One of the Petco Iguana's hemipenes fell off...

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Posted by Diana on March 13, 2001 at 23:37:09:

I *thought* that's what it was when it happened the other day, but I wasn't sure. Luckily, I had the pressence of mind to save it in the freezer to show to the vet today.
At first, I had no idea what it was. It appeared to be a gland of some sort, so I got on the Internet and poked around until I found a drawing of the hemipenes on Melissa Kaplans site. Sure enough--even from the drawing I could tell that that's what it was. He passed it while going to the bathroom in the tub a few days ago. This afternoon the vet confirmed that it was in fact, the Petco Iguana's left hemipenis. Poor little guy. Now he's only have the man he once was...
Even while he was still living at Petco, I noticed that he had a dark black scab thing coming out of his vent. I though it was just a wound of some sort that would eventually go away, or even some dried fecal-matter. But after I adopted him and began soaking him in the bath tub every day, it softened up a bit, but never seemed to heal. Then out of the blue it came out of his vent all the way and was completely detatched from his body. I caught it as it was starting to go down the drain. I scratched my head and wondered what the heck it was. Had never seen anything like it before. Has anyone heard of this happening before?
According the the literature I have researched on this subject of losing a hemipene, it is usually caused when the iguana is kept on a substrate (at Petco, he was kept on poopy repti-bark 24/7). Apparently, sometimes the hemipene comes out and since it is sticky, it can get a piece of substrate stuck to it. Then when the iguana tries to retract the hemipene, he can't due to the foreign matter stuck to it. This opens up many possibilities for infection, swelling, and eventually, the necessity of amputation of the hemipene. In "Petco's" case, (we're still trying to think of a permanent name for him) his just fell off!

I had the vet probe around a bit to look for possible swelling, or infection, but she said that he looks fine and could see no problems from it. So I guess for now, he's fine--just missing a "member". At least he gets another chance since he had two! All men should be so lucky. Remember the John Bobbit case?

I'm still just so glad we got him out of the pet store, and into my home where I can spoil him to death, see that he eats well, and take him to the vet regularly. He is the best behaved iguana I have ever heard about--and I've done a lot of reading about many iguanas! He's such a sweet heart, and has fast become my little buddy. His latest favorite thing to do is to go on errands with me. He loves car rides! (Yes, I make sure not to leave him unattended. The errands are like going through the drive through of the bank, to get gas, etc. I would never leave him in my car while I went shopping or anything like that.)
Anyway, I just thought I'd ask if any of you have had a similar experience, or have heard of this before.

Diana, "Habib", and "Half The Man He Used To Be"

Follow Ups:

Re: One of the Petco Iguana's hemipenes fell off... Lexi 03/15/01 (0)
Re: One of the Petco Iguana's hemipenes fell off... equanah 03/14/01 (0)
Re: One of the Petco Iguana's hemipenes fell off... equanah 03/14/01 (0)
ugggghhh xta 03/14/01 (0)
sorry to hear about Petco's loss... (more) Kimberley 03/14/01 (0)

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: I *thought* that's what it was when it happened the other day, but I wasn't sure. Luckily, I had the pressence of mind to save it in the freezer to show to the vet today. : At first, I had no idea what it was. It appeared to be a gland of some sort, so I got on the Internet and poked around until I found a drawing of the hemipenes on Melissa Kaplans site. Sure enough--even from the drawing I could tell that that's what it was. He passed it while going to the bathroom in the tub a few days ago. This afternoon the vet confirmed that it was in fact, the Petco Iguana's left hemipenis. Poor little guy. Now he's only have the man he once was... : Even while he was still living at Petco, I noticed that he had a dark black scab thing coming out of his vent. I though it was just a wound of some sort that would eventually go away, or even some dried fecal-matter. But after I adopted him and began soaking him in the bath tub every day, it softened up a bit, but never seemed to heal. Then out of the blue it came out of his vent all the way and was completely detatched from his body. I caught it as it was starting to go down the drain. I scratched my head and wondered what the heck it was. Had never seen anything like it before. Has anyone heard of this happening before? : According the the literature I have researched on this subject of losing a hemipene, it is usually caused when the iguana is kept on a substrate (at Petco, he was kept on poopy repti-bark 24/7). Apparently, sometimes the hemipene comes out and since it is sticky, it can get a piece of substrate stuck to it. Then when the iguana tries to retract the hemipene, he can't due to the foreign matter stuck to it. This opens up many possibilities for infection, swelling, and eventually, the necessity of amputation of the hemipene. In "Petco's" case, (we're still trying to think of a permanent name for him) his just fell off! : I had the vet probe around a bit to look for possible swelling, or infection, but she said that he looks fine and could see no problems from it. So I guess for now, he's fine--just missing a "member". At least he gets another chance since he had two! All men should be so lucky. Remember the John Bobbit case? : I'm still just so glad we got him out of the pet store, and into my home where I can spoil him to death, see that he eats well, and take him to the vet regularly. He is the best behaved iguana I have ever heard about--and I've done a lot of reading about many iguanas! He's such a sweet heart, and has fast become my little buddy. His latest favorite thing to do is to go on errands with me. He loves car rides! (Yes, I make sure not to leave him unattended. The errands are like going through the drive through of the bank, to get gas, etc. I would never leave him in my car while I went shopping or anything like that.) : Anyway, I just thought I'd ask if any of you have had a similar experience, or have heard of this before. : Diana, "Habib", and "Half The Man He Used To Be"

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