We have a bit of an emergency, and I am very hopeful that you can help us (or more importantly, our new charges!). Tonight, I was informed of three young adult iguanas in great need. My family used to do a lot of rescuing and fostering for various animals and shelters, we own rescued herps/reps and inverts (as well as dogs, ferrets, rats, etc). We have snakes, we have tortoises, and we have big enough hearts, homes, and sense of responsibility to do so appropriately. We have made a bit of an impact with the people we know as being animal lovers and good pet owners, and the willingness and wallet for "exotics" in need.
Today we picked up the three iguanas. The story is tragic and infuriating. I will happily relay to you all the full story if you are interested. The truncated version is there are three beautiful lizards that are very nearly dead. They are starved (seriously), dehydrated, and seem to be riddled with infection and rot (?). I was expecting bad, but this is WAY OVER OUR HEADS and capabilities. I have these three (which were kept in a 20 gallon net cage together with no substrate or anything) in glass tanks for now, separated. The two smaller in smaller tanks and the larger in a larger one, but all tanks far too small for these guys. Well, I say guys, but there are two males and one female. I have them set up for now, and it is a MILLION TIMES better than they were, but it is not suitable for any sense of long term. They are drinking and have appropriate iguana food offered, and I have them on compressed "bed a beast" style coconut substrate (mock peat moss). I have filtered water with reptile electrolytes added. They are in our laundry room now with a UV heat light and heater, with misting to keep good humidity. It is 2am, and we have been going for hours just getting these kiddos setup in an acceptable way for the night.
The two smaller (younger) lizards are one male, one female. The female seems to be the most "alive" of the three. The other small one (male) seems to be rotting. He has a HUGE abscess looking thing on one cheek, and what looks like scale rot/mildew of somesort all down his body. The tip of his tail looks like it may fall off. He is obviously miserable. When I went to pick them up, I seriously thought that he was dead. Totally listless. Now he has perked WAY up (just as feisty as his sister/girlfriend when I tried to move him... which was a good sign I guess! He whacked me good with his tail, but settled down nice once I had him securely in arms... he never did try to bite).
These two have not been handled. Even still, I was able to manipulate and move them. They were fearful and the male threw some really well-meaning threat displays, but neither tried to actually bite me. I feel like they could be great pets if they become healthy and handled. As it is now, I intend to give them no extra stress, and now that they are in tanks elect to leave them be spare cleaning up knocked over food dish, add water, etc.
The bigger male is a DOLL. A serious doll. He was someone's pet at some point. He acts like a cat, arching himself into a hand, and closing his eyes. He is emaciated. His mouth seems stuck open. He lays his mouth in his water dish to the side and just lays there... and then lifts up slowly to try and swallow. He cannot stand up at all, too weak. He is blue and DRY as chalk. His eyes seem deflated. I have him in a larger tank as he is larger; my guess is 5-ish as for age, but that is just an educated guess. Honestly, he seems worse than the other two. Like, may not have an alive lizard in the morning bad...
No idea about parasites or anything. They have never been vetted. They have not been handled in 2 years. They have lived on iceburg lettuce exclusively for the past 2 years as well.
I need help... Advise. Links. Support.
We are willing to keep the large male. We can pay for his vetting, buy or build a correct cage, etc. My husband has decided that he wants to try, knowing that this guy just may not make it. My husband thinks that we should just commit to this lizard, no matter the outcome/price/etc... as opposed to seeking a rescue to take and use their resources for him, foster him, etc. Really, I think that he just fell in love while he fell to his knees in tears holding this listless and dying lizard that just seemed to be happy being held and pet. It was totally heartbreaking.
We DESPERATELY need help for the younger two. Again, this is way over our heads... I was expecting to pick up three baby iguanas in need, not three adult iguanas that are dying. I do not have the ability to house all of these kiddos the right way. If not for Google, I would be even more worthless than I already feel... My stepfather had iguanas while I was growing up, but I was only a passive participant, and those were never rescues (he was a back yard breeder of exotics and birds). The other iguanas that I have been around have all been large adults in healthy and spoiled condition, or tiny "PetCo-ish" babies. I really just don't know what to do, and these lizards really need help! We need to find a rescue or specialist, foster home, something!
We are in Portland (Oregon), but can drive elsewhere.
This is what they were in, and have been for the past year or two
We have set them up in tanks for the night, just to get them seperated and hydrated...
