Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi guys,

I took Bud to the vet this week, and he tested positive for Salmonella. I think it is possible that he always had Salmonella, since he was so sick when I adopted him, and he had been housed with seven other iguanas. The vet said it can be hard to test for.

Has anyone else's iguana tested positive for Salmonella? What did you do? Bud is acting healthy, I don't think it's affecting him. And I feel just fine, no stomach problems or anything.

Also, he was finally big enough this year to draw a blood sample without too much difficulty.

Where can I go to compare Bud's results to other iguanas? Anything special I should be looking for? The vet said they "look just fine", but we all know that the "normal" ranges labs give are often based on only the few reptiles they've seen, sick or healthy.

His calcium is 11.9 and his phosphorus is 5.9. I think that is about what it should be, right?

Thanks!!

Most reptiles will test positve one time or another. If he is not sick from this, no treatment is necessary.

You must wash your hands after handling and definately after cleaning the cage. If you wash your hands before eating, all should be fine.

Cindy

Hello, I don't show up here much

The thing about salmonella is that there are so many "species" (serotypes). Of hundreds or thousands of serotypes, only a few are virulent.

You can have the serotype identified, or you can do as Samcin suggested: wash after handling. My green ig doesn't carry samonella (he may have undetectable amounts of samonella that can bloom forth at any time), but I do strict handwashing just to make sure I don't get any of his other gut bugs.

It sounds like you don't trust your vet to interperet the blood values. If so, try to find a vet who specializes in exotics. I don't know where to find a set of normal values, but this is an article about interpereting blood values:
http://www.anapsid.org/labtests.html

Roger