Interesting info on neutering Iguanas

[NicoleRussell]

From the desk of BobMac:

"Lets type set MOST* aggressive behavior in males in three
categories; hormonal, unsocialized, unsocialized-human abuse. The
later two are relatively easy to overcome with time, as little as a
few months, some taking years.

*There are many other less defined reasons for aggressive behavior.
As an example, a case of severe aggression in a male iguana that had
to be euthanized. After having a necropsy done it was found that this
poor fellow had severe liver damage that could have been quite
painful, and therefore may well have been the reason for his behavior.

For the most part I have had tremendous successes with unsocialized
and abused creatures. Some of them turning out to be the biggest
cuddle bugs imaginable.

Male hormonal aggression is a completely different story. Let me
quote Dominick's amazing story.

"For 8 long months
the demons possessed our Iguana. He turned vicious, dangerous and
downright nasty. He had to be secured in his cage and could never be
let out. He would attack us through the cage as we would simply walk
by. He cut up his nose, knocked out teeth, broke toes. It was
horrible! Oddly enough, during this time, my 5 year old son was the
only one in the house who could hold him. It was amazing; Rex never
once tried to harm him. The rest of us were just sitting ducks for
his attacks. I was desperate for a solution. My wife refused to
entertain the thought of getting rid of him. We endured.
Then, one day, like a hurricane passing over, he was back! The
demons all left him and he reverted back to his sweet, cuddly old
self again."

This kind of turn a round is relatively rare yet happens. I have also
seen iguanas that never come out of it. I have also seen males that
will go in and out of it for several years. Usually males that go
through "aggressive season" will mellow with age.

The question comes up of what to do when your sweet boy becomes a
unpredictable monster. I recommend neutering if he becomes a real
danger to himself or the keepers.

While there has been no clinical study to prove that iguanas will
have behavioral changes from this procedure, I have seen enough,
personally and through correspondence, that I believe that *most* all
males will display at least some disposition to the better. Remember
that even though there are many glands that produce hormones (such as
the liver and kidneys) most of the male hormone, testosterone, is
produced by the testes. Eliminating this organ will reduce the amount
of emotionally influential hormone levels.

An aggressive male that has been neutered should be treated the same
as an aggressive male that has not been socialized and was abused. I
add the "abused" because the correlation between hormone imbalance
and abuse is similar in that the mind can't understand the
bewilderment of either of these.

Because many that have had their iguana neutered didn't see an
instantaneous change to a "lap lizard", some sites had written that
there isn't any benefit to doing so. On the other hand I have read on
further sites that after neutering, an aggressive approach should be
used to "retrain" the creature, such as that type used on aggressive
dogs.

Both of these ideas are incorrect, even foolish. I have tried the
aggressive training after neutering and found that the poor creatures
were even more confused then before. And to think that a medical
procedure would relieve an imbalanced emotional problem in it self,
is just as faulty."



If neutering is the direction that one chooses because the owner has
evaluated excessive hormones to be the problem and are in fear for
the animal and them selves, it will take time, love, and patience to
bring that creature back. How much and how long will always depend on
the individual.

It should be noted that the operation is extremely dangerous and
difficult to do. The fact that the testes lie between the adrenal
gland and the renal vein make this an extremely touchy procedure. If
one of the many hermostatic clips used to stop the flow of blood from
larger blood vessels should come loose after the orchidectomy, it
could be fatal.

It should also be noted that in my experience, males seem to recover
slower then females after having being neutered although it is a very
similar procedure and not reason has been given me for my
observations.

So that's my impute.

Best regards,

Bobmac"

Although neutering will lower the abnormal hormone rate in a male
iguana there are other glands that will continue to produce hormones
(as Melissa has posted in her site somewhere). In an extreme case
such as Pat Dog, enough hormones are still produced to return him to
the bright orange color you can see in the pictures. This took about
a year after the neutering to happen.

He did turn green for about 6 months after the neuter. This was the
only time he was green out of the almost 4 years we have had him. He
was about 4 years old when we got him and he was BRIGHT orange then.

Although Pat does no longer injure himself due to this imbalance, he
is still an ornery iguana. Last spring Melissa and I were having a
friendly discussion on antibiotics. I was under the weather due to
meds I was on. Taking the Dog to the bath, he snapped at my face and
caught a piece of me. This was well over 6 months after his neuter
and just starting to turn orange again.

Two weeks ago he got me again (see new file up-loaded only if you
have a strong stomach). I made the mistake of repairing his habitat
while he was still in there. He is VERY possessive of his territory.
This is extremely interesting since he was neutered. He will stay in
his habitat all day long with the door open and will only on occasion
leave for a walk a bout.

He will completely ignore some customers (mostly woman) and puff and
bob at some (mostly males). He will always give a show for me. He has
his own room with a window to the waiting room.

I have had almost a hundred igs through my doors over the years and
with out a doubt Pat Dog has the most personality. It is obvious he
is comfortable and happy. (As I write, he sleeps on Darry's pillow as
he does every night). On occasion he will come out and sit on my lap
(when we are closed) and purr. Other times he will come in and chew
on my shoe.

I guess the short of it is simply that "one size never fits all" with
theses creatures.

Best to all,

Bobmac