Retained Eggs in Female Iguana-Near Death Experience!

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Posted by Donna on December 09, 1998 at 23:50:29:

Just felt the need to let everyone know about my recent experience (one week ago) when I had to take my iguana, Jewel, to the vet to have surgery to remove 45 retained eggs from her. I first started noticing some behavior changes in her about a month and a half ago, she became very restless, and was constantly getting down from the top of her cage (condo is more like it, no doors on it either!) and going to the sliding glass door and trying to get out. She had never done this before. Her color got very orange on her spikes and legs and almost red. It appeared that she had swollen front legs and began to lose her appetite. I took her to a vet who suggested she had some kind of infection, took a blood sample, put her on antibiotics and sent her home. She got steadily worse, and finally, I took her to Dr. Rossi, who is a herptologist, with a PhD in Zoology. He told me that she was in serious trouble and needed surgery to remove some retained post-ovulatory eggs. She had surgery the next morning and he removed approx 40 eggs which weighed 12 oz's! I also had her spayed. She is now one week post-op and seems to be doing well, although she is very skinny. But it all started with a change in behavior. Seems retained eggs are a common and often fatal problem with female iguanas. I had read briefly about it, but I was under the mistaken impression that I had a male iguana, so I never really got too involved in learning about it. I've since become very educated about this and could answer any questions, or confer with Dr. Rossi for answers.

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a good reminder why we need to go to a HERP vet! GLAD TO HEAR SHE'S OK!!!nm iZ + mom 12/11/98 (0)

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: Just felt the need to let everyone know about my recent experience (one week ago) when I had to take my iguana, Jewel, to the vet to have surgery to remove 45 retained eggs from her. I first started noticing some behavior changes in her about a month and a half ago, she became very restless, and was constantly getting down from the top of her cage (condo is more like it, no doors on it either!) and going to the sliding glass door and trying to get out. She had never done this before. Her color got very orange on her spikes and legs and almost red. It appeared that she had swollen front legs and began to lose her appetite. I took her to a vet who suggested she had some kind of infection, took a blood sample, put her on antibiotics and sent her home. She got steadily worse, and finally, I took her to Dr. Rossi, who is a herptologist, with a PhD in Zoology. He told me that she was in serious trouble and needed surgery to remove some retained post-ovulatory eggs. She had surgery the next morning and he removed approx 40 eggs which weighed 12 oz's! I also had her spayed. She is now one week post-op and seems to be doing well, although she is very skinny. But it all started with a change in behavior. Seems retained eggs are a common and often fatal problem with female iguanas. I had read briefly about it, but I was under the mistaken impression that I had a male iguana, so I never really got too involved in learning about it. I've since become very educated about this and could answer any questions, or confer with Dr. Rossi for answers.

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