igrehab

Iguana Rehabilitation

    First, as usual, we want to point out that we here at The Iguana Spot, are by no means experts in the area of iguana care. We do however, have 15 years combined experience and continue to study, read and learn on almost a daily basis about iguana care and the advancements that are bing made in the research of these wonderful animals. That being said, here we are going to provide some information on the process of rehabilitation we successfully used with our beloved iguana Dharma. You should always contact and work with a qualified veterinarian when you are dealing with any medical issues pertaining to your own animal, especialy an animal in medical distress.

     As many of you may remember, Dharma came to us back in October, 2000 from the local Audubon Society as a rescue that someone had found in the middle of the road. She has previously lost a good portion of her tail which was already regrowing when we got her, was missing several claws, was malnourished and could barely walk. In fact, Dharma literally dragged herself along the floor to get around. It is now February of 2001 and not only is Dharma thriving in her new environment, she has recently started to climb! We couldn't be more thrilled.

Getting Ready For Dharma's Arrival

    As Dharma was a surprise (a unique choice of words I know), we weren't equipped beforehand to take her. The day she was to come home with us, we made a trip to Pond Side Herp Supplies which is about a half hour from our home to get what we needed. We purchased a 55 gallon aquarium, one daytime basking bulb, one night time heat bulb, a reflector fixture, a ZooMed Reptisun 2.0 (which will be explained in a moment) and 2 dishes, one for food, the other for water. We already had a fixture for the UV source which was an old fixture used on a former fish tank and the rest of the supplies we needed.

     We NEVER recommend waiting until the last minute to get equipped to bring any iguana home. Unfortunately for us, due to car troubles that week, that morning was the first time we had the opportunity to get the supplies we needed. While Pond Side Herp has a website and does ship, they do not ship some of the items we needed to purchase. Besides the fact, it is silly to have something as large as an aquarium shipped to us which would have been extremely costly when we are so close to them.

Why a Reptisun 2.0 and not a 5.0?

     We are asked this question frequently and before I continue with this article I want to set the record straight. Dharma, like most of the iguanas who pass through our doors, had been given NO UV exposure prior to coming here. Her diet had been marginal at best and things left a lot to be desired in the care department. In the course of educating ourselves about iguana care, we had read may articles and websites where people who rehabilitate igs have lost them once they bring them home and inundate them with all the changes required to make them healthy. We came to the conclusion that in order for these changes to be effective and not put more stress on an already taxed animal, these changes must be introduced gradually. Furthermore, since we offer only unfiltered UV with the surface of the bulb 12 inches from the bottom of the enclosure, a 2.0 unfiltered provides almost as much beneficial UV as a 5.0 that is set on top of glass or plexi. Using a 2.0 is NEVER recommended for long term use, nor is recommended for use with an otherwise healthy iguana. We use a 2.0 only for a short amount of time, unfiltered, to gradually introduce UV to a sickly iguana.

First Day Home

     Dharma didn't have mush of an appetite and despite stories of stump whipping and biting, all she wanted to do was be held. Upon arrival at the house, Dharma was given a tepid bath during which we slowly raised the temperature of the water to around 85*. She was placed in the 55 gallon aquarium that had been outfitted with a food dish, large pan of water, a basking light, UV source and little humidifier in the form of an air pump, air stone and container or water. We gave her approximately 2 hours of UV exposure that day and let her set the tone for handling. She spent most of the day snoozing under the warmth of the basking light -something she had been without for an unknown period of time.

And we continue .....

     Dharma needed to see the vet, unfortunately the first appointment we could get was a week to the day we had brought her home. In the interim, Dharma continued to pick at her food and the UV exposure was increased by an hour every day. Baths were also given daily, even though she only went to the bathroom every 3-4 days. She was placed on a 12/12 day/night cycle which she seemed to agree with. Her food was supplemented with calcium on a daily basis as she was not eating every day even though fresh food continued to be offered round the clock. During the day fresh fruits and veggies were offered with a heavy emphasis placed on calcium rich items and they were replaced at night with alfalfa pellets dissolved in water with the occasional addition of greens or fruit. No food was ever left her in her enclosure longer than 12 hours to ensure she was not eating spoiled food. We did notice that when Dharma would eat, she ate a decent amount. We were keeping the enclosure at a constant 85*-90* day and night in the beginning with the day spot running so she could bask in the mornings, afternoons and early evenings.

     By the day we got to her first vet appointment, Dharma was already showing signs of improvement. Her appetite was increasing and we were able to decrease the number of days we added calcium supplement to her food. Blood work results showed excellent levels of calcium and our vet, after inspecting the diary sheet I had brought along, stated that we feed our iguanas better than most humans eat. He did notice some old thermal burns on her belly that we had not noticed before but they were old and seemed to be healing well. So, we all came home and continued on the road to recovery.

A few weeks into the process ...

     Not only did Dharma's appetite increase, it increased to the point where she was devouring food at the rate of 2-3 measured cups per day. The problem was, her bathroom habits did not increase with her appetite. She was continuing to relive herself only every 2-4 days despite the fact she was given a bath daily. Her little body would swell up like a balloon, yet she would not relive herself. Another trip to the vet and all he could say was give it time. We gave several warm baths a day, massaging her belly until finally she erupted. From that day on, Dharma has relieved herself on a daily basis. One odd note, Dharma always slept with at least one body part, if not her whole body, in the water dish .....

Time passes ....

     Our third month with Dharma was still showing improvement! No longer did she drag her body around on the floor! She was eating well and still eating up as much attention as she could get from the two of us. She still wasn't partial to strangers and didn't like to be touched or picked up by anyone other than Mr D and I, she especially didn't seem to like women and children. Right around the holidays, she developed a cough and was expelling what appeared to be blood. Another trip to the vet who couldn't find the cause and of course Dharma didn't cough while she was there. On a happy note, he noted that her weight had doubled since we were there last and she appeared otherwise healthy. He could have endoscoped her but since it is traumatic and might not have reveled anything we decided to wait and see if this resolved itself. We had a fecal test run and everything was fine. Wouldn't you know it, she coughed after we left the office! We called the vet and again decided to wait and increase the humidity in her enclosure. We thought the cough might be a result of drier air than usual and we must have been right because after we increased the humidity level the cough went away.

More Recently ....

     At the end of January 2001, Dharma began to climb for the very first time since arriving here! We were so overjoyed it brought tears to our eyes! Little climbs at first from a belt to a shoulder have quickly been replaced with climbs from the floor to the shoulder! Her 2.0 UV was replaced by a 5.0 UV source, still with the bulb surface 12 inches from the bottom of the enclosure. In a few weeks from now, Dharma will move into her new home. A custom cabinet style enclosure where she can climb to her hearts content.

In closing ...

     This is just a basic outline of the efforts we employed in Dharma's rehabilitation. The majority of the foods we offered to her can be found listed elsewhere on this website (see the Nutrition page). Again, we believe that one of the keys to her success was the slow integration of proper care methods such as good nutrition and UV light. While we can not and do not guarantee that these methods will work for everyone or every iguana, they worked for us and that is why we have decided to share them on our website. If you have any further questions, as always, please feel free to contact us.