Post by nathanieldodge on Feb 7, 2009 23:45:22 GMT -8
Cyrus is our (My girlfriend and I) 9 month old green iguana. He is about 7in SVL and (up until a few days ago) seemed to be doing excellent. He ate well, was always plump and hungry, alert, and absolutely beautiful.
He is housed in a (gorgeous) 4ftx4ftx2ft custom built (by myself) cage. He is fed a myriad of foods including but not limited to squash, collards, turnip greens, mustard greens, etc. He gets a light dust of calcium+multivitamin every 3 days. His perch in his cage stays about 93F and is supplemented with a 60?W bulb from reptile UV.
Several weeks ago, I noticed that some of Cyrus's scales on his belly and arms started turning black. I did a search on iguanazone, but only found information pertaining to a fungal infection. I didn't believe this was the case, and simply attributed the change in scale color to him maturing. My girlfriend and I try to handle Cyrus on a daily basis, and about a week ago I noticed a tiny red bug crawling on his back. Back to the internet I went, and found that Cyrus was suffering from a mild infestation of mites. A quick scan of his skin with a magnifying glass confirmed this. In several posts on this board I read that NIX seemed to be an excellent treatment for these mites. I followed the eradication protocol to the "t".
Andy and I took his cage down, removed every single piece of everything from his cage. I soaked all of his branches, substrate, and fake plants in the bathtub, which was filled with a bleach/water solution. His cage was taken outside and completely sprayed down (every nook and cranny) with the recommended NIX solution. We let the cage and it's interior soak for 2 hrs, in order to ensure that all of the mites and their eggs had been killed, and then we rinsed (very well) everything and put is cage back together. We then gave Cyrus a bath in the same NIX/water mixture that we used to spray his cage with, being very careful not to get any of this in his eyes. We rinsed Cyrus of very well, and then placed him back into his "clean" cage.
The next day, I noticed that Cyrus was still scratching, and seemed generally uncomfortable. He was still eating well and was acting normal, but I decided to call the vet (one that had been recommended by a dedicated herp website) anyways. Upon the inspection, the vet informed me that there were still mites on Cyrus, but otherwise he was in excellent health. She gave him a shot that was supposed to kill the mites. She told me to repeat the NIX bath and cage cleaning in about 4 days, and to reschedule a visit in about 2 weeks to "see where we were".
2 Days later I gave Cyrus another bath (yes, against the vet's orders). The next day, I noticed that Cyrus seemed to be completely serene. He wasn't scratching, crawling around, and seemed very comfortable. He stayed on his perch the entire day (I know, because I was off) and didn't move a bit. He didn't come down to eat either, however I blew this off as a "side effect" from the shot he got at the vet's a couple of days earlier. Another day passed like this, and again, I thought maybe he just needed time to rest. We left Cy alone because we didn't want to stress him out. This was yesterday.
I went to work today and got a distressed call from my girlfriend around 2pm, saying that Cyrus was acting weird. She had taken him out of his cage but he wasn't acting his usual feisty self. He seemed like he was very scared and was "holding on to her for dear life". He wasn't responding to any of her movements, wouldn't crawl off of her arm (which he usually willingly does), and seemed to be acting very clumsy. I told her to try to feed him and see what he does. She tried to feed him by holding a piece of collards in front of him but he completely ignored it. She touched the green to his nose and he immediately tried to take a bite but missed completely, like he was trying to eat the air. She then made a bowl of food and then set him in his food dish. He had an appetite but kept missing the food. At this point we were convinced that for one reason or another little Cyrus could not see.
Andy called the vet that we had the appointment several days earlier, but none of the doctors were seeing animals on a Saturday. They referred her to a larger animal hospital and Andy took Cyrus to their ER at 6pm. A vet saw Cyrus around 7:30pm and told Andy that Cyrus has lost the majority of his eyesight, and there was nothing that they could do. Andy and I are both heartbroken, as Cyrus is our only pet and we love him very very much. What makes this worse, is that I believe I did something wrong while I was trying to "treat" him that led to his sad condition.
When I came home and saw him a tear came to my eye (and I assure I'm not the crying type) and I'm actually holding back as I write this. He responded to nothing but my voice, and seemed unsure about every move that he made. Now, I just have no idea what to do. We tried to put Cyrus back in his cage, but he refused to be set down. We put him on the couch for now as that is the only place he feels comfortable.
I have no idea what to do at this point, and I have so many questions. Has anyone here cared for a blind iguana? Is Cyrus going to be absolutely miserable for the rest of his life? Can an iguana with no eyesight even be kept alive without keeping him in a small box where he can't hurt himself for the next 15 years? I talked to a couple of buddies and said that they heard of dogs going blind in their old age, and they simply "adjusted". I don't feel this is the same though with a naturally arboreal reptile. I don't know what to do, and I don't know who else to ask. If anyone has any suggestions or knows anyone who has had to deal with this sort of problem with their iguana, please let me know. I would love some help.
