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I came across a 6 foot iguana with 2 severed toes that were just dangling off his foot. The owners gave him to me cause they didnt want to do anything to help him. So i took him home, and I took him to the vet the next day and he had to have his foot amputated , It's a pain in the butt trying to change his bandages twice a day. I'm starting to look as bloody as he is. I'v never owned a iguana before so i need a bit of advice , he is realy skinny (Only 7.6 pounds) The vet said he sould be weighing about 11 pounds. I cant get him to eat anything. The old owners, so i was told , Fed him Spegetti and genral Human food. If he's going to survive he needs to start eating , I'v tryed 6 diffrent kinds of Greens , Apples , carrots , tomatos , Anyone have a picky Human food eater that has went back to eating regular iguana food ? How did you do it ? I need to end this cause i'm geting blood on the keyboard , He got me good with his claws when i tryed to take him out of the window , He likes the window.
Any advice will help. Thanks in advance.
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Seth Mason.
Do lesbian frogs think they taste like chicken too ?

Your efforts are admirable. I can only imagine what you have spent on a vet in an effort to save this animal.

Hopefully others will provide some experience or insight that may avoid my suggestion. But my recommendation will certainly see to it that the animal is receiving some beneficial nutrition.
I am referring to using syringe force-feeding. You should be able to obtain a large bore syringe from your vet. Your vet also may be able to supply you with a dry feed (that is combined with water) which is formulated specifically for convalescing herbivores. If not, you can make a puree of ig salad (healthy greens, dandelion, mustard and so on) while also adding any other necessary supplements.

The method I used successfully was to wrap the animal in a towel, ideally with its legs parallel to body, then using a hold similar to a football hold ( you will be holding the animal facing forward. It's back will be in your chest. Your forearm will be supporting the animals torso, your hand directly beneath it's head.)With thumb and forefinger use steady pressure on the ig's dewlap, or, upon either side of the mandible. The goal of course is to get the animal to open its mouth enough to dispense the food-paste via syringe.

I wish the both of you well.

Regards,

Don M.

Well ,i'm doing my best, I keep burms, boas and retic's. But this is all going to be new.
It's not a bad thing
Let's see , just to let you know , It was 200 for the blood work and testing , 30 for the amputation , 30 for the visit , 90 for the medication , 800 for a new cage and stand about 30 bucks at lowes for lights and fixtures , about 150 bucks for timers and a hmidifer and a drip water system. About 60 bucks at the pet store for substrate , calcium and vitimen's Thermomiters , bowls , food dishes , and about 40 bucks at kroger for food , power strips , extention cords , cord holders and ect. ect.
A grand total of $1,427.18.
And that doesnt count the 40 bucks i paid for the other one they had , just to get it out of there care , i still need to take him to the vet , he wasnt an emergency case so , he will wait till next week.
I guess the Granet and Albino granet Burm pair i was going to get is going to have to wait.
But if you seen the way these people were keeping these lizards , it would just make you cry , there Cage was a chicken wire and plywood wall making a box with one wall and the floor , one lamp with a 75 watt-cool light-light bulb. And a heat rock that wouldnt be big enough for a baby iguana.
It was infested with flys and maggots , In there food , on there bodys , some old limbs that looked like they tore them off the tree in there back yard and just threw them in there.
I had to do something.
Thanks for the advice Don , If it comes to it , i will use that.
I put him out in the front lawn this morning , and he was eating the grass , i threw some mustard greens and turnip greens in front of him and he ate two pieces of it when he was trying to eat a dandylion leaf. So maybe he just needs some time to set in , if he doesnt eat something in his food bowl by friday , i will try force feeding him.

