Exotic pets and a smattering of other things I deem interesting.

24th February 2013

Photoset with 1,427 notes

This 7 year old female iguana was brought into the clinic today for a non-healing wound. She has free range of the owner’s home and does not have an enclosure of her own-no UV light, heater, anything. The owners have a dachshund that enjoys chewing on the iguana’s spikes and has done so for quite some time. A few days ago the iguana was discovered hiding behind the toilet and her body looked discolored and misshapen and she had a large open wound on her back. If you look closely at the pictures you will see blue patches all over her- these are not the discoloration noted-this iguana was painted blue, she also had glittery nail polish applied to her claws. Until blood work and bacterial cultures come back we can’t be 100% sure what is going on with her but it appears the dog bite got infected and this infection moved down the fascial planes of her back and has  separated her muscles from surrounding tissue. She also feels like she may have metabolic bone disease but this can’t be proven until we get radiographs.

This case makes me sad because this iguana was treated more like a decorative house accessory than a pet. I was also angry that the owners knew the dog chewed on her but let it continue to happen. Reptiles must have their own enclosures with access to UV light and proper temperature regulation. The owners are not able to spend much more money and this wound is very deep and she appears septic so the most humane next step may be euthanasia but we will see what the lab results show.

Tagged: VeterinaryIguanaDog Bite TraumaReptile

  1. jushtenlovesreptilesandarts reblogged this from reptiliarr and added:
    No animal deserves this
  2. catcubus reblogged this from penanggalan and added:
    I can’t imagine how people can allow this to happen and think it’s perfectly acceptable. I as already angered when I...
  3. petitetortue reblogged this from valentyn-the-mad and added:
    ^
  4. wolfofkhaos reblogged this from picklemeister
  5. whoopingcranes reblogged this from two-vibrant-hearts and added:
    I want to punch the owners in the head. and then have them go through the same pain. SERIOUSLY PEOPLE RESEARCH YOUR DAMN...
  6. lunartwist reblogged this from valentyn-the-mad and added:
    ;w; bring her to me i’ll take care of her baaabbbyyyy
  7. picklemeister reblogged this from reptilefacts
  8. valentyn-the-mad reblogged this from stupidlittleinches and added:
    There are no fucking words for how angry I am right now. This is inhumane and I seriously hope those people get fucking...
  9. sheapless reblogged this from reptilefacts
  10. stupidlittleinches reblogged this from corripera
  11. two-vibrant-hearts reblogged this from amanda43770 and added:
    I fucking hate people.
  12. throughlensesandlashes reblogged this from the-weight-is-overr
  13. futureexoticvet reblogged this from reptilefacts and added:
    Ugh… This is just sad :( I will never recommend owning an iguana to anyone unless I seriously trust them!! People need...
  14. anna-kitten reblogged this from reptilefacts
  15. the-weight-is-overr reblogged this from queenofscales
  16. queenofscales reblogged this from amanda43770 and added:
    Oh my fucking God. Looking at Zig right now sleeping next to me in her cage and I can’t imagine how anyone could let...
  17. amanda43770 reblogged this from laprasreptilesandstuff and added:
    Sick.
  18. ruishi reblogged this from winterlaytswonderland and added:
    Just the look in its eye is heart braking I hope she’ll be ok, and if not at least pain free. I hope something will be...
  19. corripera reblogged this from snakeworld and added:
    What the hell is wrong with these people. Reptiles are living creatures—not decorations!
  20. winterlaytswonderland reblogged this from toasterhime and added:
    Poor darlin’…PLEASE! Keep us updated!
  21. verdant-hound reblogged this from reptilefacts
  22. silverybeing reblogged this from fuckyeahherpetology and added:
    Urgh, this makes me sick. If you can’t care for a pet then don’t have one!
  23. snakeworld reblogged this from reptilefacts and added:
    This is so unacceptable.
  24. archaean reblogged this from reptilefacts and added:
    ;___;
  25. laprasreptilesandstuff reblogged this from reptilefacts and added:
    poor thing. i hope they were charged with animal cruelty because thats what this is at its finest
  26. rad-ddin reblogged this from becquerel-dellanie
  27. gordonfreemanandfriends reblogged this from hil-fanden
  28. lhertzel reblogged this from reptilefacts
  29. toasterhime reblogged this from antimath
  30. averyderpydoggy reblogged this from hil-fanden
  31. c0mabl4ck reblogged this from reptilefacts and added:
    This breaks my heart… If you can’t care for an animal..
  32. becquerel-dellanie reblogged this from hil-fanden
  33. awake-spirit reblogged this from the-shark-whisperer
  34. fizzyvimto reblogged this from reptilefacts