Please help , iguanas hurt himself

[cableguy2003]

Hello people , it seems my iguana has fell of his shelf and when i got back its left a small cut on his brain bump (temporal lobe) its an open wound , but ive cleaned it with just warm water.

It hasnt effected him in the slightest ,hes still climging etc and very active and friendly.

Its not bleeding , just a little red.

Can someone give me some advice on this please ? its 1:30 am here and im worried about him(magnus)

Thanks guys and gals

Dan

[IguanaKing]

Wash his wound with either betadine or hydrogen peroxide (just briefly though, you don't want to soak it in either of these things, a Q-tip should work well for this). He might not have fallen, he might actually be rubbing his face on his cage. Follow the wash with putting a little bit of Neosporin on the wound. Just keep him and his cage clean and he should be just fine. ;D

[prism_wolf]

Igs are not the most graceful of creatures. Zair sometimes decides to just drop off of his shelf.

Iguanaking has good advice. Your ig will be fine with the care instructions given.

[DaZed85]

This is what I do with Jolee with his many scratches and such

Soak the lizard in warmish chest deep water with povidone-iodine mixed in so it has made the water color into a deep medium tea color. Leave in the tub for 15-20 minutes, refreshing the warm water as necessary. Note that if the reptile defecates in the tub, it must be washed out, disinfected and another povidone-iodine soak set up.

At night, put triple antibiotic ointment on the injury. Repeat for a week or until the wound is healing over

[prism_wolf]

Kind of hard to soak an igs brain bump in the tub for that long though...

[cableguy2003]

So theres no need for a vet in this instance then folks ? ive been worried sick all night , hes even slept in my room with me under a basking light instead of on his enclosure.

I wish i could get a pic up of the damage.

But the wound is open enough to see the fatty stuff in his brain bump. Will the skin just grow over and be normal then ? or should i try and close the wound a little with some tape or something ?

Where do i get betadine or hydrogen peroxide from , i live in UK and havent even head of these before, ive heard of benadryl, but dont even know where to get that from.

Thanks guys , you are a really helpful lot. i feel much better now.

P.S if i took him to a vet , is there anything he can do that i cant in this situation , other that stitches ?

Dan

[DaZed85]

Here is a link for you if you can find any at the drugstore, they also have pads that you can wipe on the bump.... I ment to slowly pour over the bump while in the tub duh

froogle.google.com/froogle?q=povidone-iodine&btnG=Search+Froogle&scoring=p

[Tesa]

I didn't realize from the inital post that the wound was so deep. I agree with IguanaKing about the triple antibiotic ointment, but if you can SEE the internal tissue, I would suggest a vet visit just to be on the safe side.
Hard to say when WE can't see the wound, but it sounds pretty scary......

[IguanaKing]

Yes, you probably want to take him to a vet if its deep enough to see internal tissue. Maybe you could post some pics? Also, the basking light that he sleeps under, its not a white light is it?

[cableguy2003]

Hi , gonna leave it a couple of days before i run to a vet, hes very perky and its healing well, started to dry up and scab over. the wound itself is not deep at all , its just surface, its just that its wide. well i may be exxagerating here , i think im just worried.

Hes been out in the garden all day and hes eat some mustard leaves, in himself he is fine.

Ive been to chemsit and got peroxide. bathed it in that. but you cant really see any internal tissue now as its scabbing quite nicely.

The light used to bask under is a 100 watt dark blue reflector , kept at around 33c / 92f

His daytime light is unfiltered sunlight when i take him outside, and in hs viv he has a 4 foot tube and a 2 fot tube (UVB)

Thanks guys

Dan

[IguanaKing]

Dan,

I just had another thought on the situation about what might have caused his injury. Does his habitat have any wire mesh on it that he can get to? Iguanas can easily rub huge holes in their faces and heads on stuff like that, so if he has any of this in his habitat in spots that he can get to, I recommend finding an alternative material.

Sean

[cableguy2003]

i think i found out what it is , seems my other igg has attacked him , well looks like they have had a bit of scrap.

Gonna seperate them , maybe its becuase it coming close to the cold season. They have been fine all summer.

The poor fella aint eating a lot, gonna take some time to get him back to normal me thinks.

There is no wire mesh in my enclosures mate, all glass and wood. except for around the bulbs , there is a little mesh there , but not realy in a position to get at it with such force.

Ive put a butterfly stitch on iggs head and the peroxie has worked wonders. looking good now , ill post some before after pics when i have a chance.

Thanks guys , nice to know there is someone at hand in the community. pitty about our time zones tho eh

Dan

[prism_wolf]

Iguanas are VERY territorial and have been known to kill other igs...even ones they have lived with for years. Seperate ASAP or you may have a dead ig next time. This is no exaggeration. It's fact.

Do not bath the ig in peroxide. Just dab some on the wound, but better yet is the triple antibiotic put on it.
The Betadine is also called povidone-iodine. The chemist there will be able to tell you exactly what it is.

There is also a very good UK forum to help you with brands we don't have here. As much as we like to see International ig lovers mixed in here...it's best to get some info from those who know.

www.geocities.com/thearkfiles/
www.iguanaanswers.co.uk/

Steve Woodward is very dedicated to iguana care on your side of the pond. He's the owner of Iguana Answers and Co-founder for the Ark Reptile Group.

Still come back here for other questions we can help with that DOESN'T require name brands other than pet supplies... ;D

[IguanaKing]

Yup, I definitely agree with Veronica on seperating them. About 2 months ago I had to basically perform emergency medical care on Audrey when she was attacked by Hercules, and THAT was just from an attempted mating when Audrey wasn't in the mood. Hercules is actually quite a gentleman, but Audrey yanked her arm out his mouth before he had a chance to release her. I happened to be there at the time, so I immediately chased Hercules away (He sees me as the Alpha male iguana) and did emergency care to prevent Audrey from bleeding to death. I hate to imagine what might have happened if I had not been there to intervene and render aid. The vet did the rest and Audrey is recovering quite well, but still doesn't have full use of her left arm yet...she's getting better and stronger every day though.

Territorial conflicts are MUCH more violent than that, so you should definitely not leave them together without your supervision.

Anyway, I'm glad to read you have no wire mesh in the habitat. Injuries are often caused by behavioral problems, so I had to ask the question.