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[NicoleRussell]

You, Your Iguana, and Your Reptile Veterinarian

PART 1



To be perfectly blunt, do not get an iguana, or any other reptile, if there is no veterinarian trained in reptile medicine, within comfortable driving distance for you. If you do not have immediate access to your own transportation--not public transportation, not friends who drive you when they can fit it into their schedule--do not get an iguana or other reptile. All new iguanas, whether they are hatchlings you bought from a store or expo, or someone else's pet you've taken in, should be seen by a reptile veterinarian. It can take a long time for iguana owners to recognize signs of illness and disease in their lizards. Iguanas, even long-term captives, are still wild animals and will hide, as long as possible, any signs of weakness. Don't bet on your new iguana's life by skipping the veterinarian visit. An initial visit that includes fecal tests and treatment for worms and dehydration should be included as part of the total cost of your iguana. If you can't afford the veterinarian, you can't afford the iguana.

Not All Veterinarians Are Reptile Veterinarians

Human doctors deal with one mammalian species: humans. They deal with essentially four types of humans: males (child, adult) and female (child, adult), but it is still only one species. That's it. They spend years in medical school and doing their residency, go into over $100,000 worth of debt, and what do they get when they get are done: the knowledge to work on one mammalian species.

Veterinarians go through much the same time and training, but instead of one species, they come out being able to treat several mammalian species, from rabbits to racehorses, guinea pigs to goats. The vet schools' curriculum concentrates on farm (work and food) animals, and the most companion animals (dogs, cats, rabbits). They spend relatively little time (it varies, depending on the school, from 1-6 weeks) on "exotics": birds, exotic and local wild mammals legally kept as pets; reptiles and amphibians; fish; arachnids; and more. Needless to say, there isn't enough time in a 1-6 week unit to learn everything about the hundreds, if not thousands, of these species kept as pets or pack animals. If veterinarian students and graduates want to learn more about certain types of animals, there are various avenues open to them.

The problem reptile owners have is how to find a veterinarian who is trained and experienced in reptile medicine. As too many iguana owners have found the hard way, "reptiles" in his signage or phone book listing is no guarantee that the veterinarian actually is trained and experienced. By the same token, many veterinarians who are great with reptiles make no mention of it in their signage or listings. To find a reptile veterinarian, please check with the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV).

Why Iguanas Need Good Veterinarians

Pet trade iguanas are always highly stressed, usually dehydrated, have high levels of internal parasites, and sometimes external parasites (reptile mites or ticks). Since they haven't been fed properly, or maintained at proper temperatures, they are also malnourished. When you bring them home, their stress levels increase for several weeks until they start getting used to you and their new home. Getting them treated for dehydration, parasites and any infections will help enable them to better deal with all the new things in their life.

Most people who give away iguanas do so because they haven't, for some time, cared for the iguana properly and don't want or have the time or money to do so. These iguanas suffer from all the same things that the pet store iguanas do, often with the addition of abscesses, injuries, and metabolic bone disease.

Remember
The majority of the reptiles and amphibians sold in the pet trade are wild caught. As more people are getting involved in breeding and reselling imported herps--and not always particularly careful to properly quarantining all newcomers--animals sold by breeders and private parties may be suffering from the effects of stress and transport, as well as communicable and other zoonotic diseases. Farmed iguanas are no exception, given both the filthy, diseased conditions at most farms followed by the inhumane way they are transshipped around the world.

When you get a pet, you are taking on the responsibility for caring completely for an animal who, unlike most human children, will never grow up and become self sufficient. Just as you would take a sick child to the pediatrician or emergency room when the situation demands, so must you take your reptile to the reptile veterinarian. You will also have to find an after-hours veterinary clinic/veterinary emergency clinic that can appropriately treat and stabilize reptiles who are suffering from a traumatic injury or illness until you can see your own veterinarian the next business day.

The Initial Physical Examination

The first thing your veterinarian will do will be to check your iguana out from head to tail-tip. The iguana's nutritional status and hydration will also be checked to see if he is dehydrated or too thin. The inside of his mouth, his eyes, the folds of skin along his neck, each of the limbs and toes and the abdominal cavity...all will be felt carefully to check for lumps, bumps, cuts and breaks. The lumps and bumps found could be related to infections or calcium deficiencies. Be prepared to answer questions about diet, environment, and any possible injuries.

While we're on the subject of questions, be prepared to answer a lot of them. Your veterinarian will want to know where and when you got the iguana, how old he (or she) is purported to be, what you are feeding him (be specific!), how you are housing him, what you are using for heating and lighting, the temperatures and photoperiods. You should also be prepared to describe the iguana's general behavior and any physical problems you have noted:

loose or discolored feces (possible protozoan or parasite infection)
favoring or dragging a limb (a possible break, abscess or joint inflammation)
clicking sounds when breathing or excessive saliva (signs of a respiratory infection)
jerky gait when moving or tremors when at rest (possible calcium or thiamin
deficiency)
abnormal changes in color (stress, illness)
Iguanas should be alert and move with smooth motions, whether they are speeding across the room or checking out a new object. If your iguana spends most of its time sleeping and is relatively non-responsive, then tell the veterinarian this, too; lethargy is a symptom of several disorders.

Basic Tests
The first test to be done is a fecal flotation. This test is used to examine the feces for the presence of worm ova. Worms live out their adult life cycle inside the host animal, releasing their eggs to be deposited wherever the animal defecates. Other animals coming into contact with the feces may eat or tongue-flick the feces, thus ingesting the eggs (referred to as oral-fecal transmission), thus giving the ova a nice place to hatch and set up housekeeping.

The flotation requires a fresh sample of feces--the brown fecal mass, not the clear viscous or white urates. (For more information on this, please read the article, Feces and Urates: The Scoop on the Poop). The veterinarian or veterinary technician mixes the feces in a special solution in the testing container. A microscope slide is placed on top to trap any ova which, being lighter than the solution, will float to the top. The veterinarian or veterinary technician will then look at the slide under a microscope to determine if and what kind of ova there are so that the proper medication can be administered.

Protozoans are another type of organism that can cause illness when present in too high a number. They require a different type of test--and medication--than do the intestinal worms. If your iguana's poop is very smelly and/or reddish and runny, he may have a protozoan infection. Protozoans are not necessarily related to worm problems. Since the feces cannot (hopefully) be smelled through the container that you brought the sample in, you will need to tell the veterinarian about the signs and smell, and ask that he run the flotation. If you see the signs of a protozoan infection after your iguana has been treated for worms, bring another fecal sample to the veterinarian and ask that a direct smear be done.

If your iguana has both worms and protozoan that need to be treated, ask the veterinarian which one should be treated first. Since giving the two different medications at one time can seriously sicken an already weakened iguana, or a very young iguana, the best way to treat them is serially, that is, one at a time. The goal is to get a sick iguana feeling better faster so that they can start eating and drinking normally and acclimating to their new environment.