Iguana

[Sticky]

We currently have a family consisting of 2 veiled Chameleons,1 Madagaskar Chameleon and 2 iguanas,1 of which is the puzzle.

My other half bought Brian because he was so weak and neglected he thought we could help him.(Hes a fan of bring 3 legged disease animals into our care!!!!)
Hes a Blue Diamond Iguana(hes 2.5 months old) like 5 month old female.
Brian is 3 months old,building strength and gratitude and has a boggling skin disease.We are awaiting results for a Zoo specialist from Berlin Zoo as its a mystery.We have ruled out any dermatological disease and are awaiting viral results.(hes got crusty puss under his skin but is shedding normally.
From the moment we got him he had to be force fed puree and water via a syringe on vet instruction to build his strength and stop him from dying.All is well now with his well being as hes starting to eat for himself but i still have to hand feed him 3 times a day because he isnt fond of eating by himself.
Hes like any normal Iguana now apart from the task of drinking for himself.He just wont.Again,the syringe has to brought out and him sat in his cradle position to commence drinking like a baby and them a tasty treat of spring greens and the occasional variety of fruit to keep the interest.

I know its rare for an Iguana to hand feed and would like to carry this on to a point for taming purposes but does anyone have any ideas how to get him to drink unaided?? (bathing,misting etc isnt enough.Being left to his own devices doesnt surfice either)

 

[Aquaseafoam]

Hi,
I'm not an expert in iguana care by any means, but just a few questions.
Did you say he was eating by himself now, just not drinking? It wasn't really clear to me in your post.
Also is it possible that he is drinking and you just don't see him? Is he provided water in a dish or misting?
I don't know at what age iguanas eat more greens, but maybe you can provide the greens in a shallow dish with water, he will get the water on the leaves too.
Good luck with the skin issue!

 

[Zoey]

Maybe you should contact a local reptile vet and talk to him about it. he could probably assit you better being closer

 

[Sticky]

The Zoo specialist at Berlin Zoo (Germany) has finally diagnosed that his body is covered in hundreds of small abcesses.
They are too small to remove and has the disease very badly.He has had to be prescribed dog strength ear cream to rub all over his body as a last ditch attempt to clear the abcesses.

The good news is that it isnt fatal,he isnt in any pain and basically he will look a scabby mess until the end of time!!!

As for the water drinking issue,he has to be bathed everyday for hydration,lightly misted so not to interfere with the medication and generally spoilt rotten by letting him drink from the syringe if thats what it takes.
Ive come to the conclusion he may have become dependant on it now out of habit so we dont mind.He drinks while he swims and dives also.Underwater swimming seems to be becoming his favourite hobby!