Hello everyone!

I have a feeling this post is going to be VERY long…so ‘m going to keep it as simple and quick as possible – as a result, please excuse me if I appear to be a little rude and hurried! I’ve wanted an iguana for the past 20 years, and finally I now have one, but not under pleasant circumstances: rescued from a previous owner, it seems that Izzy (temporary name until I find a suitable one) has been mistreated, neglected and is in horrible condition. By the looks of him I’m guessing that without urgent, proper steps, he has a little over a few weeks to live. Izzy would be my first reptile, so I have little experience, no access to reptile supplies, and no knowledgeable friends/vets that can help me out, so the internet and YOU guys are the only ones I can turn to for help, so if some of you have the time and the knowledge to lend me a hand at trying to save this poor guy’s life, both Izzy and I would greatly appreciate it! Now, onward to the facts:

Current health facts:

1) Three broken fingers (does not appear to be recent): completely limp, bending at odd angles, no open injuries though one finger is slightly swollen at the joint and black (see photo below), as if it had been an open wound but now is dried up. His tail also seems to have been broken.

2) Skin infection: Apart from being extremely dry, he has ‘clumps’ all over his body where the skin is a dark mustard yellow and very, very hard, some can be peeled off if scraped with my finger (see photo below).

3) At 18cm (body length. In total he is about 58cm) he is quite skinny, and despite this he hardly eats – a bite a day - not drinking and hardly moving. He can remain fixed to one spot 24hours, not exploring, not even trying to run from me (I don’t think has the energy to do so).

4) Stools: He has been with me almost a week now, and has pooped only once! Of course this might be due to the fact he hardly eats. The stool was mostly runny liquid, gooey and WHITE.



The steps I’ve taken so far:

1) His enclosure: Vertical terrarium slightly over 100 gallons, I’ve concealed all transparent sides save for the top so that at least he will be isolated from the on-goings around the house, as I want to minimize any amount of stress. He has a ‘sunning’ section with a bulb providing UVA and UVB, I keep the terrarium humid with damp cloths and a home-made ‘humidifier’ consisting of a container of water with a big heater in it to evaporate the water, I also spray him with water twice a day. He is weak as is, so I do my best not to handle him during this period and just let him be. There is a 100g flexarium by Exo-Terra in the garden, when the weather is warm I place him there so he gets some natural sunlight… of course all the while making sure he does not dry up.

2) Hand-feed him his water through a syringe, which he accepts without struggle and drinks, the water is conditioned with liquid supplements Calcium, Electrolyte and vitamin D3 by Exo-Terra. I also make sure fresh dark greens of all kinds stated online are available to him. He hardly touches it.

3) Following advice of a vet, antibiotic cream ‘Fucicort’ is applied to the infections twice a day.


Before I continue on with my questions, I need to explain and stress on the point that I am currently living in a country where vets are trained to treat mammals and birds, but NOT reptiles; even the weather isn’t helpful, as it is dry and cold. It is not a common thing to have pet snakes or lizards here, and such ‘pets’ were once imported. Thankfully, the government has now passed a law of animal protection, banning exotic animals, birds and fish from getting into the country where they would suffer. I won’t be surprised if my iguana had been smuggled in by some kid who bought him while on vacation (a typical story) without any intentions of caring for him properly. As a result of the law, this also means that about 90% of reptile supplies are not available locally. I was very lucky to find the UVA/B bulb and liquid supplements, but that is all. Luckily my vet had some personal experience with iguanas, and kept the iguana for about a week before passing him to me, but I feel his help is still not enough.

Keeping all this in mind, I believe it’s clear now that replies such as ‘take him to the vet’ or ‘have his stool examined at the vet’…etc, would take me nowhere. I don't mean to be rude, but going to vets is already something I had done, and they could not do more than where I'm at now on my own :( As for specific reptile medication? Unfortunately with laws of shipment, I won’t be able to order medication online. Even anti-mite spray is prohibited as now it is considered a drug, even in Canada (such as reptile relief http://www.naturalchemistry.com)! In short, I will need to improvise quite a bit!
Now, my questions:

1) WHAT is his skin infection? It is not easy to cure as we’ve been trying for over two weeks now, first a vet then myself. If you have any clue of what it is, please share, and what did u use to cure it. Is there some oral antibiotics that I can use for him (even if meant for humans, with the proper dosage maybe?)… The infection is my main concern at the moment, as I’m afraid it might develop into something more serious!

