tougue repeatedly out to one side

Question
Dear Sara,I took my 4yr. old green iguana out today.After a long winter in M.N.and an hour of sun,we came back in.An hour later I notice he's looling his tounge out like he's swallowed something.
I checked his throat,clear,then administered food grade charcol,followed w/water,and called the vet.
He is calm and alert now. He did lick the bare ground of my lawn{I do not use poison or fertilizers]and got a lick of our unpaved road.
I have been feeding him eggs,but also lentil sprouts,organic lettuce and cabbage,shredded carrots.He starts his day with a big drink of water.
I've had a grow lite on him.  Hot rock for a couple hours only a day,never leaving it on for too long.
Thankyou for your help and wisdom!!!!!!!!!!!Jan

Answer

Pooh Bear Jan,

I am not particularly concerned about him having his tongue out, I have an iguana that has his tongue out and hanging to one side almost all day everyday. I do know that lizards will begin to pant when they are too hot, but I have trouble believing it would be too hot keeping him outdoors for an hour in Minnesota. Is the tongue swollen at all? Perhaps he has had an allergic reaction to something and his tongue is swollen. I don't think him licking the bare ground is an issue, I keep my iguanas outdoors all summer and they lick the ground and eat the grass like crazy. They love it out there and they are made to live like that.
I do think that this may just be one of those things that he is doing that we wont ever understand why. I have never heard of any iguana-prone diseases that involve a tongue sticking out.
I think the only thing that stands out to me based on what you wrote is your diet. I do have a concern that he is getting too much animal protein having eggs on a regular basis. This is not good for their kidneys. They are hind gut fermenters, meaning they have a hind gut that's job is to ferment their food and that is because they are herbivores and take in a lot of plant matter. This may not be affecting his health now, but a lot of times these sort of things become a problem in later life. Iguanas who have had too much animal protein often develop kidney failure in their latter years.
Furthermore, lettuce offers no nutritional value and cabbage and carrots are discouraged due to the high phosphate content. I am concerned he is not getting enough calcium. I highly recommend you switch his lettuce to collard greens, turnip greens, or mustard greens and his carrots to an orange-flesh squash.
I have attached a picture of my pooh bear, my 15 year old male who keeps his tongue out all the time.

I hope that I helped you somewhat but I would just monitor him and see if any other strange behavior presents itself before becoming concerned, I have never associated tongues with illness.

Thank You,

Sara J Gwerder
President
Raptor Rescue Iguana Sanctuary
Shreveport, LA
www.RaptorRescue.org

Good Diet + UVB Radiation + Proper Temperatures + Set Daily Schedule = Healthy + Happy Reptile