Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Our iguana is dying and i don't know why. He is roughly 5 years old and has always been healthy up to now. His light ,heat,humidity and cage location have not changed but about two weeks ago he stopped eating. His rear leg began to twitch occasionally and he became increasingly lethargic. My wife gave his glass cage a good cleaning. I was sure he would expire soon and consulted the forums. Based on what I read I began to feed him baby food (he's always been a herbivore so i chose mixed green vegetables and carrots) with a dropper. I added a little sugar and also minute amounts of an oxymicillan tablet.
He began to respond and move around somewhat.
After three days of this he had a bowel movement (alot! very dry) and my son and I thought we were making real progress. However for the last five days he appears to be in a slow decline. We have continued to feed approximately 1-2 ounces of baby food daily by dropper but he hardly moves at all. We have continued to replenish his food bowl with his longtime favorites like cabbage,carrots,romaine and broccoli but he has never touched them. His skin is normal color but his head appears a little pale and his tail is very brown. I have discontinued the omoxycillyn after 4 days and also the added sugar. He will move his body and legs when picked up or after feeding but not much at all. My son tells me he has lost considerable weight and his skin is sagging. The twitching has stopped. Any advice is appreciated,
Thanks,mike

Hi, I would recommend to take him to the vet for a check up... you can go to herpvetconnection, to find a good one in your area. the visit shouldn't cost that much.

First, I would recommend to give him a bath, it sometimes stimulates their hunger and they should poop in the water (it relaxes their muscles)
Hope he feels better!
Nicole

However I would not recommend surgery, my vet told us we needed a $300.00 surgery for our lizzy when he had an abcess in his lower jaw, and since I couldn't afford it that visit we made another appointment and he told me to start on the antibiotic (not human/ they are not humans!) and then the abcess came out all on its own in a few days, he didn't even need the surgery, so if your vet tells you that check with other vets or even this sight.
k, bye

Please get him to a qualifed vet ASAP. You mentioned lighting,
does he have a UVB light? Along with the favorite foods you
mentioned, does he get greens like mustard, turnip, etc?

What you are describing with the twitching can be Metabolic
Bone Disease. Also, he could be going into kidney failure.

The only one who can help him right now is a vet. He is
suffering so act quickly.

Keep us updated
Linda

This sounds like a metabolic bone disorder case.

Cindy

What you're currently feeding the iguana is actually bad for them, despite being good for people!

An iguana diet should contain an orange fleshed squash (steamed and shredded), mustard greens, collard greens, shredded parsnip, and alfalfa, minimum. It can allso be supplemented with small amounts of fruits, but these have alot of sugar, and not alot of nutritional value otherwise.

I also add watercress (a favorite), parsley, cilantro, beans on ocassion, and the odd zucchini slice.

This should be 'dusted' with a phosphorus free calcium supplement, as the foods you're currently feeding bind to their calcium content and make it unabsorbable.

Take the ig to the vet, and consider making a 'slurry' of these good greens and veggies (and the calcium supplement), and syringe (no needle!) feeding this instead of babyfood, which probably has alot of animal proteins in it (good for us, not for the Ig). It should help immensly, as would a good exotics vet.

Good luck!