2) Concerning the broken fingers: Despite the fact that they appear to be old wounds, what steps should I take to avoid further damage? He doesn’t appear to feel pain in them as when I touch/move them he does not react. But would I have to amputate them? Or do I just leave them as they are?

3) Seeing that he doesn’t eat much, I’m worried he will just get weaker and weaker. I’m guessing the only thing I should do here is leave him be… but if mashing up greens and force-feeding him with a syringe is a solution, then I’m ready to take that step! But I wanted to check with you experts first, I wouldn’t want to end up making things worse by blindly improvising.

So I think I’ve reached the end of my long, long post. I seriously hope you would be able to help me, I’ve had this little guy for about a week, and am already attached to him and really want to see him grow fat, healthy and above all things; happy. I think animals are a gift, and it breaks my heart to see them suffer as result of carelessness.

Thanks for reading guys!
~Nat

At this point, I would say it's okay to force feed, but do it VERY VERY VERY VERY gently and carefully. Another thing you might want to do is start experimenting with some different types of food. For the skin infection, try using a VERY SMALL amount of Neosporin just on one patch first. this should be enough to do a "test" to see how exactly he's going to react to it. After the test to make sure there's no bad reactions, apply still very small amounts to all of the other areas. (and just to let everyone know, I HAVE used Neosporin on my corn snakes before, and it has worked wonders).
I hope he gets better soon!

Just make sure if you put neosporin on it to get regular NON medicated.

What what are you using for heat, what sort of temps are you getting in the enclosure and what are you measuring them with?

What UVB lighting are you using some (most compacts) can cause some nasty skin problems.

What is the humidity like?

it could be a fungal or bacterial skin infection you can use human type meds like neosporin (without pain relief, like sid said) if that is the case.

You could try some squash baby food if you want to syringe feed him, tends to be a bit easier than mashing up yourself. What type of greens are you feeding at the moment.

Misting him with water will help keep him hydrated as well as bathing. Some won't drink form stilll water.

out of curiosity which country are you from?

I would do as Wookie said with the bath and feeding him squash baby food. I sometimes mix a little bit of banana in there as well.

Where are you from? The IP you used is Amsterdam but you mentioned Canada....

What type of bulb is the UVB?

I know you said it won't help but ANY vet or vet tech can run a fecal they don't need to know anything about reps and panacur isn't rep specific if it's needed it shouldn't be hard to find in any country that has horses, cats, dogs etc.

Can you find powder supplements instead of the liquid? Even if they need imported it's worth it to save the animal.

It seems like your biggest issues are malnutrition and possibly burns, what are your current temps and humidity and how are they being measured?

You are also going to need a MUCH bigger enclosure.

First of all, thank you everyone for taking the time to read my long post and the replies! I’ve got some really good updates to share, as well will answer your questions (and perhaps ask a few more!)

UPDATE:
Today I’ve noticed a massive improvement in Izzy’s skin and strength. 1) As many have suggested, it appears that most of the ‘infection’ was indeed only old shed! After a long 5 minute soak this morning, most of it came off with an easy rub of a soft sponge. The skin beneath is a healthy green, and overall I’d say his color is much deeper, and prettier now! I still continue with my daily routine of keeping him clean, humid, applying the medication and today added a small amount of Betadine to the bath. There are still three patches that look bad, unlike the old shed they are dark grey and stubborn, so I’m concerned about those. 2) The swelling around his eye is completely gone and looks normal, and the same could be said about the left side of his lower jaw. 3) His Appetite has improved, he still does not eat much, but missing leaves prove that he’s eating; what’s more he accepted half a grape from my hand last night, which made me VERY happy! :)
And lastly, 4) way more energy than before, as he walks around the terrarium now.

Also, I’d like to announce that after a few votes, Izzy finally has a name: Gino! I’ll be referring to him as ‘Gino’ from this point on ;)

Now, On to you guys!

>>>>>Thanks, Robbie, about mentioning the Neosporin. I’ll check at the pharmacy today and see if I can find it.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> All of Wookie and Tux’s questions:
>>>>Enclosure details: (will take photos soon!)
Height:125cm Width: 45 length: 75cm. Once it becomes too small for Gino, I’ll get him a bigger one. All walls but roof are solid, door and back transparent, the roof is made of metal mesh. Also a 100g flexarium in the garden.
Temperature: Sunning area: 85-91F, cool area: 75-80F, both measured with exo-terra liquid crystal thermometer. Humidity level: it took me a while to get it right, but now it is about 66% (exo-terra Hygrometer). I mist him with an artist’s air-pressure spray bottle, it creates mist rather than heavy water drops and it seems to annoy him less. I mist the enclosure and a little on him everyday, 3-4 times a day, before late noons.
Light: Exo-terra 125W Solar Glo, with 20cm distance from the sunning area, and out of reach. I leave it on for 12 hours. On good days, he is outside to get natural light. At night I use a heating pad. Have searched for the long florescent tubes and larger bulbs… but this was the biggest, available one.

