Iguana Bites to People (GRAPHIC)

[prism_wolf]

Iguanas are first...and foremost...wild animals...through and through. An iguana's behavior can be unpredictable and often down-right dangerous. A lot of people don't even realize they have teeth, but they do and they can do serious damage. The following pictures are not meant to scare, though being a little afraid of the damage that can be inflicted warrants serious respect from all of us.

The first two pictures are my daughter's own encounter with Zair. It was breeding season and I was trying to remove the female from his enclosure who he was housed with for well over a year. He was causing serious physical damage to her. Amber was blocking him from following her out. I quick warning bite was all it was, but it went to the bone of her thumb.



This next picture is from a respected rehabber in the iguana community. He's been doing rehab for many years. He let his guard down for an instant with an aggressive male and the resulting injuries incurred. He is also a designer and main distributor of the Mega Ray lighting series and owner of www.reptiuleuv.com . These are Bob McCargars' fingers...or BobMac as many of us know him as. Someone who knows better and he still got hit.



11/19 - Found these looking for another picture completely. Isn't that always the way? These are from an adult female who has been spayed. She has become completely aggressive with her male keeper. An older bloke with a lot of heart. His wife can handle Zig with not even an iota of aggression. She bit through the leather glove BF was wearing...the second pic being his hand right after being pulled out of the glove.

[IguanaKing]

Thanks for the pics, V, and a big thanks to both your daughter and BobMac. Those deep wounds on the mid-section of the finger aren't all that bad, but when they cross onto the finger-tip...OMG what terrible pain!!! I can definitely identify with your daughter and Bob. The tip of the index finger seems to be the worst though. I guess its because that's where our tactile response is meant to be. The recent knee-jerk bite from Herc was concentrated on the middle joint of the middle finger on my left hand, and it actually didn't hurt all that much, but YIKES...talk about profuse bleeding!

[prism_wolf]

Same with Amber about little pain and lots of blood. Blood actually squirted about 2' from her thumb, but it only stung a little as we rinsed it out. It was sore like a bad paper cut for several days and was healed within a little over a week. If he held on longer...or if she pulled back...jeez...I can only remember the story from another well known member of the ig community whose friend had to fish his own thumb out of his 5 yr old ig's mouth and have it reattached...or Amber would have, at least, been degloved.

I'm glad I had those pictures. I do have one more, but I don't have permission to use those. One is of a boy's face of about 12 yrs old. His nose is a bit of a mess coming very close to his eyes. I can only imagine what started out as snuggling (or getting a "kiss"?) may have turned out very bad.

[IguanaKing]

Yup, same with Herc's bite, just a mili-second of moderate pain, then nothing. I knew I had been bitten, but I didn't think it was all that bad until I realized the dark red puddles on the linoleum floor of my bathroom were new, and were multiplying by the second. I understand the facial wound picture too, and quite frankly, I don't really want to see something like that again. Every day I'm at work and wash my hands after using the restroom, I have the mirror to show me that jagged scar across my chin, reminding me of what can happen. Not happy memories, and I'm actually kinda glad I didn't see it. But...if the permission situation should ever change, feel free to post it.

[crazybaby]

Great pics, glad to hear their both ok and healed. Iguana bites are pretty nasty, I still have scars from Sancho when he was around a year old. If you've got more, I'm always interested in seeing the extent of damage an iguana can do. Mainly to keep me aware and on my toes. I also kinda have a sick fascination with any animals bite damage though, this is why I love watching animal documentaries, especially on gators and other reptiles.

[prism_wolf]

There are several more pictures online. There is one I've been looking for that I can't relocate. It's one of the same guy who's friend lost his thumb...but this guy was wearing a leather work glove. Not the heavy duty kind, but leather non-the-less. It shows his hand injury from his Ziggy, a very large, spayed female...and then it shows the leather glove with a chunk torn out of it. I may have to hunt around and "collect" a few of these. I'm sure I could get permission from most of them. There is the story of a woman who lost her ring finger after bath time and it shows her picture in the hospital bed bandaged after her finger was reattached. The ig was to be put down in this case...

[IguanaKing]

Heh...and to think there are some on the 'net with very little green iguana experience that have tried to convince me and others that wearing leather gloves guarantee safety. Truth is, they offer some protection, but they don't guarantee safety. Worse yet, the relative degree of safety they DO provide, unfortunately, leads to the parent developing bad handling habits. Along with that come the bad habits the iguana develops in his interaction with a human...being inadvertently told that its OK to bite whenever he feels like it

[LotharsPeople]

Here is a link to an article I found in The Journal of The American Board of Family Medicine:
www.jabfm.org/cgi/reprint/14/2/152?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=1&title=Iguana&andorexacttitle=and&
If it does not download automatically, just hit the manual download tag.

[prism_wolf]

Yup...I actually have that one printed out, LP. It's a goody, too.

[prism_wolf]

Wow...ImageShack did a total revamp! Very nice look to it and more user friendly. Anyway, this bite occurred about two weeks ago and now the owner is pretty scared of her ig. She had no idea they had that kind of bite power. When I asked her for a picture she wasn't even sure she could because it made her physically ill to look at her arm. This pic was taken about 2 days after the ER trip. If Kirsten ever sees this post...thank you for giving me permission to use this. That's her ig in the window. I asked for that to to show how big this ig was.



Here's a link to Henry Lizardlovers page on a nasty attack he'd received. (dial-up beware) Henry's pages are always high graphic content and can take awhile to load:
www.todaysplanet.com/pg/beta/lizardlover/page6.htm

[IguanaKing]

Wow that's a nasty one. Poor Kirsten. I hope she's ok, and I also thank her for giving permission to use the photos.

Here's another link to Steve Woodward's site.

homepage.ntlworld.com/steve.woodward/teeth.html

[prism_wolf]

Steve's is a good site, too. Sue's picture is probably the most famous because it was actually the first to be posted on the Internet. She's given permission for several websites to use that. She was lucky.

I love the skull pictures. It really gives you a good idea of what has got a hold of you...or what could get a hold of you.

[addicted]

How common is it to get nasty bites like this?I had no idea it could be that severe,Those bites scare me more than getting tagged from one of my large pythons!

[George-n-Me]

hmm...im not sure..but i bet they happen more then people realize...George got the tip of my finger once and it sliced part of my nail..he got me while i was doctoring his nose and it hurt him..so he gave me a swift bite to my finger... it hurt really bad and bled a lot..i didnt get stitches..my moms a nurse and she didnt think i needed them...but i have a nice scar now and after it happened i cried cuz he hurt my feelings..i couldnt believe he actually bit me...but thats the only time he's ever done that and it was instict since to him I was hurting him...it was a good reminder that even though George is really sweet and great to handle..hes still an iguana.

[IguanaKing]

Let's put it this way. If an adult green iguana manages to get a hold of you, the pictures you see are exactly what will happen to you. To all who read this thread, they are much like sharks in their bite damage...PLEASE respect their power.