>>Your efforts are admirable. I can only imagine what you have spent on a vet in an effort to save this animal.
>>
>>Hopefully others will provide some experience or insight that may avoid my suggestion. But my recommendation will certainly see to it that the animal is receiving some beneficial nutrition.
>>I am referring to using syringe force-feeding. You should be able to obtain a large bore syringe from your vet. Your vet also may be able to supply you with a dry feed (that is combined with water) which is formulated specifically for convalescing herbivores. If not, you can make a puree of ig salad (healthy greens, dandelion, mustard and so on) while also adding any other necessary supplements.
>>
>>The method I used successfully was to wrap the animal in a towel, ideally with its legs parallel to body, then using a hold similar to a football hold ( you will be holding the animal facing forward. It's back will be in your chest. Your forearm will be supporting the animals torso, your hand directly beneath it's head.)With thumb and forefinger use steady pressure on the ig's dewlap, or, upon either side of the mandible. The goal of course is to get the animal to open its mouth enough to dispense the food-paste via syringe.
>>
>>I wish the both of you well.
>>
>>Regards,
>>
>>Don M.
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Seth Mason.
Do lesbian frogs think they taste like chicken too ?

kudos on the new ig! im sure he will recover soon in no time. 200 for bloodwork, ouch. it was $48 for bloodwork from my (rescued) ig. but he seems in good hands so ill say good luck

btw, make the salad into an applesauce like consistency.

Sarah

It was the only Vet i could find that would take him the next morning without charging me for an emergency call. And that wasnt for just the blood work , that was for all the rest of the testing as well , Tissue , blood , stool , Some kind of white blood cell count and some other stuff , there was 8 or 9 tests they were going to run. I cant find the Quote they gave me , But it all added to 200 bucks even and some change. Then $121.73 for the Exam , FORTAZ 5 doses , Syringe's, Predrawn RX time , Nolvassan Solution , Silvadene , And the amputation.
I know it was a bit expencive , but i didnt want to wait any longer than i had to.

>>kudos on the new ig! im sure he will recover soon in no time. 200 for bloodwork, ouch. it was $48 for bloodwork from my (rescued) ig. but he seems in good hands so ill say good luck
>>
>>
>>btw, make the salad into an applesauce like consistency.
>>
>>Sarah
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Seth Mason.
Do lesbian frogs think they taste like chicken too ?

I don't know If He's a Biter But When I rescued My little one, He wouldn't eat either and Was (Still is) a Nasty little Bugger! So Everytime He opened His mouth to bite Me, I shoved a Leaf in His mouth. After a couple weeks of this, He started eatting on His own and Has doubled in weight since. I Don't know if this'll work for you or not.... It's the best I can come up with...... Sorry.....

I greatly admire what You've done for this critter. I only wish there were more people like you. Keep Us updated on This Guy and If You have anymore questions, Don't be shy.
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2 Iguanas, 3 Beardies, 1 Saharan/Nigerian Uromastyx, 1 Leo, 1 African Fat Tail, 1 Columbian Rainbow Boa, 1 Fla Garter Snake, 1 Banded California King Snake, 1 Corn Snake, 3 Fire Belly Toads, 1 Eastern Painted Turtle, 1 African Sideneck, 2 Horses, 4 cats, 1 dog, and I'm still not done.....

Honestly , He's wonderfull , He's dog tame , he just likes to try to walk out of your hands , and when you try to stop him , his nails just cut like a knife. I'm going to have to clip them.
He ate some grass and danylion leafs today , so hopefully he will start eating soon.
I'm just a reptile lover. I cant stand , and sometimes beleve how people keep there animals. I took some pictures of these guys and i'm going to post them , they have great colors , and are verry tame.

>>I don't know If He's a Biter But When I rescued My little one, He wouldn't eat either and Was (Still is) a Nasty little Bugger! So Everytime He opened His mouth to bite Me, I shoved a Leaf in His mouth. After a couple weeks of this, He started eatting on His own and Has doubled in weight since. I Don't know if this'll work for you or not.... It's the best I can come up with...... Sorry.....
>>
>>I greatly admire what You've done for this critter. I only wish there were more people like you. Keep Us updated on This Guy and If You have anymore questions, Don't be shy.
>>-----
>>2 Iguanas, 3 Beardies, 1 Saharan/Nigerian Uromastyx, 1 Leo, 1 African Fat Tail, 1 Columbian Rainbow Boa, 1 Fla Garter Snake, 1 Banded California King Snake, 1 Corn Snake, 3 Fire Belly Toads, 1 Eastern Painted Turtle, 1 African Sideneck, 2 Horses, 4 cats, 1 dog, and I'm still not done.....
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Seth Mason.
Do lesbian frogs think they taste like chicken too ?