I hope these details are what you need to know? And I hope they are all up to good iguana-care standards!

>>>>You could try some squash baby food if you want to syringe feed him…
Really? How much of this can I give him per day? How many times? You’ve used it, I assume?

>>>I know you said it won't help but ANY vet or vet tech can run a fecal …etc.
Yes, the other forums mentioned this too, that regardless of the animals the vet should still be able to spot disease. I’m disappointed the vet did not suggest it, but that’s why I’m lucky to have you guys! I’m just waiting for little Gino to do his business, so I can collect some.

>>>>>Can you find powder supplements instead of the liquid? Even if they need imported it's worth it to save the animal.
I have powdered calcium for my German shepherded, would that be fine?… Can you please suggest a couple of brands I can find if they are usable (for humans/mammals…etc)? I think I should be able to find some. Do reptiles have their own powdered brand? I’ve searched through online petstores, but didn’t find it?

>>>> Finally, where I’m from: I am born and raised in Jordan, southwest Asia! Though I am a mix of things (I think my family has a bit of every continent in the world, and we speak everything from Bosnian, English, Spanish German, Arabic and Italian in my home!!! It can get annoying and confusing at times.) Currently I am living here, though I’ve lived a portion of my life in Italy, where I wish I had taken that brave step of owning a lizard that could grow so big… but as is the case in Jordan, after taking a look around I found pet stores lacked a massive amount of reptile supplies. Maybe they’ve improved today, but I wouldn’t know. I’m glad that Jordan has banned the importation of these exotic animals for their own protection (or at least authorities try to prevent it… there are always people smuggling things, such as in Gino's case!), but as result it makes it extremely hard for me as now I cannot find a lot of supplies I need, and shipping from abroad costs an arm and a leg.

But all in all it’s not so bad, and so far Gino is looking better and happier… And though it’s only been a couple of days, I feel positive and greatful that at least YOU ppl take the time to help :) I think I will be traveling to England in a couple of months… there I will try to find more supplies!

PS. HOW on earth did my IP come up as Amsterdam?????

That's great news that it was just stuck and soaks are doing the job.

>>>>You could try some squash baby food if you want to syringe feed him…
Really? How much of this can I give him per day? How many times? You’ve used it, I assume?

Yes I have used it with both my BTS and beardie. Butternut squash has a good cal to phos ratio high fibre and vit a.
(raw squash is part of their staple diet). What you can do it place a small amount on the end of their mouth and they will normally lick it off then just repeat.

This link will give you a break down of foods, it's mainly for bearded dragons, but the principles are the same (of course you can ignore insects and meat).

The solar glo is MVB, it is still quite new on the market, but most I have heard is positive so far. 20cm sounds a bit close though. I'd move it right back to 30-45cm. you may need additional heat then. MVB is arguably better than tubes anyway (higher output, longer lifespan)

As for the temp and humidity measurements, I have found the analogue strips and dials to be miles off and much prefer digital gauges with probes or temp guns. You can find them at some hardware shops.

For the calcium the powdered varieties tend to be safer you can overdose especially with D3. Repcal, Mineral, calypso and nurabol. Sometimes it is worth looking in the bird sections.

oh and as we all forgot
first from Jordon (makes more sense on the laws to the netherlands too)

You'll have to let us know when you are over here and where abouts you'll be and we will try and point you in the best direction for supplies

Wookie pretty much answered you, as for the IP, it could be that your ISP is using a proxy, doesnt actually matter.

Hey guys, once again thanks for your replies and help (and the welcome note ;) ), it really means a lot to me, and am glad to say that things are getting better, here’s some updates, plus a couple of care questions I need to go through!

