AboutDiane Expertise I am well versed in all aspects of the care and keeping of green iguanas. This includes all husbandry issues pertaining to the Green Iguana. I am not a vet so I cannot answer medical questions, other than ideas for normal supplementation, removing stuck shed, dropped tail and mites and other general health questions
Experience I own 3 green iguanas, two of which are rescues. I've had my Iguanas for 7 years. I own a yahoo group dedicated to raising healthy iguanas. I've rescued and rehabbed several young iguanas and have placed them in wonderful forever homes. I prefer taking in the "hard cases" that need critical care.
Organizations Scales and Tails Exotic Pet Rescue (one of the founding members)
Publications One of the Co Authors of the Book "The Iguana Dens Care and Keeping of Giant Green Iguanas"
Education/Credentials I was a vet tech for a small animal practice for 6 years.
Past/Present clients I own a yahoo group dedicated to raising healthy iguanas.(babyiguana)
I have answered several Iguana questions on the "reptile" forum on here.
Question hi diane, its me again, amy. I have another question for you regaurding Dez. I should start by saying things have been goin wonderful. Now that shes a lil older I have discovered by her femoral pores that shes indeed a girl, which is fine, I guess the name dez can go both ways. Any way we have bonded quite well, she is my new best friend and she trust me and isnt quite so skidish around evry one else either. The question pertains to an unfortunate event that happened yesterday. I have read over and over how improper light placement is so dangerous. So I of course have taken evry measure I can to place it high enough. Something happened and the clamp on the light gave and the light ended up resting directly on the cage. Didnt think much about it at first, just had my hubby put it back and this time reinforce it with some wire. I went to socialize with dez a lil while later and to my dismay she was quite unusually grumpy. I racked my brain to figure why she was so testy. I then found out that durring the 15 or 20 min. before I discovered the light, she had fallen asleep basking in it. My hubby says she had moved just shortly before I had come in the room. I think she may have gotten a minor burn while she was basking. Come to think of it she really didnt react badly to me until I began petting her. She got very aggressive and that is not typical of her behavior. My actual question is, could you tell me how I could help her be more comfy while this heals, and how long should I expect her to be tender skined. I do not notice any particular area that looks burned, I think its just an over all discomfort on her back and neck. The ideas I thought were maybe some vasiline, a bath, possibly leaving her heat emmiter on for a day or two instead of the light untill she heals a little. Are any of these alright, and what ideas can you lend to help her feel more comfortable. I will of course be keeping my hands off her back untill it is not so tender. Thank you sooooo much for any help you can offer, and thankyou again for the help youve offered in the past.
Answer Hi Amy,
Sooo sorry to hear the Dez(Dezadora?) has had an accident..
Don't apply Vaseline to the area you feel are burned...Applying some NEOSPORIN can be done...but the best is Silvadene, which is gotten from a Vet. You may see a burned area form in a few days...it may become discolored. If you see any discoloration in a large area, or if she stops eating, etc then its vital to get her to a vet for antibiotics. Of course if deep burns show up, regardless of how small, again, a vet.
A bath is fine if there are no open areas in her skin. Don't make the water as warm as you normally would. Keep it more in the upper 80s.
Same with the basking temperature...keep it more toward the 88-92 degree area. The heat emitter will actually heat her more than a light bulb will as the heat emitters heat items(such as her) more than the actual air.
When you are holding her, maybe some cool compress...using a sterile saline or would be the best...
watch for any color changes, scale lifting, changes in appetite, activity...
To help keep her from cooling down too much(using the lower basking temps)You may want to add a human heating pad set on LOW(with a towel on top of it)to an area in her cage for her to lay on. When getting a heating pad, be sure its one that doesn't turn off automatically every 2 hours like many of the newer ones do. Some have an "override" that you can stop it from doing so.
As I am sure you know, burns are very serious in reptiles and when they are burned it can take a very long time to heal. As with humans, infection can be a big problem.
If I remember right, Dez was in a 40 gallon tank...with tanks(and any cage) its best to have the heat sources on top the screen lid or ceiling of an enclosure. With the enclosure, wire mesh is placed so that the ig cannot touch the heat source.
With the clamp lights, many times it does not take much for them to let loose, Dez may have jumped at it and caused it to fall....or...an ant may have run across the floor and caused a vibration...meaning...it may have just let loose on its own.
If you need ideas for how to set up the lights, in my WEBSHOTS there are photos of my cages with lighting./heat/etc
Please do let me know how it goes with Dez and give her a chin tickle for me.