Thanks so much,
Nate
He is housed in a (gorgeous) 4ftx4ftx2ft custom built (by myself) cage. He is fed a myriad of foods including but not limited to squash, collards, turnip greens, mustard greens, etc. He gets a light dust of calcium+multivitamin every 3 days. His perch in his cage stays about 93F and is supplemented with a 60?W bulb from reptile UV.
Several weeks ago, I noticed that some of Cyrus's scales on his belly and arms started turning black. I did a search on iguanazone, but only found information pertaining to a fungal infection. I didn't believe this was the case, and simply attributed the change in scale color to him maturing. My girlfriend and I try to handle Cyrus on a daily basis, and about a week ago I noticed a tiny red bug crawling on his back. Back to the internet I went, and found that Cyrus was suffering from a mild infestation of mites. A quick scan of his skin with a magnifying glass confirmed this. In several posts on this board I read that NIX seemed to be an excellent treatment for these mites. I followed the eradication protocol to the "t".
Andy and I took his cage down, removed every single piece of everything from his cage. I soaked all of his branches, substrate, and fake plants in the bathtub, which was filled with a bleach/water solution. His cage was taken outside and completely sprayed down (every nook and cranny) with the recommended NIX solution. We let the cage and it's interior soak for 2 hrs, in order to ensure that all of the mites and their eggs had been killed, and then we rinsed (very well) everything and put is cage back together. We then gave Cyrus a bath in the same NIX/water mixture that we used to spray his cage with, being very careful not to get any of this in his eyes. We rinsed Cyrus of very well, and then placed him back into his "clean" cage.
The next day, I noticed that Cyrus was still scratching, and seemed generally uncomfortable. He was still eating well and was acting normal, but I decided to call the vet (one that had been recommended by a dedicated herp website) anyways. Upon the inspection, the vet informed me that there were still mites on Cyrus, but otherwise he was in excellent health. She gave him a shot that was supposed to kill the mites. She told me to repeat the NIX bath and cage cleaning in about 4 days, and to reschedule a visit in about 2 weeks to "see where we were".
2 Days later I gave Cyrus another bath (yes, against the vet's orders). The next day, I noticed that Cyrus seemed to be completely serene. He wasn't scratching, crawling around, and seemed very comfortable. He stayed on his perch the entire day (I know, because I was off) and didn't move a bit. He didn't come down to eat either, however I blew this off as a "side effect" from the shot he got at the vet's a couple of days earlier. Another day passed like this, and again, I thought maybe he just needed time to rest. We left Cy alone because we didn't want to stress him out. This was yesterday.
I went to work today and got a distressed call from my girlfriend around 2pm, saying that Cyrus was acting weird. She had taken him out of his cage but he wasn't acting his usual feisty self. He seemed like he was very scared and was "holding on to her for dear life". He wasn't responding to any of her movements, wouldn't crawl off of her arm (which he usually willingly does), and seemed to be acting very clumsy. I told her to try to feed him and see what he does. She tried to feed him by holding a piece of collards in front of him but he completely ignored it. She touched the green to his nose and he immediately tried to take a bite but missed completely, like he was trying to eat the air. She then made a bowl of food and then set him in his food dish. He had an appetite but kept missing the food. At this point we were convinced that for one reason or another little Cyrus could not see.
Andy called the vet that we had the appointment several days earlier, but none of the doctors were seeing animals on a Saturday. They referred her to a larger animal hospital and Andy took Cyrus to their ER at 6pm. A vet saw Cyrus around 7:30pm and told Andy that Cyrus has lost the majority of his eyesight, and there was nothing that they could do. Andy and I are both heartbroken, as Cyrus is our only pet and we love him very very much. What makes this worse, is that I believe I did something wrong while I was trying to "treat" him that led to his sad condition.
When I came home and saw him a tear came to my eye (and I assure I'm not the crying type) and I'm actually holding back as I write this. He responded to nothing but my voice, and seemed unsure about every move that he made. Now, I just have no idea what to do. We tried to put Cyrus back in his cage, but he refused to be set down. We put him on the couch for now as that is the only place he feels comfortable.
I have no idea what to do at this point, and I have so many questions. Has anyone here cared for a blind iguana? Is Cyrus going to be absolutely miserable for the rest of his life? Can an iguana with no eyesight even be kept alive without keeping him in a small box where he can't hurt himself for the next 15 years? I talked to a couple of buddies and said that they heard of dogs going blind in their old age, and they simply "adjusted". I don't feel this is the same though with a naturally arboreal reptile. I don't know what to do, and I don't know who else to ask. If anyone has any suggestions or knows anyone who has had to deal with this sort of problem with their iguana, please let me know. I would love some help.
Thanks so much,
Nate