My Experince (Caution: Very Long)

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Posted by Dishy on January 03, 2001 at 12:19:35:

In Reply to: Little iguana in need of help posted by Jon H. on January 02, 2001 at 17:04:03:

As you probably know, the first thing this poor little guy needs is a visit to the vet. The earlier the disease (MBD) is caught, the better the chances of nipping it in the bud. Coolio and Spunky both came to me with very early signs of MBD and after a regimen of liquid calcium and of course proper ig care, they are both very strong and without further signs of disease. Winky (Twinkles) came to me with more advanced signs of MBD, and with her treatment and now proper care, she no longer has any signs of active disease, although she will always have a big curve (hump) on her back. She was also stunted, is missing half her tail and most of her spikes, but she has become one of the strongest little igs I�ve had the pleasure to get to know.

Now, there�s Angelo. He came to me in kinda the same way as the little guy are concerned with. Surprisingly, he had no signs of MBD, but he had other problems. When my neighbor asked me if I would take him, I explained that I really couldn�t but that I�d try to help him place him (I knew the neighbor was not a good iguana caregiver). I fought back tears when I went in to see him. He was obviously very emaciated, his eyes were almost completely sunken in. He didn�t have a shade of green on him anywhere that I would see, he was just so �brown.� He had what appeared to be 2 abscesses protruding from his face, one under an eye, the other under his chin. And his poor little nose too was just so beat up.

I was able to get him to the vet shortly after that first sight, and as it turned out, the beat up nose was a third abscess. The vet lanced all three, and the one on his nose left such a hole, that it almost blended with one of his nostrils and it went thru the roof of his mouth. The other 2 were not as bad, but surely not pleasant. He was on antibiotics for a couple of weeks and daily cleaning of the wounds, and when we went back for a check-up shortly thereafter, he was healing tremendously. Now he is completing his third complete body shed, is finally showing some shades of greens, eats like a little piggy and is extremely strong. Although he still has a hole in his nose that isn�t likely to close, the part that went thru his mouth did, and it�s very difficult to tell that he even had the other abscesses in the first place.

I�m sorry this is SO long, this poor little guy you speak of reminds me of poor Angelo, who I was almost sure was on his death bed when I dropped him off at the vet early that morning, to the point that before I left his office, I signed the forms to approve euthanasia if the doc thought that would be in the best interest of the ig. Fortunately in this case, it had not reached that point, and I hope in your case, it does not either. I wish you and the little guy the best of luck.

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: As you probably know, the first thing this poor little guy needs is a visit to the vet. The earlier the disease (MBD) is caught, the better the chances of nipping it in the bud. Coolio and Spunky both came to me with very early signs of MBD and after a regimen of liquid calcium and of course proper ig care, they are both very strong and without further signs of disease. Winky (Twinkles) came to me with more advanced signs of MBD, and with her treatment and now proper care, she no longer has any signs of active disease, although she will always have a big curve (hump) on her back. She was also stunted, is missing half her tail and most of her spikes, but she has become one of the strongest little igs I�ve had the pleasure to get to know. : Now, there�s Angelo. He came to me in kinda the same way as the little guy are concerned with. Surprisingly, he had no signs of MBD, but he had other problems. When my neighbor asked me if I would take him, I explained that I really couldn�t but that I�d try to help him place him (I knew the neighbor was not a good iguana caregiver). I fought back tears when I went in to see him. He was obviously very emaciated, his eyes were almost completely sunken in. He didn�t have a shade of green on him anywhere that I would see, he was just so �brown.� He had what appeared to be 2 abscesses protruding from his face, one under an eye, the other under his chin. And his poor little nose too was just so beat up. : I was able to get him to the vet shortly after that first sight, and as it turned out, the beat up nose was a third abscess. The vet lanced all three, and the one on his nose left such a hole, that it almost blended with one of his nostrils and it went thru the roof of his mouth. The other 2 were not as bad, but surely not pleasant. He was on antibiotics for a couple of weeks and daily cleaning of the wounds, and when we went back for a check-up shortly thereafter, he was healing tremendously. Now he is completing his third complete body shed, is finally showing some shades of greens, eats like a little piggy and is extremely strong. Although he still has a hole in his nose that isn�t likely to close, the part that went thru his mouth did, and it�s very difficult to tell that he even had the other abscesses in the first place. : I�m sorry this is SO long, this poor little guy you speak of reminds me of poor Angelo, who I was almost sure was on his death bed when I dropped him off at the vet early that morning, to the point that before I left his office, I signed the forms to approve euthanasia if the doc thought that would be in the best interest of the ig. Fortunately in this case, it had not reached that point, and I hope in your case, it does not either. I wish you and the little guy the best of luck.

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