I was so happy reading your post. You'll find a lot of rescuers here, including me! WOW he looks good for being in such bad conditions.

I didn't see anyone post it, so I'll tell you Melissa Kaplan's website: http://www.anapsid.org. It saved my ig's life. Her book, Iguanas for Dummies, is great, and I just got around to buying a copy of The Ultimate Green Iguana Owner's Manual by James Hatfield III. It's really long and all-encompassing. Very useful.

I feed the diet on Melissa's page, which works for me, but if he absolutely refuses a diet of greens, fruits, and veggies, try mixing it with human food (but NO animal protein), and decreasing the amount of human food until it's all ig food. My iguana will run down my arm and steal bread out of my hand if I try to eat it when he's on my shoulder... that seems to be the least terrible of human foods, especially when it's soaked in water or medicine. Bananas seem to be a favorite around here, too.

The website and both books have excellent sections on nail-clipping. I use a bird claw clipper, and it works very well.

-Erin

hehe WONDERFUL thing you are doing here. Before you try to force feed him have your vet show u hot to do it. their windpipe is attached to their tongue and its VERY easy to smuther them and kill them.
Also remember that they will becme more active abfd agressive as they get healthy. That tame weak ig you are holding now may be a 6 foot 15 pound devil before long. Time in the right UVB and heat will do wonders. i would watch him in the yard. Most grasses arent good for them according to my vet BUT they can have the dandilion as long as it hasnt been treated with any chems
Good Luck and congrats on ur new baby

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Heather, Vern, Andy, Router, April And OODLES of fish

Pic's.
>>I came across a 6 foot iguana with 2 severed toes that were just dangling off his foot. The owners gave him to me cause they didnt want to do anything to help him. So i took him home, and I took him to the vet the next day and he had to have his foot amputated , It's a pain in the butt trying to change his bandages twice a day. I'm starting to look as bloody as he is. I'v never owned a iguana before so i need a bit of advice , he is realy skinny (Only 7.6 pounds) The vet said he sould be weighing about 11 pounds. I cant get him to eat anything. The old owners, so i was told , Fed him Spegetti and genral Human food. If he's going to survive he needs to start eating , I'v tryed 6 diffrent kinds of Greens , Apples , carrots , tomatos , Anyone have a picky Human food eater that has went back to eating regular iguana food ? How did you do it ? I need to end this cause i'm geting blood on the keyboard , He got me good with his claws when i tryed to take him out of the window , He likes the window.
>>Any advice will help. Thanks in advance.
>>-----
>>Seth Mason.
>>Do lesbian frogs think they taste like chicken too ?

Pic's of the rescue Iguana

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Seth Mason.
Do lesbian frogs think they taste like chicken too ?

Just changed his bandages.
I now have a Few more cut's and bruses too.
Heh.
Ya gota love'm though.
Poor guy.

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Seth Mason.
Do lesbian frogs think they taste like chicken too ?

He ate some pizza that i had siting on the table, while i was geitng his new bandages ready. So i took some Greens and rubed the pizza sause on them , But it didnt work , soon as he bit into it he spit it out.
I figured it was a start though , i put a few bits of pizza in with his greens , He only likes the crust and sause. But i figured he might eat some greens while he's eating the pizza. I might try blending a little pizza sause with greens and feed it to him , see if he'll take it that way.
It's going to be hard tomarow , The old lady goes to school at 6am and doesnt get home till about 3pm , so i'm going to have to change his bandages all by myself.
But here he is sleeping it off after the fuss of geting his foot all hurtin again.

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Seth Mason.
Do lesbian frogs think they taste like chicken too ?