Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OH gosh i had the scare of my life yesterday. I was gone at a appointment and when i got home Ozzy was not in his cage. He had escaped through a hole in the mesh, that i think the dog chewed, dont think Ozzy could have chewed a hole, could he? Well anyway Ozzy was no where to be found, and the dog had a very guilty look on her face. Well i finally found him behind my entertainment center, and i thought he was dead. He wasnt moving at all. I was a bawling mess, had my brother come up to help me try to get him out, i was mostly afraid of what i might find when i got him out. Well by some miracle, ozzy seems fine, not a scratch on him. Cant say the same for myself. Due to him being so scared, he scratched my arms up pretty good. I have no idea how he got away from the dog, i mean this is a 110 pound Husky/Lab mix, who loves to chase any small critter that moves. Ozzy is a 3 year old, 3ft long male in breeding season i think. Never know maybe he whooped up on the dog lol, or he just ran fast for the entertainment center. So i think im going to have to make some changes around here, for one replace some of the mesh with plexi, im having a hard time keeping my temps and humidity up anyway. Also considering moving him to my room, which i dont really want to do, i moved him to the living room so he could get more interaction. Oh and i was wondering what would the signs of shock be? I mean he seems fine, but just wasnt sure what to look for. He didnt really eat yesterday, but his eating has slacked off anyway cause i think he is in breeding season, still not sure on that one. Anyone that has any clues on that, i posted down a ways about Breeding season questions and havent had any answers yet. Would apreciate any insight you guys might have. Thanks ahead of time. Tami

Samantha got loose one day and both she and my black lab/shepard mix survived. It is likely that the dog was tail whipped.

Your ig could have chewed a hole in the mesh.

In other cases, the dog sustained injuries, especially to tongue and sometimes the iguana was severely injured or killed.

>>Oh and i was wondering what would the signs of shock be?

Pretty much what they'd be in other animals. In iguanas, you may see lethargy and dark skin color, and a disinclination to do anything other than lay still for a period of time after the stressor has been removed. In this case, before you found him, and after he was put back into his enclosure.

>>He didnt really eat yesterday, but his eating has slacked off anyway cause i think he is in breeding season, still not sure on that one.

Have you been to my site, and checked out the articles on the Health, Illness, Injury and Stress page, as well as iguana-specific articles on my Green Iguana page? On the latter, you'll also find my Breeding Season Basics article on igs, with links to relevant articles at my site.

A not uncommon reaction to a severe stress like your boy experienced is that his gut flora and fauna may go nuts, resulting in the need for a vet check to test feces to see if he needs some antimicrobial treatment.

When my goddog, Sidney, comes to visit, my Mikey ends up needing to be on Flagyl (metronidazole) because he is still so stressed around Sid. My vet was amazed at difference between his labs pre-Sidney's last visit, and post-visit tests. He went from having no clinical signs of protozoans or worms to an overabundance of several different species of prots. So, watch (and smell) his poops and urates over the next several days for any signs of change. And, even if there isn't, you might want to take a fresh fecal sample into your vet and ask for a flotation (worms) and direct smear (protozoans) to be done, just to make sure.
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Melissk - PH Meliss
Pet Hobbyist - Green Iguanas
anapsid.org
Iguanas for Dummies

It's funny you should mention Mikey's reaction to your blue tongue skink...My female green iguana Endora totally ignores my two large dogs (I can't SEE you) and has no reaction to my small collection of uromastyx, but is HORRIFIED by Munch, my blue tongue...Munch is never out loose, but his tank is situated near the floor, and sometimes in her wanderings Endora will come eyeball to eyeball with him through the glass and she always blows up, stands on tiptoe and head bobs...I wonder if it's because the skinks look kind of snake-like? (well, okay, like a really, really fat snake)...I don't have any snakes, so don't know how Endora would react to one, but I do think the skinks look more snake-like than a lot of other lizards...Just a thought..

SR

>>I wonder if it's because the skinks look kind of snake-like? (well, okay, like a really, really fat snake)...

That's my thinking, too, as a possibility, either that, or the broad triangular head. Or, given the fact that lizards see into the ultraviolet spectrum, we really don't know what color they perceive that blueberry tongue to be. For all we know, the tongue could be a bright fluorescent pinkish red, signalling DANGER!!!

>>I don't have any snakes, so don't know how Endora would react to one, but I do think the skinks look more snake-like than a lot of other lizards...Just a thought..

Well, Mikey always ignored my ball python, even when I let the ball out for some free-roaming (supervised) exercise (lots of neat things to climb on in the iguana room!).

And my green iguanas pretty much ignored all my snakes (ranging from Burmese pythons 15 ft long to pencil-like hatchling corn snakes). The only time one freaked out at an education event: one voluteer was holding the first several feet of the longest Burmese, and another volunteer was holding Zilla,
and they got too close while I wasn't there, and Zilla decided to make a hasty exit, not having as much trust in the volunteer as he did in me.

When I had a houseful of igs, several would hang out every day, many spending the night in, my snake room. Since they opted to stay in there, rather than my forcing them to be in there, they apparently felt safe enough under the circumstances.

Now, various large snakes are natural predators of green iguanas, so it is understandable that even captive igs would be less than thrilled at being in close proximity to one. But I do think that they learn that snakes behind glass are snakes that can't hurt them, for the most part, and so can adapt to their presence in captivity.

But, obviously, there are exceptions.
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Melissk - PH Meliss
Pet Hobbyist - Green Iguanas
anapsid.org
Iguanas for Dummies