iguana biting its self!

Question
QUESTION: hi diane,
i have a 4 year old female iguana, she has been biting her leg and tail, i see that someone else has asked you about this before, she has no mites i have looked really closely, and her knee has swallon up to, she has been to the vets and put on some antibotics so hopefully this will clear up a bit....
i have searched thre net and cant really find anything about it, so it seem it is very rare,
many thanks luke..

ANSWER: Hi Luke,
You are right, it isn't common and no one has really ever been able to find out why they do it. Theory is that there is some sort of irritation such as a nerve and it feels odd to them. It sounds like she may have something going on inside her leg to cause the swelling.  I recommend that you have the vet do an x ray to see if there is something there such as abscess, etc that may not be visible.I have a friend that their ig bit his foot and basically the same thing happened with it getting opened and infected.  They took him to the vet and this is what their vet prescribed: ( You can take the info to your vet and ask that he can prescribe the same.)
They were prescribed Nolvasan Shampoo to soak the injury in daily.
They were given a Holistic product called HEALX Booster (liquid) to be given 2 x daily.
They were given Traumeel cream to apply to the area
They were given HealX booster concentrate in pill form
They were given BAYTRIL(antibiotic) injectable and had to give him an injection daily for approx. 10 days.
The good news is..the foot healed up wonderfully.
Hopefully your vet is able to prescribe the same products for you.  I know that some are available on line in the US, but your vet will better be able to serve you with that.


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QUESTION: hi diane thank you for the quick responce, i have spoken to my vet today and we are starting the antibiotics again and she is going down to the vets on monday to have a xray and then have her leg opened and and have the abses removed...!
why is she biting her tail as well as her leg??????
and the biting is always done after the warning head bop this is not a hello bop, this is a back off and leave me alone ten she bites..., i have a very good vet and he has never come across this before....
thank you very much for taking time out and reading these messages and replying...
cheers luke whatling

ANSWER: Hi Luke,
Hopefully there is nothing that shows on x ray so that surgery is not needed. With the antibiotics and the other things that the vet did for the ig here in the US, hopefully it works for your ig also.
If I could answer "why they do it", I would know something that tons over other people have been trying to figure out for years!!
As I said earlier... possibly a nerve feels odd for some reason (sort of like when you break a blood vessel somewhere on your body).
With your ig, (and the one of my friends), what I think may cause it is they are protecting their territory and without "thinking" they react to any movement they see, which just happens to be their foot, leg, tail.. and they attack it. I'm not sure they have the ability to connect that the pain is self inflicted, so they continue to "attack" their body part.  Of course once their is an injury, with igs being on the tough side to heal, the injury can cause other problems such as infection and tissue/nerve damage.
Hopefully this all makes sense to you!!  Again, I'm hoping that no surgery is needed for your iguana!!! If something shows up on the x ray, please do let me know as it will be a learning experience for me!

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QUESTION: thank you dianne and i will let you no what happens with her, i hope that no surgery is needed but i think there is some sort off fliuid on the knee so i am unsure if they will drain it or cut her open, i have pics off her knee i am unsure if i can send them on here, i have left these messages open so other iggy owners can see, just incase they have the same problems..
the strange thing is when she is in water she is very chilled out and no biting or head bopping, i will let you no what happens, and thanks for your help again. luke

Answer
Hi Luke,
Please do try to send the pics!
Thanks for leaving the messages open.
Water to iguanas is a safe place. When they are scared they will dive into the water and stay there. Most will be completely under water which does freak owners out considering the igs will stay that way for 30 minutes with no problems.
The way the igs ignore us with one eye closed...but of course that other eye is open, just in case we try something, they are keeping an eye on us!! The longer we have the iguanas in our homes, the more things we do learn about their actions and reactions.  We really should keep a journal of the things they do.
I'm glad to be able to try and help you and your iguana.