Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Yesterday, I went to someones house to take a look at their iguana, ziggy, for them. They said he had mites and they couldn’t get rid of them so I said I would take a look and give them my advice. To set the seen, these are highly animal people, owning about 30 birds, hamsters, rat, chinchilla and rabbits. They also have a leopard gecko,in great shape, and they used to have another iguana, that died a little bit ago. I had no idea how old the ig was or really anything about it. When I got there(honestly I always fear the worst when it comes to the way ppl keep igs) I was actually quite surprised. He is just a little hatchling in about a 15-20 gallon tank. It was set up alright(comparatively speaking) but it was way too hot(about 115F) and the humidity was only about 40%. He didn’t look too bad except that he was sitting on the ground. I reached in and picked him up and immediately noticed how thin he was. His tummy was fairly full but his hip bones were sticking completely out, he had no fat in his tail, and no muscle in his legs. He had dry skin all over him and blackened skin from the mites… I soon noticed it gets worse…a lot…all of his toes are dried up, either from mites or from the shed skin that’s dried and cutting off circulation. 4 of his toes are actually breaking off so that you can see the skin and tissue connecting his toes. So, I soaked him in warm water and then I could see even more problems. His “armpits” and where his legs directly connect with his body the skin(not shed skin with healthy skin under is coming off) its like his skin is just a hardened shell over top of his body. You can see pinkish white tissue under his skin. This is the worst animal I have ever seen, I didn’t see any live mites on him or in his enclosure but he had red dots that weren’t moving. She has been treating him and his enclosure with mite killer(I cant remember the name of it, it was liquid drops in a yellow bottle)they had the perfect food for him, he just wasn’t eating, I suppose from the mites. I didn’t plan on taking him but they asked me if I would. I really don’t think I will be able to get him to live, but I promised him back if I did. He isn’t completely lethargic tho, he will whip at me and gape his mouth at me so he still has some life in him. I really don’t kno what to do. I have him set up with food and water and everything he needs and I plan to soak him several times(is every 1-2 hours too often). I kno you all will say he needs to go to a vet, which I realize but there are none around here and he was kind of just thrown on me and I am out of a job right now. With all of my other herps I don’t have any money to take him(I kno, that’s pretty pathetic).any advice to what I should do, and what otc meds I could use for his skin would help a lot. Thank you everyone soo much. Btw, I don’t own a computer so I don’t know how often I can check this, so , if you ask any questions, sorry for the delay in a response. Thanks again. ~icy
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1.1.0 bearded dragon
0.0.1 green iguana
0.0.1 emperor scorpion
1.0.0 knight anole
2.1.0 green anole
0.0.1 golden gecko
0.0.1 skink
1.0.0 american toad
0.0.5 oriental firebellied toad
0.0.1 green treefrog
0.0.1 asian longtail grass lizard
0.1.0 rat snake
0.1.0 eastern kingsnake

despite everything i tried and did, he didnt make it. i got rid of his mites tho, too bad i couldnt have gotten too him when that was all that was wrong.
thanks
~icy
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1.1.0 bearded dragon
0.0.1 green iguana
0.0.1 emperor scorpion
1.0.0 knight anole
2.1.0 green anole
0.0.1 golden gecko
0.0.1 skink
1.0.0 american toad
0.0.5 oriental firebellied toad
0.0.1 green treefrog
0.0.1 asian longtail grass lizard
0.1.0 rat snake
0.1.0 eastern kingsnake