Hello everyone, I will admit that Im new to the board and I probably should have made an official "Im new post" but Im very concerned about one of my young iguanas named Yoshi. Ive had Yoshi and Lily for almost 6 months now. The iguanas themselves must be close to 7 months in age. They are housed together in a custom made tank that is quite a bit larger then a 55 gallon aquarium. It was made from a shelfing unit so the tank is tall and wide but not too deep. I have 3 lights that shine down into the tank, so the temp ranges from around 90 at the top to about 85 towards the bottom of the tank. I give them an assortment of greens, fruits and vegetables including carrots, peas, green beans, etc. Lily is doing wonderfully, bulking up and growing into a strong well behaved (sorta) iguana. Both iguanas get along perfectly and have never fought..ever. About a week ago Yoshi fell from a perch towards the top of the tank in the middle of the night and injured her arm. That morning I found dried blood caked onto her elbow as well as it being swollen. Her hind leg on the opposite side was also swollen. I immediately rushed her to the vet where I had to drop her off and go to work. The vet ended up taking xrays and found no fracture but prescribed her Baytril for a bacterial infection. I have been giving it to her twice a day and the vet told me that the swelling should go down. Yoshi had been taking her meds fine, but now after a week she refuses to. Ive tried forcing her, but her jaw is firmly locked. She just looks at me before closing her eyes and refuses to cooperate. The thing that worries me most is that the swelling has gone down a little but her limbs are still swollen and now she refuses to take meds and even eat. Shes lost a lot of weight and Ive tried everything that I could think of. Fruit smoothies, veggie smoothies, special salads. Nothing works. Ive tried sneaking her meds into her smoothies and have tried force feeding, but she just wont open her mouth. Im worried. She's getting so skinny, and Im terrified about loosing her. Please help?
First off, I'm glad to hear you rushed her to the vet, rather than waiting for an answer from one of us telling you to do so. Very good thing to do. If she still doesn't decide to eat on her own, I would still try to pry her jaw open. If you're not afraid of getting nipped that would probably be the best way to feed her. Even if you just try prying it open towards the front my iguana always opens her mouth to show me her teeth that she isn't afraid of using lol. But she's gotten use to me doing that, I always check her mouth to make sure she isn't developing mouthrot or anything like that. I would separate her from the other iguana and quarantine her to a smaller cage that she won't be tempted to climb and hurt her swollen limbs any more than they already are. Also put her food somewhere close to where she is when she's in this separate cage so she doesn't have to give much effort to get to it. If that doesn't help and she still doesn't eat within the next couple of days, or is seeming to get worse definitely take her back to the vet. I couldn't count how many times my adult iguana has fallen, but she never seemed to injure herself, thank God! When she does fall she always lands on her feet or on the log that leads up to the midsection of her cage. Is there anything on the bottom of your cage that when she fell it could've done the most damage? If so I would rearrange the cage. A few questions on your set up, When you say 3 lights, what type of lights are you using? Hopefully one is UVB? Do you dust the food with calcium? Make sure Yoshi gets a lot of calcium during this state, to help build her bones back up. Other than that they should get some calcium every other feeding, as juvies. As adults they need it about twice a week. Good luck, if you have any questions ask. And definitely let us know Yoshi's progress. Welcome to the Forums! (I tried posting that the day you did, but seems that's when the forum went down again) So there it is I hope it's not too late
Update on Yoshi Unfortunately Yoshi didnt make it. I had been trying to pry her mouth open, even hoping she would bite me just for a chance to get the food in. She was too stubborn and despite all my efforts of force feeding and special care, Yoshi passed away this weekend. As for the swelling of limbs, I was able to get that to go down so at the end there was no swelling in the limbs, but she was a skeleton. I feel really terrible about it to. Lily is doing..ok but its very apparent that he misses his tankmate. He looks for her often so Ive been taking him out more and more so he isn't sitting there alone. Tank situation, I figure now is a good time to reevaluate the tank to make sure everything is ok for Lily, dont need him passing on me. Its too heartbreaking. I have three lights but in my first post didnt really get into the details like I should have. The three lights are resting on top of a screen at the top of the tank. One is a UVB, one is a basking light and the third is a red light used for extra heat which I always keep on. The tank is close to 4 feet tall, 3 feet wide and about 1.5 -2 feet deep. Just bought a couple new thermometers and hydrometers today so Ill get a more accurate reading temp and moisture wise. I have the food dish suspended to the wall about 2/3 up on the warmer side. I have a large corner pool at the bottom and many grape vine and homemade perches throughout the enclosure. The bottom and bottom wall portion are lined with a fake linolieum tile, and the middle upper portion is covered with a fake grass which they/he loves to climb up. Ive been feeding him a mixture of foods; mixed greens, peas, green beans, kale (which Ive cut drastically back on) carrots, occassionally cucumbers and celery, fruits including; mango, pineapple, grapes, strawberries, raspberries, blueberrys, apples and bananas. I usually sprinkle calcium on their (gah its so hard to believe shes gone) his food 3 days a week and feed him around 8:20 in the morning. His lights are usually turned on around 7:30/8 o'clock. Since I've gotten him he's really bulked up quite a bit. Tonight I'll measure him to get an accurate measurement but guessing I'd say from nose to tail tip he's probably around 1.5 - 2 feet. He's about 7 months old I'd say. I've had him for 5.5 months now. I'll probably be posting pics soon so everyone can see. Any suggestions/comments greatly appreciated.
RE: Update on Yoshi Sorry to hear that! Sounds like you've got everything good. I guess the fall for Yoshi probably did a lot internally. Glad to hear you cut back on kale. It's high in oxalates. Best greens to feed are Mustard, Collard, or Turnip Greens. I'll be looking forward to seeing some pics and if you ever have any questions let us know.
