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Iguana Emergencies
No matter how hard we try to prevent illness and injury, we cannot predict or prevent every illness or injury that may occur. For this reason it is vital to understand what is considered an emergency so that we may obtain proper veterinary care and treatment as soon as possible. The following is a list of some of the most common emergencies encountered in iguanas. This is only a partial list and if you suspect that your iguana has a serious, or even a minor problem, you should contact your reptile veterinarian right away, DO NOT WAIT. The conditions listed here are EMERGENCIES and require immediate veterinary attention:
- Uncontrolled Bleeding.
- Weakness or depression, unusually slow movement and reflexes alone or associated with any other signs.
- Blood in the stools.
- Runny stools.
- Difficulty breathing, continual open mouth breathing.
- Swelling of any of the limbs or digits.
- Softness of the jaws.
- Bites or traumatic wounds.
- Vomiting (DO NOT WAIT, CONTACT YOUR VETERINARIAN IMMEDIATELY!!!).
- Blisters or open sores on the skin.
- Bubbling of saliva when breathing.
- Foul odor or swelling of the lips or mouth tissues.
- Eye injuries.
- Bleeding toes.
All of these symptoms are emergencies because iguanas have the ability to hide illness very well as a type of defense in the wild so when you do see any of these signs the illness or injury has been there for a while and is probably already well progressed.
Catching illnesses early is the key to a successful treatment.
