Still another iguana killer is respiratory disease. Generally it is found in run-down specimens. Buy a healthy animal and take good care of it and avoid this problem. If you are the owner of a thin-tailed, grey, wet-eyed or sunken-eyed snuffler who doesn’t eat or distend his dewlap of otherwise show an enthusiasm for life, you might try several cures simultaneously:
- Try a penicillin-type drug administered by your veterinarian
- Provide sunlight, preferably direct and unfiltered by glass.
- Coax food – try variety
- Avoid handling and stressing the animal
- Keep temperature up – say 82 F to 90 F. Both day and night during the treatment.
- Keep cage dry and clean. Clean means antiseptically clean. Wash the cage with a carbolic acid preparation like Lysol and then thoroughly rinse and dry it to assure that no chemical remains before placing the animal back in his quarters.
- Avoid wooden cages and cages with complicated construction where parasites and germs can hide and avoid detection and disinfection.
It should be noted that some iguana parasites pass through complicated life cycles and during one stage may leave a reptile and find a bird or mammal host, possibly even a human. The important thing to remember is that the parasites like chiggers, ticks and mites sometimes carry within their systems such diseases as “Q” fever. When a mite carrying “Q” fever infests an iguana becomes a stepping stone for the disease to be transmitted further.
The control is simple. Free your iguana from ticks, chiggers and mites. Keep the iguana isolated from other animals which might transfer new infestations. Keep the cage clean. Sterilize it if necessary. Keep the cage simple so that parasites do not have a place to hide while you are eliminating the individuals clinging to your pet. Once freed of parasites your new acquisition need never be infested again.