Iguana back injury? help please!

[josh]

I have had this iguana for just about a week. I woke up the other morning, went to his tank, and found that he has a terrible-looking lump on his lower back. It looks twisted and he cannot seem to move one leg very well. I have taken very good care of him so far. I don't know if he fell off his log and injured it or what. Can anyone help me? Here are some pics:

[Kendalle]

i doubt if he just fell and got hurt. iguana's have been known to jump hundreds of feet from trees into rivers and on the ground to excape pretaters. you need to take it to the vet it may have MBD but i would think that that would take longer to get that bad.... but it needs vet care. How big is your tank? what are you feeding him? what lights and heat and everything does he have?

[Dragonrain]

He needs to see a vet.

It looks like he damanged his back bone to me. I had an iguana that broke it's back before and that's almost exactly what it looked like.

In the mean time, what is your cage like? He probably has limited mobility now so you should make the cage simple. If there is a water dish, be very very careful because if he/she gets stuck in the water it could drown - even if the water is very shallow.

[josh]

If they are that versatile, how could he have broken his back? What's MBD, and is he going to die? What did you do when your iguana had a broken back bone? And how much was your vet visit?

[josh]

He can move around fine; he was just dragging his leg but now he can move it but not very good. He swam in the bathtub (a little slow though), he's eating like a champ. I just wonder what (if anything) we did wrong...I'm feeding him Collard Greens, broccoli, pieces of apple, and he had a little bit of strawberry the other day. I just don't understand it. He was fine, and now this.

[josh]

yeah im gonna take him to the vet friday i wanted to get sooner but i cant.

[JacquesZoo]

How big is your tank? What are you feeding him(all the food you feed it)? What lights and heat and everything does he have? Do you dust the food with calcium or vitamins?

MBD~Metabolic Bone Disease
Its very common in iguanas. Its do to improper diet and husbandry.

[josh]

Quote: Originally Posted by JacquesZoo How big is your tank? What are you feeding him(all the food you feed it)? What lights and heat and everything does he have? Do you dust the food with calcium or vitamins? MBD~Metabolic Bone Disease Its very common in iguanas. Its do to improper diet and husbandry.

I do have a smaller tank 20 gal. He has a lot of space in there though. I feed him apples, blue berrys, broccli, coulorgreens, pretty much fruits and vegitibles besides spinach. I only had the thing for a week dude I realy havent dusted the food with any thing but now might et some stuff. I have a regular heat lamp. My cousin gave it to me so i don't know what he feed it but i do know I'am taking better care of it than he was.

[JacquesZoo]

Ok well here is my partially completed care sheet for iguanas.
Iguana Care & Tips

[JacquesZoo]

Whoops I had to fix that link!
Iguana Care & Tips

How is your iguana doing?

[josh]

OK, I took him to the vet and everything is gonna be fine so thanks for the help everyone who said something about the iguana.

[Dragonrain]

I'm glad he's going to be ok!

What did the vet say is wrong with him? I'm just curous.

[JacquesZoo]

Glad your ig will be ok! What did the vet say was wrong?

[josh]

He had a calcium defecency. Before i got him from my cousin he only fed it letuce and thats the worst thing you can feed it because it has no nutritional benifits. So the vet game me some medicine for him and i have to put more veggies than fruit. He said 90% veggies and 10% percent fruit. So now he is very healthy and move just as a regular lizard but he will always have a deformed back. But as he grows it will become less noticable. Again thanks for the help people.

[luvboyrats]

No offense man, but that's one of the biggest problems with reptiles in the pet trade. You have to do your research. It sounded like maybe your cousin didn't. It sounds like you did a little better but weren't fully prepared. MBD is one of the most common and deadly problems in all reptiles. All of us use an arsenal of uvb lighting and calcium/vitamin D supplements to fight it off and prevent it. It's one of the biggest considerations in a reptiles setup and care and it has attacked lizards in even the best cared for collections. To me it's a bad sign for anyone who already owns a reptile to ask "what's MBD?" I'm glad your iggy is doing better and that now you know more about this issue, but I would say a detailed book or two on iggy husbandry is in order because it takes a lot of information to care for these animals in an appropriate way.