes, star fruit, peaches, guava, dates, raspberries, figs, kiwis, apricots, strawberries, and other fruits as a substitute to the watermelon.
If we happen to give iguanas watermelon to cool off their nerves during hot weather, then that is completely fine. However, we cannot change their diet around watermelon at all.
There is little to no fat or protein in watermelon as well as fiber is very low in comparison to fruits like the banana which is rich in fiber. While iguanas can eat watermelon, we do not recommend feeding them watermelon exclusively.
Do iguanas like watermelon?
Watermelons are fruits that many people love to eat on a regular basis during the summer seasons.
This fruit contains almost 91% of just water which is why it is a great option for a refreshing fruit or even drinks made from it, to keep us hydrated during the hot summer days.
Iguanas on the other hand love to eat leaves and vines as well as the occasional fruits. Watermelon is no exception to this. They will gobble up any watermelon you give them and especially the green iguana loves the watermelon.
Therefore, it is not uncommon to see an iguana eating watermelon, but we as responsible pet owners should avoid giving them too much of it. Because too much non-ideal food is not good for the health of an iguana.
Can rhino iguanas eat watermelon? Can green iguanas eat watermelon?
Iguanas are exotic creatures that can eat a variety of food. They’re essentially herbivores that mostly rely on plants and leaves of trees. However, the occasional fruits will not make them shy away from them.
In the wild iguanas solely depend on the leaves of trees, vines, flowers, and fruits. Rhino iguanas as well as green iguanas can eat watermelon.
Furthermore, the green iguana especially loves the watermelon. Rhino iguana on the other hand can be seen eating small insects or other bugs, but they’ll eat watermelon if given one.
3 reasons why iguanas can eat watermelon
There are not many reasons why iguanas can eat watermelon. They are not rich in nutrients that might be ideal for the creatures. However, as a treat substitute, you can give your iguana small portions of watermelon.
Regardless of such circumstances, there are a few cases where the watermelon becomes a viable reason to give your iguana. These are listed below.
Easy to Consume:
The fact that an iguana can eat watermelon with very little effort is the main key point here. It is easy to consume because it is soft and no additional labor is needed from them.
When giving watermelon to our pet iguana we can even give them along with the rind or we can freeze the fruit and give them the flakes along with some chunks of it.
Hydration:
We all know staying hydrated is an important aspect of staying healthy. This goes the same for all living beings.
On a hot summer day, an iguana can indulge itself with some fresh watermelon and it will keep them hydrated as well as full.
Nutrients:
Watermelon as fruit can give a variety of nutrients like different minerals, vitamins namely A & C, and some energy for the iguanas. It may not be a lot but the options are not bad for them to occasionally have the watermelon.
What are the nutritional values of watermelon for iguanas?
Watermelon as a fruit consists of mostly water and some carbs. It barely provides any calories and is almost zero in protein. Watermelon can be considered as a fruit that can only be enriching to keep us hydrated.
While they are not completely useless as fruits, they do not help in providing animals with the necessities they need to survive. However, there are still a few nutritional facts about the fruit, which we are going to list below.
Water:
Containing almost 91% water is the watermelon that we humans love to eat every summer. Iguanas can enjoy the fruit as we do to stay hydrated and treat themselves rather than completely relying on a watermelon diet.
Carbs:
Watermelon contains at least 12 grams of carbs for every 152 grams. Carbs have simply consisted of sugars like glucose, sucrose, and fructose. Which can be good for the iguana.
Vitamins & Minerals:
Watermelon is a good source of Vitamin C and A. Furthermore, there are other decent vitamins and minerals available such as Potassium, Copper along with Vitamin B5.
Amino Acids:
Iguanas need the occasional dietary source of amino acids. And watermelon is one of the richest known dietary sources of the amino acid citrulline.
Furthermore, the highest number of this acid is found on the white rind that surrounds the watermelon’s flesh.
Can iguanas eat watermelon rind?
Yes, when iguanas do eat watermelons, they will eat along with their skin and rinds. They are herbivores they do not discriminate fruits and their skins.
Iguana’s diet consists of only 20% fruits and the rest is other greeneries. Since they mostly rely on the leaves of trees, iguanas will often eat fruits and unlike us, they do not just need to eat the inside of it.
They eat the whole thing or sometimes partial depending on their appetite. Therefore, speaking of the rind of watermelon, to an iguana it is nothing more than food.
How much watermelon to feed an iguana?
Watermelons are great summer fruits. About 100 grams of watermelon has 91 grams of water. They can work great for keeping a person hydrated or the animals that might eat it during the summer.
However, there is very little fiber in the fruit and watermelon has uncomplimentary calcium to the phosphorous ratio which is not ideal for iguanas.
Considering all that in just 100 gm of watermelon, that is not a lot of good indications of food that can sustain an herbivore that needs other essential minerals, fiber as well as protein.
Therefore, watermelon should be given to an iguana in moderate amounts such as 20% of their diet, as well as should be treated as a treat for the animal and not as a regular diet.
Final Thoughts
Watermelon is a great treat for your pet iguana. They can and love to eat watermelon. However, it is not recommended to give them too much watermelon as it will upset their stomach and make their digestive system upset. This is because of the unfavorable ratio of calcium to phosphorous.