Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a young blue hybrid rock iguana(13 in.)Hes in a glass tank until he gets bigger.He bends his back while leaning on the side of the tank.The strange thing is he has this crease in the middle of his back (As if he was folded in half)His body is flat although he eats fine.I thought he should be more plump.Is this normal or is their something wrong?Does anyone know what im talking about?joe

sounds kinda weird. Any pictures? You know us cyclura addicts are visually orientated

deformation of the spine. Espcially if the bend is mid-way between front and back legs. Not so much if near the base of the tail. If this lizard is constantly doing this he is not comfortable in his cage and this can cause the back to form a permanent convex deformation of the spine. This is very common in young uromastyx and sauromalus when the bones are still soft and growing. I would try a cage arrangement where he cannot do this. Glass enclosures such as aquariums seem to really bring this out.

yup, I have seen this with my little guys, mid torso, front legs, chin on the glass the rest on the ground. If he is otherwise acting 'normal' he is fine. they are flexible when little. I've had one sleep like that. 'greens' do it too.

jf

is this only when he is up against the glass or all the time?

It happens when hes on the glass and his back has a fold line for a little while after.

Generally this means nothing as it's pretty common posture of lizards kept in tanks like you describe..Make sure the heat is high for it to bask and everything should be fine...thanks
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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

Everything should be fine, just make sure it's getting enough calcium and UVB lighting to be sure it's not from the beginings of MBD.