UPDATES:
1) Skin improvement: After more than a week of daily baths (once or twice with a spot of iodine, but not anyymore) and constant application of Fucicort, about 80% of the old shed has fallen off, I was relieved that the yellowy hard patches were not burns after all or a bacterial/fungal infection, but old shed. However some parts have left behind gray patches, we’ll talk about that in a bit. The swelling under his left jaw is nearly gone, and the black wounds on his broken fingers are completely gone! Ps. He started to like his baths.
2) Still skinny: It’s been about 3 days now that Gino doesn’t touch his food, and appears to look/bite for it only when being handled or after the baths. He’s nipped me twice (unintentionally). So unfortunately I have to resolve to hand/force feeding him. He seems to readily accept fruits, but is reluctant with greens. He did eat a piece of squash from my hand yesterday, though the amounts are possibly not enough, so I followed instructions on a site on how to prepare a blend of pumpkin, collards, ocra…etc into a liquid meal that I can feed him with a syringe… so that it how he’s been getting his nutrition (and of course, still continuing with the calcium supplement).
3) Strength improving, as I’ve noticed while handling him, but still he doesn’t move much inside the terrarium except from moving from corner to corner of the sunning plateau, but won’t venture around the enclosure. When I let him out, however, he is all over the place… I suppose reasons for this is that he’s still weak and the possible MBD, and only runs around when out of the closure do to unfamiliarity with the surroundings rather than curiosity.
4) He pooped again just about 15min ago, and this time there’s more dark, solid bits than it being all white and runny… and a good amount solid bits too. I’ll be taking it to the vet for analysis!

Here’s a picture to show the differences:


Now, unto my questions:

1) Concerning the grey patches: Not all the areas where the old shed has fallen off looks like what you see in the above photo, but many of them left this effect, and I was wondering if that was normal that old shed would leave the bottom skin looking like this? Or would THIS be an infection? Today I’ve decided to stop applying the medication, and slow down with the baths to 3 times a week with the hopes of allowing the skin to heal itself…. Would this be a smart choice?

2) Problem #1: Nighttime Heat.
During the day, when the UVB/A light is on, the sunning zone is between 30-32c and the cool zone in 26-28c. Once I switch off the light the temperature goes down significantly to 24-26c within the entire enclosure. I have a heating pad, but the temperature it gives off is extremely light, something around 24c.

Winter is around the corner, and I am concerned for Gino; are the above nighttime temperatures sufficient? Is the 24c coming from the heat pad enough to keep him healthy at night? Also keeping in mind that the rest of the enclosure’s temperature is colder and that he might not remain on the pad and walk around to a colder corner, then fall asleep there, wouldn’t that be bad for him? I’ve read on a variety of sites that at night Iguanas will be fine even at temperatures below 70F, just so long as they can warm up in the early mornings. But is this true?

If the above temperatures are not sufficient to keep the iguana healthy, I need to find more ways to crank up the heat at night. I found this online: http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/16290/product.web
Has any of you ever used one of these? Are they efficient/reliable? I’m thinking this would be perfect as I would be able to keep the entire enclosure warm with it. I’ve read a lot of people use the ceramic heating bulb, but to be honest that one worries me a lot, what with all the fire-hazard warnings that come along with it… I’d rather look for alternate means before I decide on ordering one of those.

3) I’ve prepared a mushy blend of pumpkin, collard greens, ocra, green beans, escarole and a little bit of spinach and Rock. This is what I hand-feed him according to a site… however Today I’ve come across sites that say that bananas, spinach and rock are bad for iguanas… each websites give a whole lot of different info… so which one do YOU guys follow? Up to this point, I’m impressed with GreenScoiety.org, and their care sheets.

And my last question: I’ve had to prepare and freeze some of the mentioned foods important to iguanas as some greens are not available here around the year, so I started wondering about canned food… such as mango for example… would that be harmful to an iguana?

Geeeeeezzz…. That’s a long post. :p
~Nat

he is looking so much better, that is great.

1.
The grey patches could be dead skin or just where the new skin has not developed properly stuck under the old shed. Hopefully it should improve over the next few sheds (you will have to keep a close eye when he does shed that these areas go properly).

2.
I prefer the CHEs (ceramic heat emitters) to the heat mats and cable. Just like a basking lamp, but without the light. you can get different watt ages and put them on thermostats or dimmers. I would go lower than 70, the lower you let it go the more risk there is and especially as he is still recovering you don't want him to pick up an RI. I'd aim for 75F

3.
banana has a high amount of phosphorus which blocks the processing of calcium. So can cause calcium deficiencies if you feed it a lot
Beans tend to be higher in Oxalates which again bind calcium.
Spinach is very high in oxalates and has goitrogens which cause thyroid issues.

Did you look at the site I linked? that gives a break down of the foods and what is good/ bad about them.
I always keep this link to hand to check stuff for my herps http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.c ... ition.html
has a good explanation of what to look for and what to avoid too

With canned food you have to be careful as to what it is canned in. Lots of syrups are not good and high in sugars. You can chop and freeze blocks of food yourself if you do it properly.