(not a beardie Question) help iguana with bad burns

[geckogirl1836]

I recently adopted an iguana from an animal shelter cause I was absolutely heartbroken about her situation. Her name is Ellie she is an adult female iguana who has lived at the animal shelter for about three and a half months after being taken from an abusive home. Her former owners burn her with cigarettes all over her body including burning off the end of her tail and burning both her eyes. Although the burns on her body have healed her eyes still seem to give her a lot of discomfort and I’m looking for advice on how to ease her discomfort and how to keep her eyes clean because she doesn’t have eyelids that fully cover her eyes? Ellie also has a poor diet and is pretty thin for her size you can really tell she that she hasn’t been eating properly by looking at the base of her tail. The shelter said the only thing they could get her to eat was bananas so i’ve been trying to get her to eat other foods like carrots and squash but she just spits it back out. I’ve managed to get her to drink lots of water with a calcium supplement in it and a bit of vegetable baby food but she won’t eat anything else unless it’s banana. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can build up some weight on her and get her to stop being such a picky eater? Ellie is having a bad shed if you could call it that she has three layers of un shed skin on her back spines any ideas on how I can remove some of this? Also i’m kind of worried I’ve had her for four days and have yet to see her go potty how often should she be going?

The white spots on her back are burn scars

not her worse eye this is the one I think she can see out of

a pretty good pic showing how little weight she has

 

[remi1]

Oh my goodness, that's horrible!!! Hopefully he got arrested for animal cruelty, because that's not excusable.

For her eyes you can rinse them with sterile saline. There's this stuff that you put on mammals' eyes when they're in surgery or have facial nerve paralysis and can't blink to keep them from drying out, but I can't remember the name of it.

If she's used to eating bananas and won't eat anything else, then the only way I know of to get a picky eater to eat is to only offer the food that they need and hold out on her until she eats. Bananas are treats and aren't good to be eating everyday like that. She's used to getting what she wants, and as I'm sure you know, iguanas are stubborn! I know, I have three. It might take upwards of a week and half, though, and it's nerve racking. I'm sure you've tried collards and other leafy greens (but not lettuce)? Since she's skinny, then you could give her oxbow critical care, but I don't know where you'd get it from other than a vet. Speaking of, has she seen a vet? It sounds like she has some serious issues that an experienced reptile vet could help you out with...

For retained sheds, give her daily long soaks in the bathtub. Those top spikes often have issues shedding, though. If those on mine just won't come off, I will take a knife and GENTLY make a little incision up the side of the retained spike, being really, really careful not to cut into the spine itself. Once I make a slit like that, they will usually slide off. If they don't, I go back to soaking. Baths are also good for potty issues. But if she hasn't been eating that much, then she won't poop as often.

For the pictures, copy and paste the entire "img" line from photobucket. That should work. It's usually pretty long.

Good luck!!!

 

[MissT]

There we go.... hopefully these work

That is terrible. I cant really give any advice but thought I would give you a hand with the pictures!

What a horrible person that must have had her. Can she still see?

I hope you have her feeling better soon.

T

 

[geckogirl1836]

the vet at the animal shelter took a look at her but didn't really say much of anything she also told me I shouldn't adopt her because it would be a hassle to get her back to good health I actually think they were going to euthanize her as for seeing I think she must be able to see a little from the one eye shown she tries not to move to far but she's never walked in to anything and the only time she opens her eyes is when she's moving or you touch her other then that she keeps them shut which is one of the reasons I think they bother her a lot. the vet also said since it's been about four months since her injuries there's nothing more she can do (the vet was so rude)

 

[MissT]

Was the vet a reptile vet? Edit - whether or not she was, since she was so rude and clearly not interested, have a look at http://www.herpvetconnection.com and try to find a reptile vet in your area. Reptiles take a LONG time to heal so it could take many months for her to get any better. You will need to have a lot of patience and dedication to getting her well. And she will need lots and lots of baths to help with the shed and also to help get her hydrated! When you go to the vet, you could ask the vet for the oxbow critical care - in fact there is a good chance that is what they will give you to help get her appetite going. Its also possible the vet will have an eye or skin ointment that you could use in any affected areas.

Good luck with this little girl!!!

T

 

[remi1]

Holy cow, she looks horrible! The poor girl I will never understand how anyone could do something like that. I'm really glad you adopted her and are going to give her the chance she deserves. What a good heart you have! She definitely needs to see a reptile vet, because most vets don't know what they're doing with reptiles. No offense to shelter vets, but they especially wouldn't know about reptiles; it's all cats and dogs for them. Like MissT said, she will take a long time to heal and need a ton of TLC, because reptiles do everything slowly. But at least now she has a chance!

Please keep us updated! If you have any husbandry questions, I've owned iguanas for almost 15 years and I would be more than happy to help you. I will keep my fingers crossed for her!

 

[myzeak]

It is sad that the previous owners had to hurt a cute reptile to feel big. I hope they are in prison and hopefully carma will get them

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

OH I am so sorry about this poor iggie! You are an angel for helping her.
I can't offer much more in the suggestions department. I agree, the critical care for Herbivores is excellent. One thing though that needs to be emphasized is hydration!! That right now, along with some electrolyte replacement is probably the most important thing you can do for her.
If you can get at least 10+ cc's/ml's of oral fluids, along with critical care into her, that would really help. If anything, her kidneys are probably not functioning very well at all, so that should be top priority.
When feeding her, you will need to try to space the food out so her system is not taxed too heavily. Start very slowly with her feedings, too.
We will help as much as we can. I hope that she doesn't end up with gout.

