Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was hoping that I would never have to post a what is wrong with my Ig question, but here goes.

I walked into the room today and Katrina had some blood on her lower jaw. She looked like she was trying to cough something up. I ran and got Iguanas for dummies from the other room to see if anything in the book described this. A minute later I went back into the room and Katrina had coughed up some mustered greens she had just eaten. She is not coughing or having any trouble now. If I see any signs of trouble I am going to take her to the vet.

I have had her for 3 or 4 months and she has gained weight, shed, and everything a healthy iguana does. Her basking spot is about 95 degrees and I poop her in the bathtub daily. I mist her during the day when shedding. She is 4 feet long and 4.5 pounds.

Has anyone ever seen a similar situation? It looks like she may have gotten choked on her food. I am worried about the blood though.

Here she is 2 days ago.

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Ed

The blood could be injury from a fall or rubbing or crashing against the cage or other objects. Could be the tongue too.

However, if it was actually coughing up blood from within, then it could be kidney desease, and if so, take care of it ASAP because it can be terminal.

Have it checked by a vet right away, and keep in mind the kidneys. If it starts losing appetite, it can mean trouble ahead.

The sooner you get it looked at, and if sick, treated, the better. Good luck, hope it's nothing serious.

-IJ

I know this reply comes a bit late perhaps, but I have just read your post. The problem may be resolved by now, but if not here is my take. The important thing to me is to determine if the lizard is simply spitting food out of its mouth due to a painful injury/infection, or if it is in fact regurgitating food from the stomach.

If it is the former case, I would recommend gently grasping the iguana and prying (gently) open its mouth with the long edge of a cotton swab and having a peek inside. If you see any injury or yellow, pus like, almost cheesy looking areas, your lizard is suffering from stomatitis (mouthrot). I have successfully dealt with this in the past by cleaning the affected areas with a cotton swab and topically applying betadine to the areas daily.

If you think the lizard is regurgitating from the stomach, and this happens repeatedly, you may be dealing with a number of things, but I would first suspect coccidia. these are parasitic organisms often associated with regurgitation and many times loose feces as well. This is something you should consult a vet about, and have a fecal exam performed.

Again, I hope that the problem hasn't occured again and that perhaps your pet has only suffered a minor injury which it has dealt with itself. Iguanas have pretty remarkable healing abilities in my experience. I wouldn't worry to much about one sight of blood or an isolated regurgitation to much. I hope that this has helped.

Doug

Thanks for the information guys.

She has only had the issue that one time. Since then I have been watching her very closely. The rest of that day she did not eat anymore. I havent seen any more blood since she coughed that food from her mouth, The next day she did eat and she is eating very well now. Her poop is solid like normal. I have not seen any blood or any type of issue since that one time.

If I see any other issue I am going to take her back to the vet. She was at the vet just 3 months ago and got a clean bill of health.
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Ed

n/p