Feeding Lizard
The larger types of lizard eat mammales and birds and will benefit from canned dog foot in addition to fruit. Some enjoy earthworms, mealworms, cricketsand even cockroaches and all seem to adore spiders. And although fruit and vegetables are so enjoyed, particularly by iguanas, multivitamins and powdered cuttlefish bone should be offered.
Lizards vary from relatively tiny creatures such as small geckos up through the larger varieties to water dragons and iguanas, some peole keeping skinks, some chameleons and others Slow Worms. The aim must always be to feed the right diet bearing in mind that, incaptivity, it is unlikely that it will be receiving the same rations as it would in the wild.
The majority of lizards are insectivorous and will like mealworms. However, a mealworm by itself - because we are keeping it, and breeding it, in bran- contains the wrong mineral content; it is necessary for the insect being used as food t be fed on a diet which has sufficient extra calcium, minerals and vitamin, for these to be in the intestine of the insect when it is eaten as prey. If, for example, the lizard owner merely feeds mealworms straight from the bran pot, they willindeed be consumed by the lizard, but within a year the pet will be suffering from calcium malnutrition.
Indeed, the calcium problem in large lizards and iguanas is so great that expert Dr Oliphant Jacksom recommends feeding them on tinned dog or cat food which has been fortified with vitamins and minerals intended for the growth of puppies and kittens. Feeding of whole small mice is also advocated.