Tracie

 

[geckogirl1836]

thanks everyone for your input right now Ive been feeding her little bits of food every few hours but still have yet to get her eating anything other then veggie baby food she justs spits everything out but she drank quite a bit of water today which I added calcium too. I also gave her a 20 minute soak in the tub which help get a few pieces of skin off her spines. has anyone tried shed ease to get the skin to come off? I was thinking about picking some up tomorrow Ive never tried it on a lizard but I know it works well on snakes. she's been really cuddly today she's so friendly I can't believe anyone could ever hurt her

 

[Twobeardieguy]

OMG, I just am flabbergasted! I would love to meet the owner! One thing I wanted to point out is if the eyes are raw from being burnt try to keep her away from heat for maybe 2-3 days cause the heat may actually make it more painful for her. You may even want to try to rinse the eyes out with 100% saline solution to help in the burning. I agree you need to get her to a vet. Hopefully she does not have any internal injuries.

 

[DragonMomSandy]

That poor girl! What horribly, evil people her previous owners were! I think they need to be beaten to a pulp!

Sounds like the shelter vet knew very little about herps, which is sad as they could have been giving her better care while she was there. I would find yourself a really good herp vet and get her eyes looked at ASAP she probably needs antibiotics and critical care. You'll probably need to get a fecal done soon too, as parasites are pretty likely in a case like this. The sterile saline is a good way to sooth her eyes, safe to use on herps. I would definately keep her out of the heat and bright light of a flood bulb for a few days to give those eyes a chance to get past some of the swelling and irritation and start healing. And, as Tracie pointed out, her kidneys are probably not functioning properly, so keep her hydrated as dehydration is a serious concern with an injured/ill reptile.

The warm baths will help with the shed. A soft bristle toothbrush can help brush some of it away as well. The shed ease is a little expensive, a great, safe alternative is 100% pure aloe (make sure it's the clear stuff). $2 at Walgreens/Walmart. Rub it into the retained shed areas for a few days and that shed will start to lift easily. Plus it's also soothing to those areas that are healing from the burns.

I think it's awesome that you rescued her. You have some tough work ahead of you to get this girl back to health, reptiles take a lot longer to heal from things like this than other animals. It's really sad that a lot of rescues give up very easily on the reptiles they take in. Regular rescues don't have the time and resources or the knowledge to deal with an injured/sick herp so many are put down. Her cuddling with you is a good sign that she is starting to trust you. She's most likely never had anyone show her any love at all, until now.

Let us know how she's doing!

 

[geckogirl1836]

update: vet appointment is booked for next week to see what a real herp vet thinks of Ellies eyes and her weight issue but today she's been far better than any day so far she actually ate snow peas for me seven whole pods so thats a step up. I gave her a bath and rubbed some aloe along her spines and managed to get a few more pieces of skin off. she's been really active today and had her eyes open alot like 4X as much as normal and has been moving around her enclosure quite a bit also she did the cutest thing this morning when I turned on her lights she climbed right up on my lap to sit for a while before she got bored and decided to wander around my room

 

[remi1]

That is such wonderful news!! It sounds like she knows she's somewhere safe and is finally loved and appreciated! Definitely keep us updated with news!

 

[Bellalee]

tygfv

Oh my goodness, that's horrible!!! Hopefully he got arrested for animal cruelty, because that's not excusable.

For her eyes you can rinse them with sterile saline. There's this stuff that you put on mammals' eyes when they're in surgery or have facial nerve paralysis and can't blink to keep them from drying out, but I can't remember the name of it. PURALUBE.

If she's used to eating bananas and won't eat anything else, then the only way I know of to get a picky eater to eat is to only offer the food that they need and hold out on her until she eats. Bananas are treats and aren't good to be eating everyday like that. She's used to getting what she wants, and as I'm sure you know, iguanas are stubborn! I know, I have three. It might take upwards of a week and half, though, and it's nerve racking. I'm sure you've tried collards and other leafy greens (but not lettuce)? Since she's skinny, then you could give her oxbow critical care, but I don't know where you'd get it from other than a vet. Speaking of, has she seen a vet? It sounds like she has some serious issues that an experienced reptile vet could help you out with...

For retained sheds, give her daily long soaks in the bathtub. Those top spikes often have issues shedding, though. If those on mine just won't come off, I will take a knife and GENTLY make a little incision up the side of the retained spike, being really, really careful not to cut into the spine itself. Once I make a slit like that, they will usually slide off. If they don't, I go back to soaking. Baths are also good for potty issues. But if she hasn't been eating that much, then she won't poop as often.

For the pictures, copy and paste the entire "img" line from photobucket. That should work. It's usually pretty long.

Good luck!!!

Just wanted to write that in there.. you should be able to get puralube at most vets.

Those "owners" are awful.. bless you for taking on such a task.. I hope she knows what it feels like to be loved.
Those

 

[DragonMomSandy]

I'm so glad that she seems to be feeling a little better! And glad that you've found a good herp vet to take her to. Her climbing into your lap is great! She trusts you and senses that you are a safe zone for her. Awesome!