Iguana with bad toes?

Question

I have 5 Iguanas I took them all to the vet and I asked her about one of their toes, they are all pale and shriveled up and he has no toes on his other foot. The vet got side track with all the lizards I brought her she never answered my question. I'm going again in a couple weeks so I'll ask again but I was woundering if they were just dead or could it be gangrene?

He has shed before. The people I got him from kept him and a female togther in a 4 foot tank with no heat and news paper for substrate. They were only fed lettuce, apples and other bad stuff.

He gets a bath everyday and doesn't really walk around the house because he can't walk well.

It doesn't look like a shedding problem, they are pal tan he still feels them. The nails fell off and he can't move them.

The toes aren't burnt and they were like that when I got him and his owners didn' have any heat for him.

Answer 1

It sounds as if the circulation is being cut off.

This can be caused by a shedding problem. If the dead skin isn't shed from the toes, it can constrict and act like a tourniquet. Everything below that point will dies and self-amputate (eventually).

Another possibility is that he/she's getting fibers wrapping around the toes and it's doing the same thing. Do you let them run around the house (on carpet, specifically)?

If you can figure out which is the cause, you can either raise their humidity (a tray with gravel & water that they can walk through) of frequent baths with attention paid to the foot areas or inspect/remove any fibers wrapped around their toes after time out of their enclosures.

See info below: http://www.anapsid.org/gangrene.html

Answer 2

With iggies it could be a host of problems but the most plausible for skeletal deformities would be either calcium deficency(MBD) or gout. Both of these conditions are caused by nutritional issues and could be avoided if given proper husbandry. As far as MBD goes, it is just as important to have a fresh UVB bulb as it is to supplement calcium as they can't process the calcium without proper UVB. I don't know this iguanas history but it might pay to find out.

Answer 3

besides shedding; this could be a bone problem. It sounds more like the beginning stages of Metabolic Bone Disease. Do your igs have UVA and UVB lighting? The youngest of all my igs have the same problem. She was a rescue; and they did not give her any uv lighting; and she got MBD from a lack of calcium and D3. Check out www.greenigsociety.org and look up metabolic bone disease and it will tell you more about it.

MBD does need to be treated by a qualified herp vet

Answer 4

Well the only things that come to my mind when reading your question would be MBD. Or when he was housed in those poor conditions the female could have done it to him or if the old owners had him in a wired cage and he walked on it allot that would ruin his toes.

Answer 5

These above are some good thoughts. I would also add that you might want to check (if you're using one- you should be !) your heat source and make sure it isn't burning them. I don't keep iguanas, so I'm not sure what it sould be, but make sure that the heat is not burning them when they bask.

Answer 6

it may be that at one point it didn't shed properly and it caused deformaty of the foot. when you take it back to the vet let her know that you think this may have happend and she can possibley remove any skin binding them if that is the case.

Answer 7

they're probably having trouble shedding. make sure they have a place to go to that is always, always moist and humid.